In today’s data-driven, digitally-centric business landscape, having a web presence has arguably never been more important for a business. A website is a quick and easy way for a business to expand its reach, develop its brand, and keep up with the competition.
For new businesses, building a website can seem daunting, and for those those who don’t have first-hand experience can feel lost. Luckily, with the right preparation, it’s possible to create a no-fuss business website yourself.
Reading: How to create a website for free and from scratch
In this article, we describe how to create a website from scratch. Before reading, it’s important to note that this guide, while intended overall for beginners, explores some processes that may require intermediate to advanced programming and web development skills.
How to Build a Website New in 10 Steps
Building a website from scratch, while intensive, is a great way to ensure that your website reflects your company’s goals. This allows you to incorporate your unique vision from the earliest stages of the website, adjusting aspects such as aesthetics, navigation and overall usability accordingly.
The following ten crucial steps to building a website from scratch.
1. Improve and match relevant skills
Before you conceptualize your new website, it’s important to first review your relevant prerequisite skills – namely those rooted in web development and coding. Such skills can be crucial when building DIY websites, as they can help you handle crucial technical stages autonomously, which can allow for a smoother development process and easier creative control.
Helpful prerequisites for Website development can include programming in languages such as JavaScript and HTML/CSS (for various design and usability factors), troubleshooting and debugging (to ensure your website is consistently efficient, up-to-date and free from critical security vulnerabilities), and search engine optimization (or SEO – to effectively optimize and market your website to be findable and competitive within the Google search algorithm).
Skills in front and back end web development are also very helpful , as they allow you to both understand and effectively address customer-side usability issues Manage underlying site architecture at a comprehensive, technical level. To get started with web development read our guide on how to become a web developer.
2. Set a Goal
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Once you’ve aligned your key skills, your next step is to set a general goal for your new website. Ask yourself: what is the intended long-term purpose of this website? Should products be sold? To express and expand your brand identity? What kind of user experience do you want to provide? What user metrics will you track about the site?
Once you’ve answered all the relevant questions, you should have an easier time designing the user interface, aesthetics, potential pages, and other aspects of the site that relate directly to are rooted in your goals. For example, if you plan to use the site to increase brand awareness and facilitate digital transactions, you might plan a home page that provides easy access to featured online products and company updates, as well as identity-based information (e.g., a comprehensive “About “Us” section). Regardless of your vision, make your goals as clear and detailed as possible.
3. Choose a Hosting Provider
Selecting a hosting provider is a relatively simple but crucial part of creating a website. Many leading hosting platforms (like Bluehost and HostGator) have expedited this process, often offering free domain registration, discounted website building tools, and other perks for initial registrations.
As in the previous step, this decision should be made Be rooted in your needs and goals for the website – particularly in relation to the structure and usability of the website. For example, if the site is going to showcase image galleries and multimedia, you should probably choose a platform that has room for larger files and reasonable speed. Using such criteria, you can narrow down your options to a few promising vendors and determine which is the most cost-effective, most reliable, and best aligns with your company’s goals.
4. Pick a Domain Name
Selecting a website domain name might be quick and easy in theory, but as GoDaddy notes, the choice is akin to choosing a company name. It can take quite a bit of thought and consideration since your domain name plays a huge part in your online identity. From an SEO perspective, an effective domain name can make your website more discoverable in keyword searches, and it can also make your website easier to promote via digital marketing campaigns.
With that in mind, take your time Brainstorm a few domains -Options, do keyword research and other market analysis to find a name that is short, impactful and indicative of the service or product you are offering.Your domain should be memorable and catchy while also reflecting your target audience or location (e.g. you can consider including your location directly in the domain name).
5. Choose a Website Template or Layout
The layout of your website is critical to facilitating your intended user experience and should be chosen with careful planning and prior research. You could start by choosing a website builder with a range of applicable website templates and narrowing down your options to those with styles and structures that reflect your vision. These considerations may include whether you need e-commerce elements, scheduling, or other functionality essential to your business. Assuming the theme is customizable to your liking, use it as a wrapper for larger development ideas like specific plugins and widgets, color schemes, and page order and hierarchy.
