How To Create A Website (Beginners Guide)
We had no idea on where to start when we first decided to create our website. How to create a website was a daunting thought for us. Being two creative people who pride themselves on creating their own success, we wanted to create our website ourselves. We searched high and low for a website builder that would give us the ability to be as free as possible with our design and layout. After all, we were two broke travellers who couldn’t afford to be splashing the cash. However, we quickly learned that nothing in this world is completely free.
The Reason For Our Blog
There is a massive amount of information online on how to create a website. You can feel drowned by it all. It can be difficult learning who to trust. Many websites try to scam you out of money for programs that you really don’t need, and extras even industries like Google wouldn’t require. It took us months to finally get started after sifting through bullshit like that. This is why we have created this simple guide to prevent you wasting time and energy by pointing you in the right direction.
To Begin
To create a website you need an idea of content, a path to begin. There is no point in beginning unless you have a direction. Direction is key, especially during the first steps. Your direction can be anything you want. For instance it could be a travel blog website like ours, to an online fashion store. Whatever your direction, having a website is the best way to running or creating your business in a world were most people search online for everything!
get A domain Name
One of the most important first steps to your websites success is choosing a domain name. Basically it is a name that acts like an address and will be used to find you on the web. It will be used to locate you via search engines like Google and its a name you will own. This means that once you register your domain name no one else can take it or use it for their website. Imagine if there was two www.youtube.com’s? How confusing would that be for google to locate it? The domain name is also something that people will see in the URL toolbar at the top of your web page or when your page is listed on a search engine like Google. So make it original, creative and in relation to your website. For example, our website is called Our World Our Life Our Way and our domain is www.ourworldourlifeourway.com
Decide what software to create your website on
This is not as difficult as it sounds and you do not need to pay out thousands of pounds for a web designer. One of the easiest and most popular ways right now is using a web design system called WordPress. Most websites you see today on the internet have been designed using WordPress. This is a massive bonus if you find yourself stuck and requiring help as there are millions of YouTube videos to guide you at every step. On YouTube most videos relating to ‘how to create a website’ focus on using the WordPress platforms. The important thing to take note of when thinking about using WordPress is that there are two of them. One is WordPress.org and the other is WordPress.com . You don’t have to spend months of your time researching them as the key differences with them are simple.
WordPress.Org
WordPress.org is a free platform to create your website on, and allows you more freedom in designing your website. Its a “do it yourself” type of software were you can design to your own creative ability with no limits. This is when typing ‘how to create a website’ into the you tube search bar becomes a massive help. The .org version also has hundreds of themes and thousands of plugins available for you to install making your creation have no limits. You will need a web host to have WordPress.org installed, and this you will have to pay for. The web host is also were you chose your domain name. However, it could end up being a lower cost than having WordPress.com in the long run.
WordPress.Com
WordPress.com comes with a web host and domain name included. But this version could cost more as it has more constraints than the .org version. You will have to pay a subscription fee with this version. To have any constraints lifted you will also have to pay extra. For example, your domain name will say www.whateveryourdomain.wordpress.com. If you want a more professional domain or more personal domain such as, www.whateveryourdomain.com or .net etc, then you will have to pay WordPress.com for your personal domain. This is one of the reasons why WordPress.org is favored. The .org version allows you to create a personal domain.
Another factor to consider is that WordPress.com put their own advertising across your website. Again this can be removed, but at an extra cost. The .org version does not run its own advertising across your website. In business eyes, having WordPress logos or ads blasted all over your site could put potential site visitors off clicking on your site. It can come across unprofessional and looks quite messy. Or it could end up looking like one big WordPress advertisement.
The other thing worth mentioning about this version is that there are not as many themes to choose from and you can not install your own plugins. Plugins are software you will install on your website to add features or to help run your site smoothly. The constraints with this version are why we did not choose WordPress.com and instead chose WordPress.org to create our website. We wanted the free nature it provided, even if it meant searching for our own web host.
Find a web host
Web hosting is a service that allows your website to be accessible on the internet. Web hosting companies give you space on a server to launch and run your website. It is a requirement if you want your website to be visible on the internet. Its a step that unfortunately can not be missed out. There are many web hosting companies on the market just now. Two of the most popular are Hostgator and Bluehost.
Bluehost is the slightly more popular of the two, but Hostgator is designed with a user friendly interface that is perfect for the beginner. Both have fantastic technical support and great reputations, in terms of performance, customer service and speedy upload times. The only thing about web hosting is that it is not free. But both offer many packages that are guaranteed to meet your affordability. When selecting your hosting package with Bluehost you have to pay for a years subscription up front. With Hostgator the payment options are more inviting, with pay monthly or 3 monthly options on certain hosting packages. Just be sure to choose the right payment plan from the drop down menu or it will automatically chose pay annually.
Click on the word Hostgator right now for fantastic deals from $2.75 on hosting plans only
Click on the word Bluehost for a fantastic deal $6.95 per month for the new cloud hosting plan only
GET EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN ONE PLACE
We found it frustrating to try and to do all of the steps above separately. Eventually we learned that web hosting companies such as Hostgator and Bluehost also offer website builder packages. This was a wonderful option because it meant we could do everything in the one place. Getting our domain name, installing WordPress.org, and being hosted on servers across the internet was made easy.
The company we chose to create our website with was Hostgator. We chose this due to the easy beginner feel it had and because we could choose pay monthly options. Packages for creating your own website, owning your domain name and having a web hosting service cost from $3 a month. And like Hostgator, Bluehost have similar website builder packages also offering a fantastic set up that helps get your website up and running.
There are many to choose from and both have packages designed to suit every need. They are guaranteed to give you everything you are searching for at the click of a button. There is also a variety of extras in their more premium packages, including website data back up, unlimited data space and different degrees of SSL certificates.
Do Your Research
There is a catalog of reviews available regrading both platforms. We recommend searching reviews before choosing your web host provider. This really helped us to choose the correct company for us and helped get rid of any uncertainties we had. This is the easiest and cheapest way to creating, owning, and getting your website onto the internet. Check ours out, and see the standard we are talking about.
We have found great website builder package deals on both for you from $3 per month. Simply click on the words Hostgator or Bluehost to get them now.
If you have any questions regarding how to create a website then please get in touch. We would be happy to advise were we can.
Good luck in creating your own website! Maybe soon we will be scrolling through yours!
Written by Our World Our Life Our Way in Rotterdam
