In today’s data-driven, digital-first business landscape, having a web presence has arguably never been more important for a business. A website is a quick and easy way for a business to expand its reach, build its brand, and keep up with the competition.
For new businesses, building a website can seem daunting, and those who lack first-hand experience may feel lost. Fortunately, with the proper preparation, it is possible to create a simple business website.
In this article, we will describe how to create a website from scratch. Before reading, it’s important to note that while this guide is collectively intended for beginners, it will explore some processes that may require intermediate to advanced coding and web development skills.
How to create a website from Scratch in 10 Steps
Building a website from scratch, while intensive, is a great way to ensure that your site reflects your business goals. In fact, doing so allows you to incorporate your unique vision from the very early stages of the site, tailoring aspects like aesthetics, navigation, and overall usability accordingly.
The following are ten crucial steps to building a site from scratch. zero.
1. Hone and align relevant skills
Before conceptualizing your new website, it’s important to first audit your previous relevant skills—those rooted in web development and coding. Such skills can be critical in building DIY sites, as they can help you handle crucial technical phases autonomously, which can allow for a smoother development process and easier creative control.
Useful prerequisites for website development can include coding in languages like JavaScript and HTML/CSS (for various design and usability factors), troubleshooting, and debugging (to ensure your site is consistently efficient, up-to-date, and free of crucial security flaws) and search engine optimization (or SEO, to optimize and market your site to make it discoverable and competitive within Google’s search algorithm).
Web development skills front-end and back-end are also very useful, allowing you to effectively understand and manage both customer-facing usability issues and underlying architecture of d the site to a full technical level. To get started with web development, consider our guide on becoming a web developer.
2. Set a Goal
With the key skills lined up, your next step is to set a broad goal for your new website. Ask yourself: What is the long-term purpose of this site? Is it to sell products? To express and expand your brand identity? What kind of user experience do you hope to provide? What user metrics will you track across the site?
Once you’ve answered all the relevant questions, you’ll find it easier to design the site’s interface, aesthetics, potential pages, and other aspects directly related to the site. his objectives. For example, if you plan to use the site to build brand awareness and facilitate digital transactions, you might design a home page that offers easy access to both featured online products and company updates, as well as information based in the identity (such as a full “About Us” section). Regardless of your vision, make sure your goals are as clear and detailed as possible.
3. Choose a hosting provider
Choosing a hosting provider is a relatively easy but crucial part of building a website, many leading hosting platforms (such as Bluehost and HostGator) have expedited this process and often provide domain registration free, discounted website building tools, and other perks for first-time signups.
As in the previous step, this decision should be based on your needs and goals for the site, especially those related to the structure and usability of the site. For example, if your site is intended to display image galleries and multimedia, you may want to choose a platform that allows space for larger files and an adequate speed. Using these criteria, you’ll be able to narrow your choices down to a few promising vendors and determine which one will be the most cost-effective, reliable, and in tune with your company’s aspirations.
4. Choose a domain name
Selecting a domain name for a website can be quick and simple in theory, but as GoDaddy points out, the choice is comparable to choosing a business name. It may require some thought and consideration, as your domain name will play an important role in your online identity. From an SEO perspective, an effective domain name can make your site more discoverable within keyword searches and can also make your site easier to promote through digital marketing campaigns.
With all this in mind, take the time to brainstorm some domain options, perform keyword research and other market analysis to identify a name that is short, punchy and indicative of the service or product that you are toastingYour domain should be easy to remember and attractive while reflecting your target audience or location (for example, you might consider including your location directly in the domain name).
5. Choose a template or site design
The design of your website will be critical to facilitating the intended user experience, and should be selected with careful planning and prior research. You can start by choosing a website builder with a variety of applicable site templates, narrowing your choices to those that feature styles and structure that reflect your vision. Such considerations may include whether you need elements of e-commerce, appointment scheduling, or other functionality intrinsic to your business. Assuming the theme can be customized to your liking, use it as a shell for larger development ideas, such as specific plugins and widgets, color schemes, and page order and hierarchy.
