Learning to Build Your Website

1. A web host. The first thing you need to do when building a website is getting a web host. Every website takes up space on a physical server somewhere. Web hosting stores those files and makes your site’s content accessible to people online. I recommend HostGator because it’s reliable, safe and cost-effective. Moreover, it has five web hosting plans for you to choose. The shared hosting only costs $2.75 one month, including a free domain for a year.

2. A domain name. After you getting a web host, you need a domain name, where people will find your website on the Internet at www.your-domain-name.com. A domain name is the name of a website and typically consists of a top-level and second-level domain. A top-level domain (TLD) is the part of the domain name located to the right of the dot, with the most common TLDs being .com, .net and .org as they can be registered by anyone. A second-level domain (SLD) is the part of the domain name located to the left of the dot. For example, the SLD in ‘shopv.com’ is ‘shopv’. As long as a domain name is registered to you, no one else may use it.

3. Downloading and installing WordPress on your site. With WordPress, you can manage all of your website contents. WordPress is by far the most popular option for Content Management System(CMS), which is user-friendly. WordPress.com is the third party site where you can create free blogs, but WordPress.org is where you can download the WordPress software to install on a website. WordPress has over 57,000 plugins in its library – it’s huge. This is good because it means that you can use plugins to make WordPress do almost anything that you want, including using social media to drive traffic to your business website. But you should remember that too many plugins will significantly slow own your website.

4. Finding a great WordPress theme. The first option is to search within WordPress. Go to “Appearance > Themes” in the side menu and then click “add new” at the top: You can sort themes by “featured”, “popular,” or by any advanced “feature filter” that you’re looking for. Once you install a theme, you need to activate it for it to light up on your website. You can do that directly from the successful installation screen. Or, go back to your main themes page and you’ll see your new theme as an option.

The second option is to find a theme using a third party site. These are typically premium themes, so expect to pay $30-60 for a theme. You can find some great free themes, but the best ones are all premium options. It’s a one-time fee and I recommend it if you’re serious about your business. You can always start off with a free theme and convert to premium later, though. The most well-known marketplace is Themeforest, but, if you’d like to try others, just search for “WordPress themes” in Google.

5. Using a child theme. One of the most important steps to build a website is to protect it by using a child theme. A child theme is typically a style sheet that is kept separate from the rest of your theme’s files on the webserver. A child theme is a necessity in WordPress. You just need to upload it to WordPress (like any other theme) and activate it. Since there’s no functionality in your child theme, WordPress will keep using the parent theme (as long as you identify it correctly in the child theme).

6. Marketing your business. Firstly, you should get a logo. A logo is one of the main ways that customers will recognize your business. Secondly, you should write your website copy. Right now, you have a pretty empty website. Start by getting familiar with your CMS. Then, create basic pages, like the “About” page. Next, start filling in your home page with the first message(s) that you want new visitors to see. Thirdly, you can install Google Analytics to start gathering website data. Lastly, you should plan your marketing strategies.