Introduction
In today's digital age, having an online presence is crucial, whether you're an entrepreneur, a hobbyist, or just want to share your thoughts with the world. Fortunately, setting up a simple website has become more accessible than ever. You don't need to be a coding wizard or hire a professional web developer to learn how to create simple website. In this step-by-step guide, we'll walk you through the process of making a basic website from scratch. Avoid attempting to create a large website initially, start small and grow your website over time as you acquire more experience and knowledge. Also, carefully consider the subject your website addresses, and identify your target audience. For example, will your website be targeted at local, statewide, national or global visitors, and what will it be about?.
Step 1: Define Your Purpose for Creating a Website
Before you start building your website, it's essential to have a clear understanding of its purpose. Are you creating a personal blog, an online portfolio, a small business website, or something else entirely? Knowing your website's purpose will help guide your design and content decisions.
Step 2: Delay Choosing a Domain Name for Your Website until you have studied the learning guides and researched the relevant information
Your domain name is your website's address on the internet, like "www.yourwebsite.com. Select a domain name that reflects your site's purpose and is easy to remember. Try to avoid long domain names that are difficult to remember and type. There are many domain registrars where you can purchase a domain, such as GoDaddy, Name, Google Domains or Squarespace etc. Because most of the easy to remember, highly meaningful domain names have now been registered the search engines give less importance to them, and instead focus more on the quality and relevance of the contents of each website. You can even get domain names with different extensions such as .au for Australian citizens, or .co or .site etc. The search engines accept all such names, although it is the page contents that the search engines index and rank.
Local micro businesses are possibly better off promoting their domain names on business cards and low-cost flyers etc directly to local prospective clients, than spending time and money attempting to rank high on the search engines for common key-words. You could potentially pay Google or Facebook etc to promote your website,although micro businesses should be cautious. Test it out with a limited budget if you wish to do so in order to gain experience, but be certain that you know what you are doing before investing heavily in online promotion.
Step 3: Select a Website Building Platform for Your Website
There are several website-building platforms available, and choosing the right one is crucial. Some popular options for beginners include:
Google Sites: Google Sites provides the best free simple website builder. It is a no-code website creation platform that is suitable for setting up a simple website that integrates seamlessly with other Google Workspace tools. It offers easy collaboration, real-time editing, and responsive design options, plus the best hosting for simple website, making it an excellent choice for small businesses and educators seeking to create simple, functional websites that are ideal for learning how to create, edit and promote a unique website of your own at zero cost.
WordPress: Known for its flexibility and ease of use, WordPress is a content management system that powers over a third of the websites on the internet. You can use WordPress.com for a hosted solution or WordPress.org for self-hosting. WordPress does require a level of technical ability to use, although it does now have a relatively easy to use graphical user interface. You can create a simple WordPress website that can later be developed into whatever type of website you wish to create, or you can if you wish build a simple e commerce website, and develop that into a substantial business website over time.
Many other website platforms exist and provide a wide range of features, although the platforms described above are our currently recommended ones.
To make your website rank high on search engines, the site needs to contain good quality, interesting and valuable content that includes relevant keywords, plus you will need to acquire an understanding of how to structure the contents of your website. Different platforms offer different features, and it takes time to learn and decide which one best suits your needs. You can for example start with a free Google Sites account and follow their tutorials, then move on to SBI with BlockBuilder or WordPress for more guidance.
Google Sites is fine for a basic site that can be further developed over time with growing experience and knowledge, although as your site grows, you may want to consider switching to a platform with specific advanced features that enable you to do more than can be easily achieved with Google Sites. If you'd rather have someone build a website for you, you can connect you with experienced developers who can use their in-house platform or by using WordPress, or you could alternatively hire an independent website developer or hire a commercial company to develop your website, although be cautious of investing too much money in creating your website until you have acquired enough relevant information to make informed decisions. Doing it yourself can be very cost-effective, while hiring experts is time efficient although potentially expensive, although it does get your website up and running faster than doing it yourself. However, the knowledge and experience you gain by doing it yourself is invaluable when you later wish to make adjustments to your site or develop a more substantial website.
