How I Build My First Website From Scratch๐ Complete Guide
“Behind Every Great Achievement Is A Dreamer Of Great Dreams.”
A dream of making my own website was in my heart for a long tie. Most of us have it but not everyone has the guts to follow that dream. But those who take that one risk wins among all. Same happened with me. I take the risk , the first step which is always the hardest. Went through all the hardships and made an excellent website.
And here I am sharing my learnings with you which I think is going to be helpful for everyone who wants to build their own website. The motive of writing this blog is to help others, providing them the right guidance which sometimes we lack the most.
I am going to keep the language so simple that anyone can understand it properly, even if you are someone who knows about the tech world, or not. Either you are having some experience with websites or not.
This blog is just for you.
Let’s get started…..
Why it is important to have a website
Before getting on How I made my first website from scratch let us first talk about why it is important to have a website. We all know that this is the 20th century and everything is shifting towards digital. In today's high tech world it has become so important to evolve . Having your own website can help you in many ways. Either you are a business person, someone who wants to establish their brand or even someone who wants to share their life story or journey to everyone through blogging. Having a website will solve mostly all the problems that you will face. These are some of the key importance of having your own website -
- Develop an online presence and brand identity
- Establish trust and credibility
- Increase organic traffic
- Provide information and customer service
- Generate leads and sales
- You can do social help by sharing knowledge
- You can earn money through your website
And there are many more reasons that show the importance of having a website. I think now you are clear why we need a website in this tech savvy world. But now the question arises, how can I build a website from scratch without having any knowledge about programming ? Don’t worry , I am going to share with you how I did it. And I am damn sure my learning is going to help you in making your website.
How To Build A Website From Scratch
Trust me guys when I say that making a website is as easy as saying it. I am not joking , yes it is easy but only if you use the right methods and take correct guidance. When I decided to make my website I took help from my friend who is a developer. He helped me in guiding through the complete process. Let me take you through the step by step process so that you can understand easily.
1. Know your website’s purpose
This is the first step and also the main one. You should know the purpose of your website. What your website is going to be. What is the main goal of the website? What is the target audience? What content you will keep there. Is your website for selling products or for blogging ? Is it to showcase your portfolio or to offer services , or any other purpose. If you are selling products then your website should have features like ecommerce , product pages and other user friendly shopping experiences. On the other hand, if the main aim of your website is to provide information, then the focus should be on delivering valuable and engaging content that should attract the visitors.
Research about your competitors , look at what they are providing and what they are doing. Their content strategies, their strengths and weaknesses.
You can also use tools like ahrefs and semrush to do it. But for basic level you can just go to google and look out there.
2. Pick and register your domain name
Most amazing part of the process is choosing a domain name and registering it. A good domain name can impact greatly on your visitors. It makes a positive impression and conveys that you are professional. Also , it is not a big factor but if you have a keyword rich domain name it helps in Search Engine Rankings. While choosing your Domain name remember some factors like - it should be short and simple. Avoid using numbers and other extra things. Use your keywords in it. Also it should match with your website.
When you finalize your website domain name check if it is available or not. If that name is already taken then you must need to rewrite it or make changes in it. You can choose .com , .net , .org , .online , .store etc extensions. Remember to choose an extension which suits your website’s goals and audience. And then follow the last step and register your domain name.
3. Choose your website building platform
You might be thinking what a website builder is ? Let me clear it to you. Website builder is a very popular and affordable solution that helps you build , personalize , setup , design, publish and even manage your website without any programming or coding. Always choose a website builder which is easy to use according to your technical skills. Keep in mind about speed, security, reliability, hosting , customizability and other such factors. Also it should fit into your budget. Look for platforms that offer good support.
You can use Hostinger website builder , it is an amazing choice. It offers various features only designed to simplify the process . It is a no code builder which is a perfect tool for beginners to designers. You don’t need any technical skills. You can easily move and add or even resize elements by just drag and drop. You can see the changes to your site in real time as you make them, which helps you in visualizing how your website will look once published.
You can also use wordpress. It is a popular content management system (CMS) which is known for its flexibility and customization options. It is best for many things from simple blogs to complex ecommerce sites.
You can also go to a
web development agency who can help you in making your website from scratch. They will provide you with all the guidance from Hosting to even managing after it is done. If your budget is not that much then you can hire a freelancer from freelancing platforms like fiverr.
4. Secure a hosting plan
The choice of web hosting impacts directly on your website’s performance, its speed, reliability and storage. I purchased my hosting from
Rankoq. It has top notch features like 200 Gb NVMe storage, 100 websites, increased performance up to 5x, unlimited free SSL , unlimited bandwidth etc. Also if you are using Hostinger website builder, then hosting is already included in your plan, so you don’t have to worry about this step.
But keep in mind before selecting a hosting plan know the different types and varieties of hosting plans because they all have different features and budget too. Some popular types of Hostings are shared hosting, VPS hosting, Cloud hosting, Dedicated hosting and managed WordPress hosting etc.
5. Plan your site structure
Just imagine you made a website but it is not user friendly. If your visitor is looking for some page but not able to find it, there are high chances that you are going to lose that visitor. Therefore it is necessary to plan your site structure. Plan your site structure according to user experience , SEO benefits and Content organization. A well planned site structure will help you in managing your content and updating it. It will help you in rankings, reducing bounce rates, and increasing engagement.
