We live in the technological era. That is why it’s critical to invest in your own piece of online real estate. Whether it is a personal blog, a small business or a major corporation an online presence will help to tap into a larger customer base and aid in your success. After all, a website is basically the new business card. It is professional and is an effective networking and marketing tool.
You have waited long enough and now you are finally ready to create your own website. Maybe your delay is linked to how daunting it once was to start creating a website, as you would have to know programming skills and coding. Thankfully, those requirements are a thing of the past and now you need only a few minutes for creating a website and getting it published online.
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Simple steps in creating a website
Before you create your website you first have to decide what you will call it by coming up with and registering a domain name. To help you decide on the most suitable name that best reflects your brand you need to understand exactly what your website is about. Is the website for your e-commerce business, your service business, resume website or personal blog?
Once you determine what exactly your website will be about and your target audience, it will be easier to create the perfect domain name. Ensure your domain compliments the brand and is catchy enough for visitors to remember.
Registering your domain name is not difficult and most web hosting service providers offer a domain name registration. The process is quite simple and affordable. Simply go to the main menu, select domain name and type in the name that you have come up with for your domain and check if it is available or already taken.
If it is available, meaning there is no existing website with that name, you can go ahead and select order now.
Try this domain name checker to see what’s available. What’s next after registering a domain name?
Choosing a web host
Congrats! You have just finished your first step in creating your website by registering your domain. Now it is time to find a Web host that offers the best hosting solution and best resources to help your website thrive. After all, your website cannot go online unless it is hosted somewhere. It is a wise decision with lots of added benefits when you have your domain registration and your web hosting plan under the same roof.
Different types of web hosting services
There are different web hosting plans to choose from with many beginners choosing shared hosting. That is because shared hosting is the most affordable and creates an easy way to get your site up and running in no time.
Shared hosting uses one server to host multiple websites by dividing the server into thousands of separate accounts.
However, if you expect that your website will receive a high volume of traffic from the get-go; you will need more resources than a shared plan offers.
You will require a Web hosting solution that offers more resources that are robust to help increase your site’s performance. For this, you can choose a VPS hosting plan or dedicated server plan. VPS uses virtualisation technology to create virtual private servers from a single server. It offers more resources and all accounts are isolated from the others. Dedicated servers are the most powerful hosting solution and each website gets its own devoted server with all the resources that come with it.
Choose resources based on your needs
Based on the resource requirements of your website, you can select the hosting solution that is best for you. You can simply click here to sign up now. Some hosting providers will even allow you to configure the plan that you have selected before checking out. That way you can increase your disc space, bandwidth, CPU and/or RAM as you see fit. You can sometimes choose the number of IP addresses you want. Whether you are satisfied with the plan as is or you’ve added a little configuration, once complete, simply click on continue.
You’ve selected your hosting plan, now it’s time to choose how you want to be billed for these hosting services. Do you want to be billed on a monthly or annual basis? Note that the longer your term the greater the discount you will get. Select when you want to pay and voila, you now have somewhere to host your website. This means you are now the proud owner of your own website, now you need to add content, which you’ll share with the world.
Specialised hosting services
Some hosting providers sometimes provide WordPress hosting service or come equipped with one particular CMS. Others sometimes give you the option to choose from several including, Drupal, Joomla etc. The hosting packages offered by hosting.co.uk are equipped with WordPress hosting services. The installation of your website database may take a few minutes to be completed.
Logging into your WordPress dashboard
Since our hosting plans already come with WordPress, all you have to do is install it. With the use of Softaculous one-click app installation, you’ll be able to install WordPress and any other app you want in no time. Simply log into your cPanel, click on Softaculous, go to the Software/Services section, scroll down to the WordPress app and click on it to install it.
With WordPress installed you are ready to create the visual part of your website. This is your representation of your brand to the world. Here you will get to choose a theme, add content, post pictures, and videos. You can even add links to your social media platforms.
Choosing a theme
Look for a theme that captures the essence of your website and represents your brand. Ensure it is clean, uncluttered, and appealing to visitors.
Cluttered or busy themes slow down the speed of your site and can result is negative user-experience.
Also, select a theme that is SEO-Friendly, optimised for all devices and translatable. Once you find a theme that you like with the right layout and colour scheme, click install. Configure it with your website information and then do a preview to see what your site will look like when someone else visits. You are doing great! It is now time to write your first post.
PRO TIP: if you have an old website with similar topics, you can redirect them to your new website using permanent redirects URL by URL or using some 301 redirect rules. By doing this, you will receive extra organic traffic and some link equity will be added to your new website. Remember your authority is starting from scratch so this would be a good push.
Writing your first blog post
Can you believe that a few minutes ago you were pondering whether you could create your own website? Look at you now. I know you are excited because everything is coming together perfectly. You have a beautiful website and all it needs now is some content.
To write your first blog post go to posts on the menu and select add new. Go ahead and type your blog right there on your website or if you have already created content you can go ahead, copy, and paste it in the post. Either before or after writing your post you can select the format you want your blog to be posted.
After editing your post, you can add images and videos. You can also add tags and keywords to your post so that persons searching for related topics can find you. After doing this click on publish. Just like that, you have created your own website and have published your first of many posts. Congratulations!
Do not forget to share your website link on all your social media platforms so that persons can interact with your content.
Conclusion
You have achieved the goal of creating your own website and you did it all by yourself. Now you can start adding other elements to your site, such as contact forms, galleries, videos and social media links. You can also add plugins that will give your website additional features. Also, ensure that you keep your website updated, backed up and secure.
