Here is a very simple guide on how to create a website from zero in just an hour
To create a website, you only need to follow three simple steps:
First of all, you need to decide on which platform you will create the website. This is a question that should
be handled with great attention. There is a wide range of content management systems available. It would be a
pity if after some time you realize that chosen system is not suitable for your website at all.
Anyone, even beginners with limited knowledge of computers and all that goes with it, can create a website
with full functionality and a beautiful design. But remember that choosing the wrong platform can be very
problematic.
Using some platforms requires knowledge of basic HTML / CSS or other programming languages, so you should
assess your capabilities in this area wisely. For beginners, the WordPress platform is ideal.
WordPress, Drupal and Joomla are the three main platforms on which most websites are based. Below are
statistics on the use of the most popular platforms in 2022:
As the chart shows, nearly half of the websites are based on the WordPress platform.
1.The WordPress platform is FREE and offers a large selection of themes.
You can download and install WordPress for free. In addition, the developer community of WordPress has worked
hard to create many beautiful themes and templates. Thus, you can choose a unique design and get your site up
and running much faster than expected.
2. Ideal for beginners.
If you know how Microsoft Word works, you will have no problem adding content. You can add any of the free
plugins to your Web site, turning it into a business card site or resembling a social networking page. Plugins
allow you to add feedback forms, registration forms, photo galleries and more.
3. WordPress is suitable for both large and small websites.
A simple blog, a beautiful commercial website, an online store.... the WordPress platform is perfect for a
practical website of any kind. Online giants such as eBay, Mozilla, Reuters, CNN, Google Ventures and even
NASA use this platform.
4. Your website will be "responsive", meaning it will work on all mobile devices.
Your website will look perfect and work on any mobile device, including smartphones and tablets. You don't
even need to hire a web designer.
5. Good technical support and a large community of developers that are ready to help.
Since the platform is used by a huge number of people (webmasters, bloggers, theme and plugin developers), you
can find the answer to your question FAST. Moreover, WordPress offers many free resources on YouTube and the
platform's technical support forum.
Drupal is a feature-rich platform that is especially popular with Web developers and experienced programmers. However, it is not the best choice for newcomers because working with the platform requires special knowledge.
Platform Joomla is similar to WordPress and is great for a wide variety of websites. However, to customize the platform to your needs, you need to be able to code at least a little. Check out the statistics of other popular CMS.
The website builder is the easiest and fastest way to create a website. It is available to everyone, requires no knowledge of programming, html, css, etc. Hosting is usually already included in the price. Another distinguishing feature is security. Unlike CMS, hackers cannot hack your site. The leading website builder is WIX. It has a favorable price, many convenient integrations with other popular services. Moreover, the resources based on it are perfectly indexed in search engines.
To start a new website, you need two things:
The WordPress platform itself is free, but a domain name and hosting cost about $3-$5 per month. That amount
won't hurt your budget.
An own domain name looks more solid than a site on someone else's domain (yourbusiness.my-free-website.com).
Especially since the price is very reasonable.
Your website will also load faster and work well thanks to your own hosting.
You can always ask us a question and we will advise you about a good and cheap hosting platform with which you
can put your website online and register a domain. We have a little experience in choosing fast shared hosting
platforms on SSD drives. You can take a free trial when you choose hosting. You can often get a whole range of
gifts as hosting gifts: SSL certificate, protection against DDoS attacks and much more.
You can also look at offers from other hosting providers. You can choose your own hosting, you can read all
the parameters and features on the website. Almost every hosting meets all the requirements of the WordPress
platform.
h the purchase of a domain name and hosting, you also get a personal e-mail address (or addresses). The
address You@YourSite.com looks a bit more professional than the standard Gmail address. (Mail registered with
Gmail works great!!!)
If you already have a domain name and hosting, you can skip this step and go to step 3 on Setting up your
site.
Which domain name should I choose?
Choosing a good website name can be the biggest challenge when creating a website. The domain name must be:
We have compiled some basic tips to help you choose a good domain name for your website:
1. 10 key words
Make a list of the 10 keywords that best describe your business. Then start experimenting with them: split
them up, combine them into new words, add prefixes and suffixes. This will give you lots of interesting ideas
for your domain name.
