#HowToCreateAWebsite

Editorial Note: Forbes Advisor may earn a commission on sales made from partner links on this page, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions or evaluations.

Planning to create a website requires an intention and purpose to create content to reflect on your ideas, and sharing it on the internet to communicate with online users. This requires a keen interest to study on how to use web development tools available online as you learn to create your own website. It’s easy to create one, but requires attention.

That said, there are an array of options available on how you plan to develop the site–learn graphic designing and coding, hire programmers. Or, best try online platforms for registration of the domain name (.com, .net, etc), choose a layout from templates, add pages, images and posts—overall, create the website’s user interface (UI).

The process of building a website using online platforms is similar to managing the desktop, its folders, documents, and excel. Even the server requirement for hosting the site has shifted from office-based to cloud. 

However, depending on the complexity of the website features you may want to add, like listing of products and selling them online, may require a knowledge on how website programming works, or approach the website designing company to help accomplish the programming task.

Traditionally, graphic designers create a website’s template and programmers build coding (html, CSS) to add pages, sub-pages, and features to it. No matter which way you choose to develop a website, there are basics that every online content creator has to learn.

Here’s a basic guide to create a website.

Register a Domain Name

A domain name is the online name for users to find your website, like www.google.com. The registration of domain name is subject to its availability.

Domain name registrar and web hosting companies, like Godaddy, Name and Domain dot coms, facilitate its registration and online search. Here are some helpful ways to choose a domain name that suits the purpose of creating a website:

• Choose from domain name extensions like .com in-short for commercial and the most popular, .net for networking, .info for information, and .org for organization. There are also extensions available as per country like .in for India. So, choose wisely. 
• A search engine optimization friendly domain name ranks well online when users search for you on Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. Register a domain name, which can either be the name of an idea of your blog , services, or name of the company.
• Although domain name registrar gives a list of options for you to choose from, register one that resembles your blog or business idea in the absence of a preferred domain name, keeping in mind to avoid complexities like hyphen (-). 

Email domain: Every domain name registration comes with a benefit of creating numerous email domains. In terms of businesses, email domain has become helpful for its customers to reach out to, per se, contact@yourdomainname(dot)com, to resolve users’ queries.

Subdomain name: A sub domain is a feature to create a temporary name with an extra dot under a domain name. Content creators are required to create sub-domains to run the trial version of their site they are building online before uploading the site on the registered domain name.

Website development platforms usually provide users with no-cost subdomains—like yourname.wordpress(dot)com—to create, edit, and view the website online—as first-hand experience for users to create a website.

Domain name hosting: The hosting of domain names (along with email domains and subdomains), as well as website, is a service provided by domain registrar and web hosting companies. 

How it works, for instance, when you buy a car, you need to fuel it on a regular basis to keep it running. Similarly, when you create a website and upload it on a domain name, you need a hosting server to keep it running on the internet. These features are readily available via website building platforms.

Related: Best Web Hosting Providers of 2023.

Domain name registration and hosting fees: The fees for registration of domain name is subject to vary as per the popularity or density of the keyword users type on search engines to find you online. In addition to registration, domain names are subject to renewal.

For instance, if you purchase a domain name with a .com extension, it requires it to be renewed annually. Failure to renew will lead to losing the domain name forever, and is made available for repurchase. 

Remember, always choose a single website building platform to build a website, and host it on the internet, plus help in marketing by presenting analysis of your website performance online and in search engines.

Features of Website Building Platforms

One can start using website building platforms, and get hands-on experience on development tools to create one, even before the need to register a domain name. You don’t need to be coding-savvy either to use website building platforms like Weebly, Squarespace, HostGator, Wix, Shopify, Zyro, WordPress, Duda and others. 

These website builders have self-explanatory web development tools, which are customizable and intend to serve the purpose of creating a website. However, learning to code in web development languages—popularly, HTML, Javascript, CSS, and others— is an added feather on your cap.

A beginner may start using a website building platform by choosing a layout from the template, adding pages, images and content, and later upgrade it to paid plans to use it full-fledgedly and avail of various benefits to add-on.

Some major features of website building platforms are:

• Website template: All website building platforms provide templates for users to choose from. It is a dummy layout that is often curated as per the type of profession you are into, per se, for blogging, dynamic ones, or for eCommerce use.
  A user may try the demo or trial version and get hands-on experience to add pages, images, content, edit sections and navigation bars—overall, familiarize with the development tools. Read carefully about how each section functions, read tutorials before starting.
  As you progress, you will have to purchase to own or add features to your website, as well as for its integration to the domain name to keep it running on the internet. 
• Website customization: Users are provided with a readily-available content management system (CMS) to create a website and manage it on their own. One may choose to create a static website with a minimum of three pages (landing page, about us, and contact us) or, create a dynamic one with multiple pages and subpages, and even integrate it with features like forums, add-to-cart and such functionalities as per content creator’s requirement.

• Email and marketing tools: There are readily available features helpful to generate traffic to your website. The pages can also be shared on social media platforms, or sent out as newsletter via email to subscribers, etc. In addition, content creators can check their dashboard on how users are interacting with the website, which gives a room for search engine optimization.
• Search Engine Optimization: SEO helps your website to rank better on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and others when users search online. While big firms have a separate department for SEO, beginners may start creating content using keywords that are relevant to their reasons for having a website, and updating it on a regular basis by creating a new post, or adding new H2s and H3s whenever required.
  Google also provides webmaster tools for users to learn how to optimize their online presence on search engines. A website where its content is updated on a regular basis will eventually rank higher when users search them online. 

Benefits of Creating a Website

Creating a website means you are creating an online presence. It is suited for all types of users, from students, bloggers, professionals to entrepreneurs, businesses, etc. Some of the popular reasons for having a website include:

A reliable communication medium
For bloggers or freelancers, a website is a great communication as well as personality development medium to showcase their works online for users to access. Similarly, for businesses, financial institutions, information on websites keep consumers updated about services and products. 

Adding call-to-action features, contact forms also communicate well with users provided you answer their queries. Many websites have also integrated forums on their websites where users can discuss products and services.

Networking, opportunities and impact

Websites provide extra credibility to your work. It helps content creators to form a network with like-minded people from around the world and connect with them for work, share ideas, and whatnot. Adding a link to your social media handles on your website also helps people connect with you. 

Website as a monetization source

Undoubtedly, a website is a good monetization source, especially for those content creators who wish to earn revenue from their work, or sell products online to users. One may not necessarily require to add an e-commerce feature to sell online, but convert existing traffic to revenue by way of call-to-action, which allows you to connect with the users directly.

Remember, selling your products online via website requires the business or individuals to abide by the country’s data protection, e-commerce rules, likewise.

Bottom Line

The usages of having a website are myriad to limit its benefits. A website is a great communication medium to reflect on your ideas. It adds credibility to your work, creates a network with like-minded people, helps users to communicate or connect with you easily.