How to Create a Website: Step by Step Guide for Beginners

 

The unique challenge of creating a website from scratch offers a variety of benefits. Websites are still important for commerce in our day of social media, and small company owners must have one. Having a web presence is advantageous for job searchers, independent contractors, artists, and developers.

A mission, a plan, and the resources and abilities to carry them out are necessary for building a website. While aspiring web developers can dive into coding languages and other technologies to become website wizards, beginners can use web-building programmes to get their websites online quickly and relatively easily.

But where do you even begin? What are the benefits and drawbacks of building your own website versus using a website builder? How does WordPress compare to HTML? What is the price of creating a website? All of these are excellent questions, and we will address each of them in this essay.

 

 

Which is preferable: writing the code yourself or using a website builder?

Not everyone will have the same best website development method. Thankfully, you have choices.

A website can be created without any coding knowledge thanks to website builders like those provided by GoDaddy, Wix, Squarespace, Drupal, and others. Users are able to develop websites using these tools without any programming experience thanks to the range of templates and drag-and-drop elements they offer.

For people who don't know how to code, don't have the time or want to learn, or need assistance with the design, website builders are ideal. These tools provide a turnkey website if you require one. However, certain sites need a larger scale than what can be provided by standardised builders. That is when knowledge of website coding is helpful.

The two main languages used for web development are HTML and CSS, which we'll go over in more detail below.

WordPress versus HTML

Not a website builder, WordPress. A content management system (CMS), which is simply a

platform for hosting web content, is what it is. WordPress claims to be the most widely used content management system (CMS) in the world, hosting 42% of all internet content.

Like website builders, WordPress users can interact with the platform without knowing how to code, while WordPress does allow for the addition of HTML code if desired. This tool lets you build photo galleries and media embeds, generate forms for subscriptions or surveys, and make your site mobile-friendly. It also offers thousands of installable plugins.

WordPress also offers paid webinars and courses to help you improve your design abilities. It also has a name generator for company websites and a logo maker that can also be used as a homepage button. The learning curve for the CMS may be greater than for a website builder, especially to fully utilise all of its features, but WordPress users gain from more customization choices and the acquisition of transferrable skills.

WordPress offers a variety of membership plans, ranging from the free, basic version to a $45/month plan with features for receiving online payments. WordPress is still a popular choice for non-coders despite the fact that its sites are frequently slower than others and can only be edited and managed through the CMS.

In the meantime, one of the main web coding languages is HTML, along with its companion language CSS. The HyperText Markup Language, or HTML, is in charge of deciding where items are placed on a web page (e.g., placing text, photos, graphics). CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and HTML are combined by programmers to style the website's appearance (i.e., the look and feel). HTML is used by every website on the internet, including WordPress.

Indian website developers have total control over their creations thanks to HTML and CSS. Although it takes time and effort to learn HTML, web developers cannot function without it. HTML/CSS usage among seasoned developers is second, according to Stack Overflow's 2022 developers poll.

How to Create a Website from Scratch in 9 Easy Steps

Consider following the procedure through these nine steps to launch the greatest website for your requirements.

1. Establish Your Site

Even if a website is only used to showcase personal or family images or an online portfolio, it should have a goal statement. Be aware of what you want the website to convey to its target market.

You already know that a small business website needs to feature the necessities, such as an enticing home page, a thorough description of the company, and contact information. To ensure their reach, commercial sites typically need more market research. Additionally, websites need to provide visitors a cause to come back. For instance, real estate agents may highlight new listings, or restaurant proprietors may publish and update their menus.

Before you start constructing your website, decide how to make it unique in your industry, your market, or your neighbourhood.

2. Select a domain name and server

Finding a home for your website is the next step. The servers required to host your website as well as millions of others are provided by web hosting providers. Shared hosting services, for instance, employ a single platform to house numerous websites on a single server. With fewer sites, virtual private servers provide improved services. The most expensive hosting options are often dedicated hosts, but you own the server outright. At first, the selections could seem too numerous, but you can start out modestly and gradually become accustomed to what functions the best for your website.