6. Create Relevant Pages
The most effective websites have numerous pages or sections—usually a home page and several supporting pages that represent different aspects of the business. As the primary building blocks of your website, these pages should be structured and arranged to fit your intended user journey, and they should be both accessible and easy to navigate. If you use a website builder, it likely offers the option to add, remove, and customize pages within your broad website theme. Use this feature to create pages that collectively embody your site’s intended purpose and message.
Consider, for example, NASA’s official website, which consists of a multi-faceted home page and easy-to-access, Logically themed sections support current missions and initiatives, company history and various downloads and associated social media channels. Such a model benefits NASA users by providing them with all relevant information quickly and effectively. Regardless of your company’s identity or niche, it’s important to take a similar approach when designing your website – just focus on a sensible division of pages and avoid flooding users with too much information in a single place.
7 . Set up a payment system (if applicable)
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If your website is designed to facilitate online shopping, provide it with an appropriate storefront layout that showcases your company’s products or services. Smooth digital transactions are usually seen as a crucial feature for retail-oriented websites. So design your shop window accordingly. First off, the most successful digital storefronts support a variety of payment methods, from credit and debit cards to connected services like Google Pay and PayPal.
Additionally, your payment system should be built around fast, seamless, and secure payments Feeling of fluidity and confidence. This feature can improve your website’s bounce rate and ensure that more products or services are considered for purchase. You can also take advantage of features like sticky header navigation, a type of header that stays static as users scroll, giving them constant access to search and purchase options. A positive, convenient user experience can be a powerful contributor to customer retention and trust, and the most effective digital storefronts are a microcosm of this notion.
8. Testing and Fine-Tuning Your Website
Now that the key elements of your website are in place, you should spend a lot of time testing and fine-tuning your end product. With usability remaining one of the most important indicators of website success in 2021, your main considerations should be the user interface (UI) and the user experience (UX) conveyed by your website. These elements can be evaluated through usability testing and technical audits of the website’s front and back ends. To test usability, observe users navigating your site and note reported weaknesses, confusion, and other shortcomings observed. Ask detailed questions to get equally detailed feedback, which can lead to stronger solutions and an overall better user experience. During the technical review, take stock of site performance metrics (like page speed and multimedia playback), various SEO factors (like content optimization, organic keyword mentions, and functional backlinks), and matters related to the site’s underlying code /p>
9. Promote Your Website
Once your website is online, it’s time to introduce it to your intended audience. Luckily, there are numerous effective ways to digitally market a website. Social media accounts are a fantastic tool for increasing website awareness. Many of these outlets allow users to directly link site URLs, syndicate site content, and seamlessly direct followers to different site pages. Many website templates offer ways to embed social links directly, which can benefit all linked entities from an SEO perspective, as organic links can positively impact ranking authority.
Other options include Google’s advertising and business features, which can help website owners market their properties via targeted ads and, where appropriate, listing associated brick-and-mortar locations on Google Maps (with relevant website links). ). Webmasters can also use website multimedia creatively to extend the reach of their website to other social markets. For example, a page-based video could be syndicated on social media with a link to the original content.
For more information on fast, inexpensive website marketing options, check out this Ahrefs list of free ways to promote your website .
10. Keep your website up to date
Even after your website has been created and built a following, make sure you keep it up to date. As your website builds online mileage, your users may become impatient or disinterested due to outdated, outdated content and poorly managed website usability factors (broken links, dysfunctional multimedia, etc.). Therefore, keeping your site active is important, and this goes beyond just posting and blogging.
HostGator recommends adopting a few important habits to keep your site fresh. Including:
- Create a content calendar to ensure your site’s content is consistent and up-to-date, reflecting current developments and trends.
- Reuse and publish older content when they are relevant in a modern context (possibly linking back to the original content for SEO purposes).
- Perform regular audits of desired website keyword mentions and design-related factors.
- Consider See updates to site templates and layouts that better align with current events.
Also, keep a close eye on user feedback, which can contribute to a stronger site experience. For example, you might consider improving your site’s theme or layout if users are reporting navigation issues through a mobile view. Be sure to communicate any such changes to your users – perhaps via a social media post or a bulletin on the website.
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