By typing something like "how to make my own website" in the search bar, you've taken the first step! Building websites has become an incredibly easy task with all the tools and support given by the hosting companies. Watching your first website grow is a great feeling.
1. Register a Domain Name
The first, and most crucial, step in creating your own website is getting a domain name. A domain is what you see in the URL address bar (Google.com, etc.). The domain is usually the name your website will be going by. These domain names must be bought and registered with a low annual fee before a website can be created. These can be purchased through online registrars or the web hosting company you select in the next step.
2. Choosing the Right Web Host
Now you must choose the right foundation for you website. A web host will provide you with all the tools needed to build and maintain your own website while they manage the technical issues. These companies manage large amounts of servers for you to store your data on. A great web hosting company will be cheap, have 24/7 live support, and at least 99% uptime. There are many to choose from so it is advised to look up many Top 10 reviews and find what works best for you.
3. Designing the Website
Building a website from scratch has now become easier than ever with tools like Fantasico. Located in the cPanel, Fantasico will allow you to easily setup applications such as WordPress to help manage your website. It will walk you through the installation process and generate a changeable username and password, along with the URL to the admin page of your website. There are hundreds of thousands of great website templates readymade all over the internet for you to quickly upload to your website to give it a professional look.
4. Making it Search Engine Optimized (SEO)
Do some basic research on SEO to find helpful tips and tricks for increasing traffic to your website through the search engines. Keywords, tags, placements, and other minor things can have a great impact on how search engines like Google will rank your website. The higher ranked it is for certain keywords, the closer your site will be to front page #1-#10 which is where the most people will see it. For more advanced SEO, there are hundreds of companies that provide SEO services or you could toss a request up on a freelancing website.
5. Content is King
Now that the website is finished and SEO is being handled, it is time to focus entirely on content! Search engines like Google LOVE unique content and will reward you with more traffic for it. Keep the website updated often with new content and as it grows, so will the amount of people seeing it.
As your websites continue to grow, you will look back at when you typed " how to make my own website " and laugh to yourself on how easy the process was.