It's critical to select the best web host for your goals and budget. Go Daddy, which provides rankings for web hosting providers, is a smart place to start. It's crucial to get the right domain name as well. The distinguishing symbol at the end of your site's name is the domain extension. The most well-known are.com (for commercial sites),.org (for groups like non-profits),.gov (for government sites), and.edu (for educational sites). Make sure your extension accurately depicts the kind of website you're building because the number of extensions is continually increasing.

The best advise we can give is to keep things simple. Out of the more than 1.8 billion websites globally, pick the one with the most obvious name for your website. The ideal name for your new company might already be taken (e.g., flowershop.com). To make sure your domain name is available, certain website builders and hosting services may conduct domain searches. A domain name should cost between $2 and $20 a year, according to GoDaddy.

3. Discover web programming languages

Learning the fundamentals of one or two programming languages can be interesting and worthwhile, even if you decide to use a website builder/CMS platform like WordPress.

The top web development languages are shown below.

How to Use HTML and CSS to Create a Website

As was already said, the building blocks of web creation are HTML and CSS. HTML is used by coders to decide where items should be placed on a web page, and CSS is used to style it. To completely construct a website, you'll need to understand both languages because they complement one another.

Mozilla calls HTML "the most fundamental building component of the Web." The linkages connecting pages are referred to as "hypertext" in HTML. The "markup" functionality is used by developers to describe several aspects of each web page. "Tags," which comprise an instruction between the ">" punctuation convention, are used to define these items. Among the most popular tags are:

• <a>: link

• <body>: body of a document

• <div>: section of a document

• <header>: header of a document

• <p>: paragraph

• <title>: document title

• <img>: image

Individual web pages are created by developers by converting a series of tags into code. Then, they use CSS to style these pages. CSS is "the first technology you should start learning after HTML," according to Mozilla. While CSS generates your page's design, including its colours, fonts, and overall appeal, HTML determines your page's structure.

You will first learn about properties, rules, and selectors in CSS. Selectors are an essential part of CSS since they identify the HTML components that need to be styled. Mozilla provides a useful introduction on CSS usage.

How to Code a Website with JavaScript According to Stack Overflow, 65 percent of developers use JavaScript, making it the most popular online programming language for nine years running. Websites come to life thanks to JavaScript, which also adds animations, photo slideshows, automated survey forms, and many other interactive features. You are probably utilising a JavaScript-built tool when you click on a video or drop-down menu.

In general, JavaScript is harder to understand than HTML or CSS, but it has a much wider range of options. A good place to start for aspiring coders to learn other languages is JavaScript because it uses terms found in other languages, such as variables, functions, and conditionals.

Python Website Coding Guide

Python is utilised for a wide range of tasks as a general-purpose language, mostly in web development. Since it uses English keywords and recognised syntax, Python is regarded as being relatively simple to learn. Python is useful to web developers because it has a large selection of packages and frameworks that make it easier to construct websites.

Among the many popular websites that use Python, Google and YouTube are just two. In reality, Python was used to create a sizable online pharmacy by a well-known developer in Eastern Europe.

4. Use Bootstrap

For good reason, developers have made Bootstrap a crucial element of site design. Bootstrap is a feature-rich framework that streamlines and makes it easier to develop websites.

Developers can paste a variety of prebuilt CSS and JavaScript code from the open-source Bootstrap project, which was developed at Twitter. For elements like lists, forms, tables, pictures, navigation bars, and much more, these files offer styling.

Themes for websites, dashboards, and a variety of other components are also available for download by developers. This saves a lot of time and trouble when creating these items and navigating tricky coding, especially in CSS. Additionally, once downloaded, they are all modifiable.

Additionally, Bootstrap aids in the development of responsive websites, which include pages that appear good on screens of all sizes. This function is essential for making websites mobile-friendly. Users can get Bootstrap for nothing.

5. Decide on a Design

Websites should be clear, interesting, and simple to navigate. The design greatly influences that.