Some basic steps you need to follow to plan your site structure are as follows -
Create a sitemap - A sitemap shows your site’s structure and shows relations between different pages. Make pages for all the sections you want in your website. Like Home, Blogs, Contact us , About us etc. Arrange these pages in an order.
Prioritize important content - Keep important content on your Home page. Like your products, or latest blog posts or any other services. Include good CTAs on key pages to guide visitors towards taking actions like contacting you, signing newsletter or buying products.
Organize your content in such a way that it directs users naturally from one page to another. From Home page to about us page type.
6. Design your website layout
As it is said that “Looks Matters A Lot”. When your website is designed well , your chances of getting leads increases by 101%. A well designed website improves user experience, increases traffic and even motivates your users to explore more of your content. Therefore select a good template or theme.
There are various ways from which you can buy
premium wix templates. They are best for someone who knows about designing and wants to build a website from scratch. After choosing the right template, customize your website according to your website’s purpose. Choose color themes, fonts and images which aligns your website.
Keep your focus mainly on user experience. After designing your website, test out if it is according to user experience or not. Avoid keeping all your content together. Use proper spacing. Use proper Headings and subheadings like H1, H2, H3 etc.
7. Add important pages
Adding important pages means to add pages to direct your visitor and provide them a smooth journey of your website. Add pages like Home page , About us page, Contact us page, Blog page , Product pages. They should be in a sequenced manner to guide visitors properly. After that add some additional pages like FAQ page, Reviews and Testimonial page, you can also include Portfolio and case studies. Don’t forget to add a privacy policy and terms and conditions page. They hold a very important place in your website. If you don’t know how to generate a privacy policy you can use any online
privacy policy generator to generate it for you.
8. Fill your website with content
Creating high quality content is very very important for attracting visitors. Engaging content helps you convey your message to your audience , also builds trust and encourages interaction. Use images and infographics in your content. Use high quality images that support your content and look appealing. Also do not forget to optimize your images so that they load faster. Your text should be clear and concise. Break them into different parts , like in headings , subheadings and bullet points to improve readability. Remember your content should be SEO friendly.
Key points to remember while writing content for your website -
Always check if your website is following all the guidelines regarding adult material. Sometimes there is some sort of content that doesn't adhere and you will get in trouble. Always check
adult content laws before writing anything. Just for a safe side.
10. Optimize for search engines
What if you made a website but it is not even ranking on search engines. All your efforts will go in waste. That’s why you should optimize your website for search engines. It will attract organic users. Follow these steps to implement basic seo in your website.
- Use relevant keywords - Do proper keyword research and analyze what keywords your user is searching for. After doing keyword research, use those keywords in your website, either in your blogs or anywhere. Don’t forget to use your keywords in Heading and subheadings.
- Meta Tags - Make sure to use meta tags and description for each and every page or your website. You should write in such a way that your users click them and visit your website. This helps in increasing the CTA of your website.
- Linking - Make sure to link external and internal pages on your website. Linking related pages helps in improving structure and search engine rankings.
- Image with Alt text - Make sure you use images with alt text. It should describe your images and be keyword friendly.
- Site speed - Improve your site speed so that it can load in less time. You can use tools like google speed insights to check the speed of your site. It gives a complete report of page speed.
- Mobile friendliness - While making a website most people forget to make it mobile friendly. The website looks like something else in laptop and mobile. Make it sure that your website is responsive and works well on all devices.
- SEO analysis - Nowadays SEO has become so important in every place specially in websites. Get a detailed SEO analysis and review how well your website is optimized for search engines. It highlights areas that need improvement and offers actionable recommendations to improve your content and technical SEO.
- Custom URLs - Create custom URLs for each page. This will make it easier for search engines to index your content and improve your site’s SEO performance.
11. Test and launch your website
Test your website before publishing it. Check for dead clicks, make sure your website works well on web browsers like chrome, firefox, etc. Make sure it is responsive in all devices like mobile, laptop, pc , tablet. Always check if there is no dummy content placed in your website. When there is dummy content on your website google will consider it thin content. If there is, use
placeholder text in place of it.
Once testing and content reviewing is complete, then it’s time to launch your website. After publishing, submit your website to search engines like Google and Bing for indexing using tools like Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
12. Promote and maintain your website
Last but not the least , Promote your site. After the website is live, promote it. It will help you in the long term. Apply marketing strategies, know how you can promote your website. Whether it is email marketing, social media marketing or content marketing. Try out everything. I remember when I was done making my website , I shared my articles and blogs with my friends and asked them to reshare it with their friends. You can also do paid marketing. It can be through ads. Also regularly update your website. Regular updates are a must after publishing your website.
Conclusion:-
Building a website from scratch is a fruitful process that starts with just a small dream. By now, I guess you know the steps needed to make your own website. By following these steps, you can quickly build a professional website that effectively supports your goals, including growing your brand, engaging your audience and driving sales. These are the steps that I followed and wanted to share with you. Feel free to make modifications and changes according to your needs.
So I already made my website. What about you ?
When are you planning to make yours ?
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