A web host is a big computer (aka, server) that stores your websites. Some giant companies – like Amazon, IBM, and FB, own and manage their web servers; other businesses simply rent their servers from a hosting provider (which is a lot more cheaper and easier).
Note: Skip this step if you are opting for a website builder to create your site (see step #3).
Some newbies-friendly hosting service to check out.
You can create your unique and distinctive website all by yourself if you know the main web languages and the fundamental of a website.
Otherwise, it is advisable that you skip to method #2 / 3; or, get in touch with a web developer.
Basic web languages / tools you should know:
HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) HTML is the basic structure of web pages and web applications which makes the content semantic to the web browser. It is consist of sequential tags which has an opening and a closing, and structurally a keyword enclosed by Angle Brackets. Ex: <strong></strong>
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) CSS is the styling language which is used to decorate the HTML markup of a web page. Without CSS, a web page would look nothing but a large white page having some unordered text and image on it. CSS is the thing that makes the page ideally how we want.
Database Management To store, manage and access user-input data of a website, a large table of information is considered which is called database. A Database Management System like MySQL, MongoDB and PostgreSQL is used in the server-side to do this job efficiently.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) FTP is used to transfer a website’s source files to its hosted server more easily. There are web based as well as computer software based FTP clients that can be used to upload one’s files to the server computer.
Step-by-step website creation process using IDE
Here is the overview of the process how you can create a first-hand website, assuming that you know the basic web languages and website essentials mentioned above.
Step 1: Setup a local working environment
In order to create and organize source files of a website, a good local working environment is important. You can create a web development environment on your computer device by installing an IDE (Integrated Development Environment). An IDE basically consists of a Text Editor, a Build Automation and a Debugger.
Sublime Text and Atom are some of the basic IDEs for web development supporting HTML, CSS, JS, PHP, Python and similar web languages.
On the other hand, there are extended IDEs like Adobe Dreamweaver which offers a handful of other features (Ex: Server Connectivity, FTP).
Step 2: Plan and Design Your Website using Adobe Photoshop
Planning website structure and navigation system are of grave importance. First, you have to understand how you want to deliver your content. Plan how many navigation menus, how many columns or content fields, how many images you want to include and where.
The best practice is opening up Adobe Photoshop and creating a rough drawing of your web pages. You might need to make different roughs for different pages, for example, the home page, about page, contact page, service page etc.
Step 3: Codify the Design using HTML and CSS
After you have finished up making rough designs for your web pages in Adobe Photoshop, you can start writing the source codes.
This is the easiest part. Make HTML markups for the web elements you wanted to include and use CSS to decorate them according to the designs you made.
Only HTML and CSS based websites don’t exist in modern days because front-end user interactions cannot be controlled through HTML or CSS.
Step 5: Upload Local Files to the Server using FTP Client
The final step is uploading all your source files to the web server. The best and easiest way of handling it is through an FTP client.
First, download an FTP client on your computer device and connect it to your web server using an FTP account. After you have successfully connected it to the FTP account, copy all your local files to the root of your web directory. Some good FTP clients are FileZilla, WinSCP and Cyberduck.
Method #2: Creating a website with CMS
Required Skills & Tools
Knwoledge: Basic operation of Computer and Internet; HTML, CSS, and PHP (not compulsory but better if you know the basics)
A CMS or a Content Management System is built so tactically that it fits first-day-at-work beginners to experienced web developers.
It is a software application that makes it easy to create and manage online contents. Most of them are open-source and free to use.
If you know the basics of HTML, CSS or PHP, it is advantageous for you. It is not a big problem if you don’t know because these platforms are very much intuitive. Here are top three free choices of CMS platforms you can choose according to your need.
WordPress, according to various statistics, is being used in the maximum number of blogs and small to medium sized websites. Nevertheless, many mighty big websites do prefer WordPress for its simplicity. WYSIWYG Editor is the only thing you need to learn in order to land your first content.
This platform is institutional for the beginners as well as heavily develop-able by different classes of web developers. It has many free plugins and themes on their own repository. For its being the #1 CMS choice, plenty of third party resources are available on the side.
Joomla is similar to WordPress in many ways. It is also easy to use, easy to install, and can easily be expanded with the help of modules – the equivalent of WordPress plugins. As a result, it is the second-best options for beginners.
However, beginners might be more intimidated to explore Joomla because of the number of available options. In addition to the left menu, there is also a menu on the top bar right above the “Control Panel” logo. To avoid confusion, remember that some of the items from the left and top bar menus are similar, including “Content,” “Users,” and “Extensions.”
Just like WordPress, Joomla has some styles and templates that can quickly give your site a distinctive look. But out of all three content management systems, Joomla offers the easiest solution when it comes to creating a social network. With platforms like EasySocial and JomSocial, you are just minutes away from your very own social networking website.
More technically advanced
Websites generally perform better
Modules are hard to maintain
Middle-ground CMS – Not as easy as WordPress, not as advanced as Drupal
Experienced web developers attest that Drupal is the most powerful CMS.