2. The name must be unique
Don't buy a name that confuses your site with another site. Focus on uniqueness otherwise your project will
fail before it is even launched. Never buy domains that are a modified form of an existing name (plural name;
hyphenated or misspelled name).
3. Choose names with a extension and local TLDsie en lokale TLD's
There is no shortage of domain extensions these days. But the problem is that few of them are worth your
attention. If you are going to create and develop your own brand, domain names with the extension .com are
considered the best option for this purpose. If you want to attract an international audience to your site, go
for .com, .org or .net (in that order).
Prioritize local domains. Example: .be for Belgium or .nl for the Netherlands. However, avoid domains as
.be.com
4. The name should be easy to remember and find.
Although people usually search for websites through the search engine Google, your domain name should be easy
to spell. Avoid names that are too long or have complicated spelling or contain words or sounds that are
difficult to remember. This will be a big blow to the marketing value of your brand.
5. The name must remain in memory
Make sure your domain name is attractive and memorable. Then it will be easier for people to recommend and
find your website online. You can have a great website, but no one will talk about it because people can't
remember its name.
6. A short domain name is the key to success
A short domain name is easy to spell and remember. Moreover, a short name allows you to put more characters in
the URL on the search results page and looks harmonious on promotional materials.
7. Don't forget about copyright
Although it is rare, this mistake can be fatal to a domain and a business. When choosing a name, be careful
not to infringe on the copyrights of others. Before buying a URL, check its availability at copyright.gov.
8. Avoid numbers and dashes
If a name contains dashes or numbers, it is harder to pronounce, remember and type on the keyboard.
So you have bought a domain name and chosen a hosting service. It's a start!
Now it is time to launch the website. The first thing to do is to install WordPress on your domain.
There are two ways to install the WordPress platform, one of which is FAR easier than the other.
1. To create a website on WordPress (Joomla or Drupal), use the One-Click Installation function.
Almost every self-respecting hosting service offers a '1-click install' feature for WordPress, which makes the
task much easier.
If you choose Majordomo or a similar hosting service, you will find this feature in the control panel of your
account.
Dit is wat u moet doen:
2. Manual installation (if required)
Some hosting companies do not offer a "1-click install" feature for WordPress. If this is the case, follow these instructions to install WordPress manually:
1) Download WordPress from here: http://wordpress.org/download
2) Create a new folder on your desktop and unpack WordPress in it.
3) Find the wp-config-sample.php file and rename it to wp-config.php
4) Open the wp-config.php file (e.g. in Notepad) and enter the following data:
After making the changes, save the file.
5) Go to your hosting's FTP server (you will need to download FileZilla for this). The FTP server address
usually looks like this: ftp.yourdomain.com. The username and password correspond to the username and password
for your hosting.
6) If you see the "index" file, delete it. Then upload the file from your WordPress folder to the FTP server.
In FileZilla, you can drag and drop objects with your mouse.
7) Then go to: yourdomain.com/wp-admin/install.php. You will see a page like this:
Fill in the fields and you're done!
So you have bought a domain name and hosting. You have installed and configured WordPress on your server. Now
you can explore the virtual world of your new website.
It's time to make your website look professional/beautiful/unusual (pick any adjective). It's really easy.
Before you know it, you'll be done!
The WordPress platform automatically installs a default theme, which looks like this:
This theme is called Twenty Fifteen. Its advantages are simplicity and minimalism. But you will probably want
to find something more unique for your website.
Fortunately, WordPress offers you thousands of themes that will make your website unforgettable.
1. Go to your WordPress control panel
If you don't know how to do this, here is the exact address of the control panel: http://yoursite.ru/wp-admin
(enter your domain name instead of "yoursite"). This is what the WordPress control panel looks like:
If you don't understand everything yet, don't worry. I will explain in detail what you need to do next.
2. View FREE topics
The Control Panel provides access to more than 1,500 free themes for your site. In the sidebar, click
Appearance and then select Themes.