Consider starting with one of the many templated solutions that come preinstalled in WordPress, Bootstrap, and website-building software if you are not a designer or are unclear of where to start. Look through them to locate the ideal fusion of components and aesthetics that will satisfy the demands of your website.

Websites can send out messages about you, your company, or your group. Make sure those statements are clearly expressed in the design of your website.

It ought to include a logo, a welcome page that sums up the website, and an overarching design concept. Additionally, it must be easy to navigate.

You could want to look into digital designers if you find website designing India to be onerous or if you need something more unique than what a template can provide. Depending on your needs, the price will change, however foduu.com lists standard prices for website design ranging from $99 to $299.

6. Make a sitemap

Your website's sitemap acts as its master blueprint. It not only arranges the material on your website, but it also aids with SEO, which we'll discuss shortly.

Every website should have a map with a list of its supporting pages and subpages on the home page. It should only take two or three clicks to navigate from one page to the next if they are organised logically to promote easy user access.

Determining the content of your website and how to present it is the first step in creating a successful sitemap. The following are some typical pages to take into account, though each sitemap will vary:

About\sProducts\sContact\sFAQ\sBlog

The people, companies, or organisations that the site supports are described on this page.

Google is one of the numerous businesses that offers sitemap generator.

7. Include Text and Pictures

You can now begin populating your website. To upload to the site, pick the best, most recent content and photographs you have. Pay close attention to headers and titles meant to grab attention. If at all possible, they should clearly and skillfully present your material.

Additionally, make it a point to frequently update the content of your website. It assists with repeat visitors and informs search engines that your website is still active. Additionally, avoid stuffing your website with too many graphics, videos, adverts, and other things that will clog it up and slow it down. Both the experience and the material are valued by users.

8. Improve for SEO

An online ranking system is search engine optimization (SEO). A website's ranking on internet searches will increase as its SEO performance improves, perhaps increasing the likelihood that users will visit the site.

28.5 percent of Google users, according to Sistrix, clicked on the first result of their search. The tenth search result's click-through rate, however, was only 2.55 percent.

To improve SEO performance, you can do a number of things. Prioritize the content of your website first, and ensure that pertinent keywords are used frequently. Every page should contain a title, a brief description, and captions for the photos. Apply the keywords and phrases that users are searching for to your website.

Make your website relevant to searches for "Best shoe shops in Los Angeles," or "Los Angeles shoe shops with free delivery," for example, if you're launching a shoe store there.

There are many ways for website owners to track the effectiveness of their SEO efforts. Google provides a number of tools, including Keyword Planner and Google Analytics. Additionally, it offers a starter SEO guide that outlines best practises.

9. Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly

Statista estimates that more than half of all web traffic is transmitted to mobile devices globally. According to CNBC, by 2025, more than 70% of internet users are expected to only use smartphones to access the internet.

Thus, your website must be compatible with mobile devices. What does that signify, though? A desktop website's content might not display effectively on the smaller screens of mobile devices. It could be challenging to read the content, navigate the menus, and scroll all the way down. All of this means that users will have to exert more effort to interact with your material, which is the exact opposite of what you want. This justifies the significance of mobile device optimization.

This is where the concept of responsive design is crucial. The user experience of your website depends heavily on responsive design, which transforms content to fit the user's screen size. Responsive themes are available through WordPress and other website-building applications to adapt websites for mobile use. Mobile device optimization of menus is crucial for e-commerce websites in particular. Additionally, effective search button use can speed up consumers' navigation of mobile websites.

Need to test your website's usability on mobile devices? Google has a Mobile-Friendly Test Tool that offers an immediate response.

These were the steps if you wish to create your website yourself. However it won’t be possible if you lack technical knowledge. On the other hand hiring a professional web design and development company India would be a wise and fair deal.

The sole reasons you should let a professional develop your business website are things like dependability, quickness, trustworthiness, price, and a clean professional style.

Contact FODUU, a professional web design company based in Indore, India, if you need assistance finding a business to build your website, and we'll offer you the support you require.