However, it is also the most difficult to use. Due to its flexibility, Drupal is the second most-used CMS in the world, but it is not a favorite amongst beginners. To successfully build a “complete” website using Drupal, you need to get your hands dirty and learn the basics of coding. Knowing your way around the CMS is also challenging for beginners.
Easy to learn
Great help portal
Updates integrate seamlessly
More built-in options
Steep learning curve at starting stage – recommended for advanced users
Step-by-step website creation process using WordPress
For this method, we will use WordPress as our example. By now you should already have a web hosting account and a registered domain name.
Step 1: Find the WordPress installer in your web hosting panel
Web hosting services usually feature a quick installer for installing WordPress and other common platforms.
So login to your web hosting account and find out which installer you have. The popular names you should search for are Softaculous, QuickInstall, or Fantastico.
Some hosting providers (example: SiteGround) use integrated installers in their user dashboard (the screen you see right after login to cPanel). In that case, just try to find the title that includes ‘WordPress’.
Step 2: Install WordPress through the installer
Softaculous is the most popular auto installer and it is featured on cPanel. I will walk you through the installation via Softculous. The other installers are pretty much the same.
Click Softaculous and then click on ‘Install’ over WordPress to begin the installation.
Here comes the important part.
Configure the options as following, leave other fields to the default configuration (will sort out later) and click install.
Protocol: You have to decide whether you want to install the http:// or the http://www. version of URL. Whatever you select, you won’t see much difference. From the technical point of view, http://www. is better in terms of flexibility and cookie management. Note that if you have a valid SSL certificate and want to install WordPress on it, just select https instead of http.
Domain: Select the domain on which you want to install the website.
Directory: Specify where you want to install the WordPress site. If you want to install it on your root URL (ex: http://www.yourwebsite.com/), keep it blank. If you want it on a sub-URL (ex: http://www.yourwebsite.com/myblog/), specify the directory in the field.
Admin Account: Set your username, password and email which you will use for logging in to your WordPress site.
If you have succeeded in the last steps, well done. Your website is live!
Now log in to your WordPress site. Your site’s login page will look like wp-login.php trailing the website URL you set.
Step 3: Install a theme and some important plugins
Next, you have to install a theme and the must-required plugins. Have a look at the left sidebar of your WordPress Dashboard.
There are tons of free ready-made themes available in WordPress directory.
To browse these free themes, go to ‘Appearance > Themes > Add New’, search for the theme that meets your requirements and click the install button.
You can also install third party themes from the ‘Upload Theme’ section. For paid, professional designed, WordPress themes, I recommend Elegant Themes (for its efficient code and beautiful front end designs).
For plugins, browse ‘Plugins > Add New’.
Search and install the plugins you only need. 3rd Party plugins can also be installed from the ‘Upload Plugin’ section.
Here I want to suggest a few important free plugins. Search by their names on the WordPress plugins directory to find them out. Note that installing just one plugin from each category is enough.
For SEO: Yoast SEO, All in One SEO Pack
For Security: iThemes Security, Wordfence Security
For Site Stats: Jetpack by WordPress.com, Google Analytics for WordPress by Monster Insights
Site builders have made it effortless and instant to setup a website. Without knowledge of web languages, one can launch his full-featured website in a matter of minutes. They offer Drag & Drop website builders which require zero coding knowledge.
The following three are the most-talked and potential website builders you can use.
Wix is one of the easiest site builders in the market that features 500+ fully-customize-able templates sorted under various categories. So it is pretty much sure that you will find one that suits you.
They are offering a flexible Drag & Drop website editor that is always visible over the content. You can drag one item from the list and drop it anywhere on the website to add. Any visible item on it can be moved or edited.
The only drawback is that there are on-site advertisements on Wix free plan. You can get rid of it by upgrading it to their Combo plan, which sets you back at minimum $12/month.
I recommend Wix basic paid plan – Combo. Wix Combo plan ($8.50/mo) features a free domain name, more CPU resources, and no Wix ads.
Step 2: Pick a template
Wix will ask you how you want to create a website. The quickest way they would suggest is Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) which is not very fruitful at the end.
So I will walk you through a little bit longer but the better way, the website builder!
You will see that there are templates categorized under different labels. Browse your prospective category and pick the one that suits you.
After finding a Wix theme that you like, click ‘edit’ to proceed.
Step 3: Design your website using Wix Website Builder
After a few moments, you will directly land on their intuitive website builder.
Designing a website is simple. You will see different tools on the left and the right side of your screen. Also, click anywhere on the website to edit the block or move it to another place.
Step 4: Publish the website
When you will hit the publish button, you will be asked whether you want a free subdomain or a full-featured domain. It is your call.
A few more tweaks are recommended.
Go to your ‘Wix Dashboard > Manage & Edit Site’ and configure SEO, Favicon, Social and Upgrades as needed.
And once you are done with these basic settings – your website is ready.
About Jerry Low
Founder of WebHostingSecretRevealed.net (WHSR) - a hosting review trusted and used by 100,000's users. More than 15 years experience in web hosting, affiliate marketing, and SEO. Contributor to ProBlogger.net, Business.com, SocialMediaToday.com, and more.