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How to Create a Website from Scratch

Creating a website is much easier than you think; just follow the steps below and I guarantee that you will end up owning a site you will be proud to call your own. Alternatively, you can hire a web design team, and then ask them to create and tweak your site to perfection. We will choose the former route in this article, though.

create websiteAny website needs a unique domain name, which is relevant and easy to remember. When you buy a domain name, it's as if you rented a house. Please note that I said "rented", not "bought", because that's what you are actually doing. You will need to renew the "contract" each year; otherwise, you will lose the domain name, and somebody else may buy it. The good news is that the domain renewal fees are quite low, ranging from $10 to $30/year. And do not worry, most registrars will send you domain expiration notices in advance.

So, how do you pick a suitable domain name? Sites such as https://www.nameboy.com/ and https://instantdomainsearch.com/ can make the task very easy. Just type in one or two words that describe your business properly, such as "organic tea", and you will get a list of relevant suggestions, which include domain names like shoporganictea.com, onlineorganictea.com, etc.

When people type in your domain name into their browsers, that name is translated to an IP address, such as 181.202.44.190, because computers can't understand names. The process is very similar with what you are doing when you're searching for a specific location using your phone's GPS: you type in "Mamma's Pizza", for example, and that name is automatically translated to the proper latitude and longitude coordinates, a pair of numbers which would be way too hard to memorize.

Don't forget that your domain name will be shared with potential and existing clients, so it has to be memorable. Keep it as short as possible. Pick a good top-level domain (TLD); go for a .com domain whenever it is available. If you can't find a good .com, choose the .net and .io extensions, which are preferred by search engines.

Okay, now that you have got a good domain name, it's time to buy a hosting package. When you do that, you are actually renting online space on the Internet. So, this is a recurring fee as well, and it will set you back about $5 to $50/month.

You can purchase a shared web hosting account, which allows you to store the files used for the site on a computer which serves as a virtual home for hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of other people and companies. This is an affordable solution, but it's not the best one, because your site won't be loaded that fast on a shared server. Additionally, if other people's sites get hacked, your site may be compromised as well.

The alternative is to purchase a dedicated hosting package, which costs more, but gives you access to a virtual server that isn't shared with anyone else. This means that your site will run much faster and its security features will be improved.

It is time to fire up a website builder. Most web hosting companies offer free site builders to their customers, so choose one of the existing site prototypes, and then tweak it to your liking. Alternatively, you can choose to install a popular site creation platform, such as WordPress or Joomla. If you go the WordPress route, there are thousands of free themes that can be used for your site. Just go to this link - https://wordpress.org/themes/ - and pick one that looks good to you and has a great rating.

If you prefer a hands-off solution, look into Squarespace or Wix, which incorporate powerful site builders and website hosting into a single package. You will only need to pick one of the available templates and then edit its pages until you are happy with the result of your work.

Now that your site is finished, it's time to hit that "Publish" button and make it live. Then, include its link in all your social media profiles and let all your virtual friends know about it.