Create your website in just 5 steps.
For the past few weeks, I have been getting emails from different people asking me to explain step by step on how I actually started my website. Today I will show you how to create your website in just 5 steps. Normally this should have been my first article, but this step-by-step guide took me a bit longer then expected. I do apologize for the delay in publishing this post. Let’s get started.
How to create your website in just 5 steps?
Creating your own website is not hard at all. Within the next two hours you can have a simple website up and running. You just need to have a Domain name, a (shared) Hosting account and a website builder or WordPress. With those 3 components, you create your website and you are online. That was easy wasn’t it? So far you have created your website and the easy part is done. The only thing remaining would be to get your ‘valuable’ content into your website and you are good to go… It seems just too simple doesn’t it? As I have mentioned in my previous articles, creating, and most importantly maintaining your website to be valuable and interesting requires hard work. Before you think of creating a website you will need to make sure you will put in time and effort in order for it to work. You need to consider it as work, your own brand new company in where you are the CEO and founder.
STEP 1: Why do you want to create a website?
Open a sticky note or notepad so you can take some notes while reading through this. The first question you will need to ask yourself even before you choose a domain name is: What is your website going to be about? For me, and this is the honest truth, I wanted to help people and make money. Those were the two reasons why I wanted to start my website. There are millions of ways to help others on the internet but I have decided to make this about my journey and to share with you all the ups and downs I come across while doing this. It is now up to you to think about what YOU would like to write about. What are you very good at? Are you passionate about something in particular? Do you prefer writing product reviews (where you can promote affiliated products)? Just take about a good 15 minutes to think about this and just type/ write down anything that comes into your mind.
15 minutes later…. So know that you have chosen what your website is going to be about, it is time to go to step 2 of you journey to create your website in just 5 steps.
STEP 2: Choose your domain name.
Choosing a domain name can be a time-consuming and hair pulling experience! You might already have several names into your brightly focused mind on how to call your website, but to check if your name is still available?
What is important in this step is that when you have created your domain name, you will NOT be able to change it afterwards. If this should happen, you will be able to unregister that particular domain (so you are no longer the owner of it) and purchase the correct one, if that one is available! My recommended websites for Domain names are Namecheap.com and Bluehost.com. They both are much respected providers which have excellent customer services and everything you need to do is explained to the dot on their website. Personally I have purchased my domain name with Namecheap.com. Namecheap.com was more cost effective as per my budget at the time of purchase. Please check them both out and I will leave it up to you which fits you best. In both of them you will be able to enter your desired domain name and check for its availability. If it is available, just click on the purchase button and follow the steps to buy. Namecheap.com Go to Namecheap.com and enter your desired domain name. Click search to find out if your chosen name is still available.
Or go to Bluehost.com. Enter your domain name and click on check availability. Depending on your needs, I would advice to take the domain name for at least 2 years. This is entirely up to you! Once you have created your account and purchased your domain, you are now the proud owner of your very own website !
Congratulations!!
STEP 3 Choose your Hosting account.
Again I will only talk about my two preferred websites and you all know that I went with Namecheap.com for both my Domain name and my shared hosting account (as per my personal budget). One of the best advises that I can give you, if you are a beginner like me, is to purchase the domain and the shared hosting account as a bundle. This will be more cost effective (if you are on a budget) and for a beginner like me, it is way easier to contact support if I need to in one place, rather than two. Please see below the bundle offers for both of the websites. I would like to add that these are my affiliated links. This means that when you click on the link and purchase the product, I will make a commission at NO extra cost to you! ( Later on I will explain as well how you can do the same)
So you have now purchased your Domain name and your Hosting account. You are now a proud owner of your very own Website. Congratulations and welcome to the new website owner…. Hooray to YOU!
Step 4: Creating your website for real.
When you have completed the first 3 steps, you are now in the possession of a domain name and your shared hosting account. Either Bluehost or Namecheap has sent you an email with every single detail you need to know about both your domain and hosting and keep this email safe. You never know when you might need it! You now have everything you need to start your brand new website. Take a 5 to 10 minutes break. Take that time to think how you visualize your website, how you want it to look!
STEP 5: Start creating
Now it is time for you to have some fun. With both Bluehost and Namecheap, you will be able to use a simple Website builder to start building your website. These are basically drag and drop functions you can use and it is really user friendly. How to use the website builder in Namecheap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AhWIMGNMfU Although those are very good tools for a beginner to create your website, WordPress is still my favorite to use. With WordPress, you have tons of plugins which will make your life easier. The major websites has been built with WordPress and their compatibility is just enormous. I have personally used WordPress to create my website but as this is your website, you will choose how to structure and create it. How to use website builder (Wordpress) in Bluehost https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG0bmozea6g How to use wordpress with namecheap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ0RCh-iVy4 There you go. You now have all the information necessary in order to continue creating and designing your website. Go and explore your possibilities and make this your piece of art! You know know how to create your website in just 5 steps! Make sure that when you add content, you make this content valuable towards your audience and stick to your Niche (what you have decided that your website is going to be out). When you change your Niche in the middle of the website, your audience might get confused and may not return. Be careful because this can make or break your website! Let me know how this is going for you so far. To do so, go to my contact page and pop me a message. You will get a reply from me! In the next article, I be talking about getting you signed up to your very own affiliated program. You can search for products to promote in relation to your niche, and can start earning some money from your website. Read the full article