How to Install Laravel on Online Audience Hosting
Installing Laravel is usually the first proper step when you are building a modern PHP website, client portal, booking system, radio platform or business dashboard. The good news is that you do not need to be a server expert to get started. With Online Audience hosting, you can use a 1-click installer where available, or you can install Laravel manually with Composer if you prefer full developer control.
Step 1: Decide how you want to install Laravel. If your hosting control panel includes StackCP or cPanel with Softaculous, use the Laravel installer for the quickest setup. This is ideal for beginners because it handles the basic files, database setup and folder structure for you.
Step 2: If you are installing manually, connect by SSH and run composer create-project laravel/laravel my-app. Replace my-app with your project folder name.
Step 3: Point your domain or subdomain to Laravel’s public folder. This is important because visitors should never browse your full Laravel application directory.
Step 4: Create your application key by running php artisan key:generate. This helps secure sessions, cookies and encrypted data.
Step 5: Open your site in the browser and check the Laravel welcome page loads correctly. If it does, you have a clean foundation ready for development.
Practical tip: Before making changes on a live Laravel site, take a backup, test the feature on a staging copy where possible, and write down what you changed. This simple habit makes troubleshooting much easier and protects your work if a package update, migration or configuration change does not behave as expected. Good Laravel development is not just about writing code; it is about building in a calm, repeatable and maintainable way.
Need Laravel hosting? Online Audience offers Laravel-friendly hosting, free migrations and practical setup help. Visit OnlineAudience.co.uk to get started.