Squarespace: Is great for creating simple, although beautiful websites with relative ease, although does not appear to provide significant guidance on how to effectively promote a website via the search engines. If you need a small website to promote a small business, but do not need to promote your website through the search engines, then any of the above solutions could potentially meet your needs.
To promote a website via the search engines, you can either secure paid advertising with Google or with other website promoting agencies. Alternatively, you could you could learn how to search engine optimize your website, or pay a professional to do that for you. We will publish more about this aspect of website development as time and circumstances permit.
Choose the system that best suits your needs, your wants, and your budget.
Step 4: Secure Web Hosting for Your Website
If you choose a platform such as WordPress.org, you'll need to obtain a web hosting service with an appropriate organization. Popular hosting providers include Google via their various packages, plus there are many other providers offer reasonable hosting services. Register for a hosting plan that aligns with your website's needs and your current budget. Although remember that you only get what you pay for, if you choose the lowest priced provider, then you can expect to only receive limited services, whereas the higher priced providers are more inclined to provide more reliable, and a greater range of services, sometimes even offering partnering arrangements.
Step 5: Design Your Website
Now comes the fun part – designing your website. Most website builders offer pre designed templates that you can customize to match your brand or style. These are a great starting point, and you can always make adjustments as you gain more experience.
Study existing websites to help identify a style that will be appropriate for your proposed site, and think carefully about why you visit websites. For example, do you visit websites to view the pretty graphics or animations etc, or do you visit websites to find valuable information or/and products?
Focus on:
Layout: Arrange your content in a clean and organized way. Ensure that navigation is straightforward and simple.
Color Scheme: Choose a color palette that complements your content and and. Stick to a limited number of colors for a cohesive look.
Typography: Select easy-to-read fonts for both headings and body text. Consistency is key. Plus, consider that some people have less than perfect eyesight and may be unable to read small text. Use simple language that is easy to read and is appropriate to the subject of the website.
Images and Media: Incorporate high-quality images and media that enhance your content.
Step 6: Add Content to Your Website
Begin adding content to your website. This may include:
Homepage: Introduce your website and its purpose.
About Page: Share information about yourself or your business.
Contact Page: Provide a way for visitors to get in touch with you.
Blog/Portfolio: If applicable, start creating and publishing content.
Products/Services: List what you offer, including descriptions and prices if applicable.
Ensure your content is engaging, informative, and error-free.
Step 7: Optimize Your Website for SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps your website rank higher in search engine results, making it more discoverable. Focus on optimizing your content, meta tags, and images for relevant keywords such as "simple website creation," "website building for beginners," and "basic website design." Which are keywords that could be used on this website.
Step 8: Test and Review Your Website
Before making your website live, thoroughly test it on different devices and browsers. Ensure that all links work correctly, images load properly, and there are no spelling or grammatical errors.
Step 9: Go Live with Your Website
Once you're satisfied with your website's design and content, it's time to make it live. Configure your domain to point to your hosting provider (if needed) and publish your website for the world to see.
Step 10: Promote Your Website
Building a website is only the first step. To get visitors, you'll need to promote it. Share your website on social media, engage with your audience, and consider other marketing strategies such as SEO or/and paid advertising, including off-line promotion where appropriate. Word-of mouth is an excellent promotional methodology and generates excellent results for some websites.
Step 11: Continue to learn more and develop your website to effectively attract your targeted visitors. If you do this correctly, your visitor numbers will grow over time, although competitors will try to attract those visitors to their websites, meaning that you will need to remain vigilant, and be prepared to add new content over time. Do not expect hundreds of visitors to immediately access your website. This takes time and effort to achieve, although the rewards of ranking a website high in the search engines can be substantial if you get it right, although disappointing if you get it wrong. Although, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Congratulations, you've now created your first website! Remember that maintaining and updating your website is an ongoing process, so be prepared to regularly add fresh content and make improvements as appropriate for your site. With dedication and creativity, your website can become a valuable online presence for your chosen niche.