If you have higher demands on the design of your website, you should check out paid themes. Paid themes have a
number of advantages over free themes. Firstly, reliable code. Secondly, high-quality technical support in
case of problems. Also, paid themes look more effective and have wider functionality.
But don't be too quick to choose a paid theme. I strongly recommend you take a good look at all the free
themes. There are a lot of good ones among them. As you can see in the screenshot above, installing a new
website theme is not difficult at all. You can use keywords and/or filters to search for themes. Finding the
right theme may take some time, but it will definitely be worth it! Try to choose "responsive" themes, i.e.
themes that look good on any mobile device. To do this, just enter " responsive " as one of the keywords!
3. Set a new theme
To install the new theme, first click Install and then Activate.
IMPORTANT:If you change the theme, your posts, pages and content won't go anywhere. You can
change themes as much as you like!
When launching a new website (be it a blog or a regular website), you often have to create a logo for it.
Depending on your artistic skills, creating a logo can be an exciting task or a real nightmare. There are
plenty of services willing to create a logo for you for free. A good logo can only be made by designer.
You need to know the name of your website and clearly understand what kind of business you do. The designer
will create several logo options. You can review and choose the one you like. The designer knows all the
standard formats (PNG, PDF, SVG, JPEG). Creating a professional logo is not feasible for everyone. Without
design skills, you cannot create complex and beautiful sketches.
Moreover, Logaster has the latest image editing tools. You can easily change the colour, text and arrangement
of elements on your logo. Logaster also offers a wide choice of icons and fonts for every taste.
Of course, the best option is to hire a professional designer. However, the price of such a service is high
and it takes much more time. If that doesn't suit you, you can always turn to online generators..
Examples of beautiful logos can be found here.
So, you have set up your new theme. Now you can start creating content.
Adding and editing pages
Would you like to add a "Services" or "About us" page?
Adding pages to a menu To add a new page to the navigation bar, proceed as follows:
Adding and editing messages
If you want to provide your website with a blog, you should now look at the Posts section. You can group your
posts into different categories.
To add a blog to your website, you can use different categories and posts. For example, you want to create a
"Blog" category. To do this, just add it to the menu and start posting.
Here's what you need to do:
Once you have created a category, just add it to the menu.
This section tells you how to customise your website.
Changing titles and tags
Page headlines are how users determine what topic your website is about. Headlines also affect how search
engines rank your website. Therefore, headlines should always contain relevant keywords.
Each page on your website should have a unique header. A tagline is added to the end of the header. To change
the header and tagline, select Settings -> General and fill in the following form:
Do you want comments to be disabled by default on every new page?
Choose Settings -> Discussion and uncheck Allow people to post comments on new articles.
Creating a static homepage
A static page is a page that does not change. Unlike a blog, where a new article is always at the top, the
placement of content on a static page remains unchanged (like on a homepage).
If you don't set up a static page, WordPress will show your latest posts on the homepage.
Editing the sidebar
Most WordPress themes have a sidebar on the right (sometimes on the left).
If you want to remove the sidebar or delete unnecessary functions (e.g. Categories, Meta and Archives), do the
following:
1. Select Appearance -> Widgets in the WordPress control panel.
2. Here you can drag and drop different "sections" to your sidebar or remove unnecessary features.
What is a plugin?
Plugins are extension modules that extend WordPress' standard functions, allowing users to add new features
and options. They are handy templates that allow you to avoid having to recreate a particular feature from
scratch.
Plugins allow you to add photo galleries and feedback forms, optimise your website and even set up an online
shop.
How do I install the new plugin?
To install plugins, select Plugins -> Add new.
There are 25,000 FREE plugins available for WordPress, so there is plenty to choose from. To install the
plugin of your choice, just click Install.
To save you time, I have prepared a list of the most popular and useful plugins:
Although these are not all useful plugins, they are a good basis to start with. More plugins can be found here.
If you have never had to deal with writing code or working with websites before, creating a website may seem
like a difficult task. But don't rush into finding a web developer. This guide will help you build a website
from scratch quickly and efficiently (plus it's free).
If you have followed this guide carefully, you will be the proud owner of your own website! I really enjoyed
writing this guide for you and hope it has helped you create the website you have always dreamed of!