6. Create Relevant Pages
The most effective websites have numerous pages or sections, typically a home page and several supporting pages that represent different aspects of the business. As the primary building blocks of your site, these pages should be structured and ordered in a manner consistent with the intended user journey, and they should be accessible and easy to navigate. If you’re using a website builder, it will likely present the option to add, remove, and customize pages within the overall theme of your site. Use this functionality to create pages that collectively represent your site’s purpose and message.
For example, consider the official NASA website, which consists of a multifaceted home page and is supported by sections easily accessible and logically dedicated topics on current missions and initiatives, company history, and various downloads and related social media. Such a model benefits NASA users by providing them with all relevant information quickly and effectively. Regardless of your company’s identity or niche, it’s crucial to follow a similar approach to your site design: just focus on a sensible division of pages and avoid inundating users with too much information in a single space.
7 . Set up a payment system (if applicable)
If your site is intended to offer online shopping, equip it with an appropriate storefront design that showcases your company’s products or services. Seamless digital transactions are generally seen as a make-or-break feature for retail-oriented sites, so be sure to design your storefront accordingly. For starters, the most successful digital storefronts support a variety of payment methods, from credit and debit to connected services like Google Pay and PayPal.
In addition, your payment system should be built on fast, smooth, and secure payments. sure to instill a sense of fluency and confidence. This functionality can benefit your site’s bounce rate and ensure more products or services are considered for purchase. You can also make use of features like sticky header navigation, a type of header that remains static as users scroll, giving them constant access to search and purchase options. A positive and convenient user experience can go a long way towards customer loyalty and trust, and the most effective digital storefronts are a microcosm of this notion.
8. Test and Tweak Your Site
Now that the key pieces of your site are in place, you’ll want to spend a fair amount of time testing and tweaking your final product. Since usability remains one of the biggest indicators of site success in 2021, your main considerations should be your site’s user interface (UI) and the user experience (UX) conveyed. These elements can be assessed through usability testing and technical audits of the front and back ends of the site. To test usability, watch users navigate your site and take note of reported weaknesses, confusion, and other deficiencies noted along the way. Ask detailed questions to get equally in-depth feedback, which can lead to stronger solutions and a better overall user experience. As for the technical audit, take stock of site performance metrics (like page speed and media playback), various SEO factors (like content optimization, organic keyword mentions, and backlinks). functional backlinks) and issues related to the underlying code of the site.
9. Promote Your Site
After your site is live, it’s time to show it to your target audience. Fortunately, there are numerous effective ways to digitally market a website. Social media accounts are a fantastic tool for building awareness of the site. Many of these outlets allow users to directly link to site URLs, syndicate site content, and seamlessly guide followers to different pages on the site. Many site templates present opportunities to directly incorporate social links, which can benefit all linked entities from an SEO standpoint, as organic links can have a positive impact on authority rankings.
Other options include Google’s advertising and commercial features, which can help site owners market their properties through targeted ads and, if applicable, obtain related physical locations on Google Maps (with their links to corresponding websites). ). Webmasters can also make creative use of the site’s multimedia content to extend the reach of their website to other social markets. For example, a site-based video could be syndicated on social media with a link to the original content.
To learn more about fast, cost-effective options for website marketing, consider this list of ways free Ahrefs to promote your website.
10. Keep Your Site Up to Date
Even after your site is built and you’ve established a following, be sure to keep it up to date. As your site increases in tenure, users may become impatient or tuned out by stale and outdated content and poorly managed site usability factors (broken links, dysfunctional multimedia, etc.). So it’s key to keep your site active, and this goes beyond just posting and blogging.
HostGator recommends adopting several key habits to keep your site fresh. Among them:
- Create a content calendar to ensure your site’s content is consistent, fresh, and reflects current developments and trends.
- Reuse and republish older content if relevant in a modern context (possibly linking to original content for SEO purposes).
- Perform regular audits of desirable keyword mentions of the site and design-related factors.
- Consider updates to site templates and layouts that may better align with current events.
Also, keep a close eye on user feedback that can inform a user interface stronger site. For example, you might consider reinforcing your site’s theme or design if users report navigation issues through a mobile view. Be sure to communicate any such changes to your users, perhaps through a social media post or newsletter on the site.
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