The first steps of any web project are often the hardest
Creating your very own website can be an exciting and rewarding project. However, it can be slightly intimidating if it’s your first time. Designing and building a website used to be a tremendously difficult task but thanks to technology it’s now quicker and easier than ever before to create a quality website.
Whether you’re creating a personal blog or an e-commerce site, there are several things you’ll need to consider. But before you get started you should decide what you want to achieve with your website. This will help you make more informed decisions when it comes to design, functionality and content.
Once you have decided what it is you want to achieve, the first thing you need to do is choose a domain name and organise a web hosting provider. Your domain name is the address of your website and is how people will find you online. Web hosting is a service that allows you to store your website files on a server, which makes it possible for people to access your site.
After your domain name and hosting provider are in place, you’ll need to pick a platform to build your site on. There are whole range of website builders available to create professional and user-friendly websites, and the one you choose will depend upon your knowledge, your budget and your requirements.
Finally, you’ll need to think about creating a great website design and publishing engaging content to attract visitors and keep them coming back to your site. With an identity and good web hosting, a great web design and engaging online content, you can create a website that will help you achieve your goals.
What you’ll need to start creating a new website
1. Domain name
This is the name and address of your website (e.g. MyNewWebsite.com) and registering a domain name is an essential first step in establishing your online presence. It offers you a unique identity online and allows potential customers to easily connect with your website.
Registering your own domain also has the added benefit of allowing you to create personal email addresses. Make sure the domain name you choose is catchy and easy to remember and preferably reflects what your website is about.
2. Web hosting
Web hosting is a service provided by a company that stores your website files and data, and makes it accessible online. When it comes to creating a website, choosing the right web hosting service is key.
The web hosting service you decide upon will directly affect the speed, security, and functionality of your website. Choose a trusted company that has an uptime of at least 99.9% and good contactable customer support.
3. Content Management System (CMS)
A Content Management System, or CMS, is a software application that enables you to create and manage website content. It is an interface that allows you to customise all aspects of your site without necessarily needing any coding skills.
There are plenty of free and paid choices available and popular options include WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento and more. Pick one that’s easy to use and well supported.
4. Design layout
The best websites are often the simplest and the art of of great website deisgn is to keep it simple. Enure your layout is user-friendly, visually appealing and someting that compliments your content. A good place to start is to sketch out your layout on paper first.
Focus on the placement of key elements such as the site header and menu navigation, main content area and the footer. Once you have a rough idea of your layout you can use your CMS to bring your vision to life.
5. Engaging content
What’s a website without content? In fact without content you don’t actually have a website. And by that measure creating engaging website content is by far the most important, and time consuming, aspect of any website development.
Decide on what you’d like on your pages, what images or videos to include, and the tone of your writing style. It takes time, a lot of time, but unqiue and well written content will always be found by the search engines and ultimately attract visitors to your site.
Be patient and stay committed
Remember, like most things in life building a good quality website takes time, and a lot of work. The majority of web projects stall or even fail before they ever get off the ground because of this fact alone. Unfortunately people underestimate the work and effort involved to build a successful website. They want instant reward for minimum effort. However, it’s important to be patient and stay committed to getting to where you want to be with your website.