Creating a website does not have to be a daunting task. Thanks to powerful no-code tools and user-friendly platforms, anyone can design and launch a professional site without technical expertise. Whether you’re building a portfolio, starting an online store, or creating a blog, the process can be quick and straightforward. In this post, we’ll walk you through the essential steps to create a website that attracts traffic, leads, and sales. Continue reading to learn more about how to create a website from scratch.
Creating a website involves:
- Planning
- Content creation
- Web design and development
- Testing
Historically, this process has taken months.
Not to mention the complex coding, technical jargon, and steep learning curve. Making it seem like an impossible task to tackle by yourself.
But with powerful no-code tools available, building a high-performing website doesn’t have to be as complicated. And you don’t necessarily need technical skills. (Specifically, deep knowledge like programming and server management).
You can create a website in a few days. Or a few weeks to allow time for more content creation.
This post shares 10 steps to make a website ready to attract traffic, leads, and sales.
Let’s begin.
Step 1: Define Your Website Goal
Before you start building your website, define its core purpose. This decision will guide your design, website architecture, tools, and technical decisions throughout the creation process.
How we’ve built our website is essential to achieving these results. Some important decisions include:
- Using WordPress: To give us the most control to implement SEO best practices and publish hundreds of long-form articles
- Using great hosting: To handle the volume of visitors and load pages quickly to a global audience
- Using email integrations: To link our newsletter sign-up forms to our email marketing tool
You might want to build a website to showcase your photography portfolio. Your decisions will be completely different from the ones we’ve made.
Instead, you may consider using a platform like Squarespace. There, you can easily make highly customizable portfolio pages to show your best photos.
If you sell physical products, consider using tools like Shopify. It has ready-to-go templates for product pages, shopping carts, and secure payments.
A bit of planning goes a long way to a smoother website creation process.
Step 2: Choose Your Domain Name
Your domain name is your website’s address on the internet. Like your digital storefront.
If you already have an established business, it’s a good idea to make your domain name the same as or very close to your business name. This helps with brand consistency and makes it easier for customers to find you online.
If you’re starting a new business, you have the flexibility to choose a domain name that fits your brand and is available for registration. In some cases, the availability of a desired domain name might even influence your business name.
Pick a domain name that’s:
- Memorable: Aim for something short and easy to remember for visitors
- Brand-related: Incorporate your business or personal brand name
- Relevant: Consider using keywords related to your website’s focus (e.g., “petphotography” for a pet photographer’s site)
For inspiration, use domain name generators like Domain Wheel and Nameboy
Once you’ve picked the name, you can purchase your domain through a domain registrar like GoDaddy or Namecheap.
Domain registration typically costs up to $20 per year, depending on the provider and domain extension you choose (e.g., .com, .net, .org).
Also, consider a country-code top-level domain. Use it if your business operates in a geographic region. For example, if you’re making a website for your dog grooming business, Happy Clean Paws, in London, use the domain name happycleanpaws.co.uk. This will help potential clients and search engines understand that your business is local.
Your domain name isn’t just for your website. You can also use it to create a professional email address. And for online verifications like on social media.
Step 3: Choose a Hosting Provider (If Required)
Web hosting is a service that reserves server space for your website’s data (like text, images, and videos). And ensures that people can access it online.
Your hosting decisions should align with your website’s requirements and goals.
For example, if you plan to publish blogs, image galleries, and multimedia, prioritize a provider that offers adequate storage and speed optimization.
If you choose a self-hosted platform like WordPress.org, Joomla, or Drupal, you’ll need to select a hosting provider.
And here’s what to look for:
- Reliability: Consistent uptime is important for a successful website. Look for providers with high guaranteed uptime percentages (99.5% or higher).
- Scalability: Does the hosting provider offer plans with increasing bandwidth? It’s important for the hosting to be able to accomodate your growing website traffic and storage needs.
- Security: Your host should provide security measures like firewalls, malware scanning, and regular backups. It should also provide an SSL certificate (HTTPS), which encrypts and protects your website visitors’ information.
- Pricing: Compare plans and features to find the best value for your money
Hostinger
If you’re just starting, Hostinger is a great entry-level, low-cost hosting provider. It offers 1-click WordPress installation and free pre-built templates to design your site.
Additionally, Hostinger provides perks for new users, such as a free domain for the first year, a lifetime security certificate, and business emails.
Siteground
Siteground offers better site loading speed and customer support than Hostinger. It also offers free daily backup and a free SSL certificate.
You also get more advanced features like staging environments, which allow you to test changes and your website before making them live.
Kinsta
Kinsta is a more advanced hosting provider, offering premium managed WordPress hosting.
Since Kinsta’s infrastructure is built on Google Cloud, it offers higher speed and performance compared to the previous two providers on our list.
Backlinko is also using Kinsta.
Step 4: Pick a Website Builder
The right website builder lets you create a professional website without the need to code. This means you can build a website in a couple of days with no technical knowledge.
And just as important, you can make updates to your website without hiring a programmer.
Top Website Builders
While there are a lot of website builders out there, here are a few of them based on their use cases:
- Wix: Best for beginners, Wix is a low-cost drag-and-drop website builder
Squarespace: Best for booking appointments, showing your portfolio, and selling your services - Shopify: Best for ecommerce website design, Shopify makes it easy to build an online store where you sell your products
- WordPress.org: Best for a blog, WordPress.org is known for its versatility and customization opportunities
Building a Website from Scratch
If you have in-depth coding knowledge or are willing to hire a web developer with those skills, you can build your website from scratch.
This offers the most control but also the steepest learning curve. Or requires continuous maintenance from a professional web developer, which can be pricey.
Step 5: Plan Your Site Architecture
Site architecture outlines how your pages are organized and linked together. It creates a clear path for visitors to navigate and find the information they need.
A well-organized site architecture enhances user experience and plays a crucial role in SEO by helping search engines understand your website’s structure and content. Which can lead to improved search visibility.
Lucidchart has a visual sitemap planning tool that you can use for free.
When creating a sitemap for your website, make sure you nest pages logically under appropriate categories and subcategories.
Here are a few tips to help you build your visual sitemap:
- Start with core pages: First, list your essential pages. Such as Homepage, About Us, Services/Products, Contact, and maybe a Blog.
- Think like a visitor: Put yourself in your potential visitor’s shoes. What are they likely to be looking for and how would they expect to find it? For instance, if you offer services, make sure your service descriptions are clear and easy to find.
- Nesting pages: Group related pages under clear categories and subcategories. For example, a photographer’s site might have “Portfolio” as a top-level category with subcategories like “Weddings,” “Couples,” etc.
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Original article published on backlinko.com
