Basic installation questions for Wordpress?

First, FTP is for transferring files....... to the remote server.
They are not the same thing.
One is more of a tool, the other is a location.

All hosting you buy is "remote".
The only time it isn't is if your running a local server (like xampp or mamp), then it would be local.

Personally, I would develop (most of the time anyway) locally, then upload to the remote hosting after your done.
TIP: If you do this, it makes things a little easier to use the exact same database info locally as you do online.
Create the online database first... and just leave it until your ready to upload the site.
Most hosting co. will have a prefix in front of the database name such as "coolbe_thedatabasename" and the username as well.
So, make sure the local database is created with the same name.
Not essential, but simplifies and makes things easier.

2 things.
To develop on your laptop, you'll need to setup a local server. There are many but xampp or wamp are popular for the PC.
Now you can install WordPress locally, build the site, then upload the files to the remote server and import the database dump when the site is ready.

Or, just install WordPress on the remote server and build it there.

Either way, to install WordPress (I would never use any of the "auto" installers found in cpanel, etc...) you first need to create/setup a mysql database.
You can do this in phpmyadmin or right in cpanel.
Copy this info (database name, user, password) and write it down.
Rename the default WordPress file wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php and open it up in a plain text editor.
Fill in the database details you wrote down.
Go to the specified url in the wp-config.php and grab a set of salt keys and fill those in.
(https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/)
Change the default WordPress database prefix (found below the salt keys) to something other then "wp_"
Save it, close it.
If your doing this online and haven't FTP'd the WordPress files to the server yet, then do that after you save the wp-config.php
Fire up the local server or go to online site url and complete the install.

It took longer for me to write this than it actually takes to complete the entire manual install.

Firstly you need to simplify things for your first few websites.

I would K.I.S.S like this:

1. Get hosting with cpanel so you can simply press a button to install WordPress in less than a minute. Not sure how ipage stacks up?

2. Get hosting that allows unlimited domains if you are installing more than one website on the same hosting.

3. If you have previously bought domain names, login to that company and point the DNS to your hosting.

4. Add the domain to your hosting after changing DNS and go ahead and press the button to install WordPress through quick install or fantastico.

5. You will have a website up in minutes. Now you can customize and install a groovy WordPress theme.

Go to this page for more basics Wordpress Website Basics - Lets Build Websites all totally free tutorials to build a site yourself.

As for editing on your laptop, there are a few options there.

I personally think it can get complicated having a copy of the website on your computer as well. It is available to edit online any-time anyway and you can also use Windows Live Writer to write content on your computer and send it to get published instantly.