I get a lot of people asking my on how to start your own website. However, it really depends on whether you are going to do it yourself or if you’re going to hire someone. Once you have decided, the plan is nearly the same, but a few added steps within the general ones are needed. Because the majority of the people who have asked me this question usually want to try this alone, I carefully put together 5 steps on how to start your own website.
How To Start Your Own Website
Plan your site.
Yes, you might want to start a business, or a blog, or maybe some of both, but that is a simple decision. It’s what you want your site to do, a site focus. You will need to put together a plan for your site, much like a business.
You will need to include in your plan, how you will present your information or products and even your target audience. This is what you will refer to when it comes to building your site and your marketing campaigns.
Purchase a domain name and web hosting.
A domain name or site address or if you prefer, an official URL is one step in the right direction toward branding your business. However, aside from a domain name, you also need a place to put your website, and that requires needing to purchase web hosting too.
The web host is what lets your site be viewable to the rest of the Internet once you have set up your site.
Install WordPress
For the newbie, WordPress is a content management system that is easy to install, easy to use, and makes creating posts and pages fast. It is open source and free. There are also a lot of free WordPress plugins that add dynamic functionality like contact forms, shopping carts, social network sharing capabilities, and more. I actually have some WordPress videos on my Youtube channel that may help you learn how to use WordPress.
If you are on a bootstrap budget, you can start a site under $50 (for hosting and domain at a per year cost) without having someone doing any WordPress design or development work for you.
In fact, some of the default themes that come as a default with installing WordPress are more than ready to use, and the CMS even has a simple theme customizer built into it in order to change some of the colors to suit your personal preferences. Of course, there are also thousands of free WordPress themes that are more than decent to get you at least started.
You don’t have to be perfect from the start, but pick the theme that will help you.
Write and and publish your content.
Don’t wait for perfection. Just write and publish. You can always edit and adjust your site’s content in time. Thousands of websites are being created each day and waiting for the right time is time lost, and potential money not made.
Make sure your site has a good front page, about page, and contact page to start out with. It’s important to state your site’s purpose so they know what you are offering and what you would like them to do while on your website.
Because this is not an article about promoting your site, and that I’ve been asked to cover that topic, I will cover it in another Ask Nile post.
Hi Nile
Are there any platforms other than WordPress that you’ve used or would recommend?
I’ve used a few, but I recommend WordPress and can’t really recommend any other as I’ve been able to create a lot of different type of sites that have the functionalities my clients need.
It is nice article about how to build a website.
There are lots of good WP themes around the internet for under $50. You can get some low cost stock photos, if you need them, and lots of free plug ins and put together a halfway decent site on the cheap. When I built my website I was told to stay away from free templates because apparently some of them have spyware/malware and/or are poorly coded which makes them easier to hack.
You are fine getting a free theme if it is from the WordPress theme repository. Theme developers that submit there go through a process before the theme is approve, so there are not malware links there. It is what is available outside of the WordPress theme repository that you have to be really careful of.
Hi Nile, I do hope you see this post . I need your services please , is there a corresponding email? Cheers Kaylah
Hi Kaylah! If you go to the top of the site, there is a link that says “Hire Me”. 🙂
Good post! This is really a big help especially to those who just have started. Very informative indeed. Thank you for sharing this.
Hi Nile !
Nice suggestion to go with WordPress . WP is the worlds best CMS and it can help anyone to launch their own website withing an hour . Thanks for sharing the information .
-Pramod
hi thanks for this article this was very useful
Hey Nile, thanks for this guide!!! Will recommend it to people new to this website thingy!!!
Hey Nile,
i know there’s allot of free WordPress themes out there, and there are really cool paid themes too,
but the thing is they’re all “Blog” looking themes,
what if you don’t want to start a blog, i’m looking to start-up a business website, that’s doesn’t look like a blog, and i love WordPress because of it’s cool admin section, and it is very SEO friendly.
and also include a section where customers can upload photos and videos,
do you think that’s WordPress feasible ? any better ideas ?
Many thanks and Best wishes!
Hello
This is what every new comer need,when he make decision to come in blogging world. This post really help them a lot. Thanks for sharing it with them.
I also think that everyone must plan before starting any site just Buying a domain and installing wordpress will not work.
i would say its a helpful and more importantly motivational article for the new guys to start their own site but it could be best if you had mentioned some tactics about the web promotion from social media or seo because new guys are not aware of that.
I think that is great post those who don’t know what is coding and whatever ???
By using WordPress they don’t need any programmer or developer for website creation easy to use and find installation video on YouTube and also hosting companies providing one click installer for WordPress in WordPress hosting.
Thanks for the article. Are there other sources one can use, or is WP simply the best for new users?
Hi Nile,
thanks for all the great tips, your website is really helpfull. I was reading through all of your tips, because my uncle has asked me to build a website for him. I have already built a website in the past, but I wanted to make sure, that I make everything correct. So thanks a lot. Will recommend your site to some of my friends who are also interested in this topic.