How To Build a Website: A Beginner&39s Guide (Video 2023)

Building a website is the fastest way to accelerate your business.

It’s the best way to build your brand, find new customers and increase sales. If you’re a business owner in 2023, you need a business website to get the job done.

Your business website stands on its own. Automate and sell. Connects with customers and promotes deals.

Your website searches for people and opportunities around the world 24/7. Brand awareness, lead generation, customer retention, loyalty, sales, and a digital home to call your own all start with building a website.

Good news: Creating a new website for your business is easier than you think. You know how to use a computer and have access to the Internet, which means you can create and launch your website for little cost.

This tutorial will take you step-by-step through how to create a website and show you some of the best examples of business websites that you can take inspiration from.

How to Create a Website: Video Guide

How to Create a Website with a Free Website Builder, Step by Step

1. Decide the goal of your website
2. Choose a website builder
3. Choose a web host
4. Choose a custom domain name
5. Decide on a layout
6. Add relevant pages
7. Connect a payment system
8. Add business tools
9. Preview, test and publish your website

1. Decide the goal of your website

Before you start building a website, it’s important to understand your goals. Goals give you a long-term view and help you manage your time and resources so you can build the best website possible.

Set specific goals for your business website, such as:

• Sell physical or digital products
• Sell services
• Give visitors a place to learn more about your business
• Expression of your brand identity
• Share updates and announcements
• Feature customer reviews
• Converting website visitors into leads
• Increasing your online presence

It’s okay to have more than one website goal of your company. Just remember to create a strategy to achieve each one.

For example, let’s say your goal is to sell physical products. How will your website do it? Will you arrange your store to make it easy for visitors to browse your collections? Thinking of offering first-time buyer discounts to encourage sales? Which payment gateways will you use?

The more detailed your goals are, the easier it will be for you to plan and succeed with your business website.

2. Choose a website builder

The fastest way to create a business website is with a website builder. An easy-to-use website builder can get you up and running quickly, with little effort or coding skills. New business owners benefit from these tools because they can easily set up a website.

Best Website Builder Software:

• Will provide templates to speed up your website creation
• Will allow you to customize website templates
• Save time and money instead of hiring a web designer or developer
• Offer a library of stock images and videos
• Have a drag-and-drop design tool and drop to make changes easily
• Make it easier to optimize your website for search engines

Sometimes, you may need more customization options for your site Web. A good website builder tool will also give you access to the HTML or CSS files. This way, you can edit the code and take full control of your website if necessary.

Whether you’re starting an online store, selling services, or blogging, you can use the website builder from Shopify to create your website. fast.

When you build a website on Shopify, you get access to beautiful mobile-responsive themes, 24/7 live support and free SSL certifications, and you can accept payments directly on your website (without third parties). required). It’s also a complete content management system (CMS), so you can organize and manage your digital content.

If you want to try Shopify before committing to a paid plan, you can start with a free trial.

Other good drag and drop editors include:

• Weebly
• 3dcart
• Volusion
• Wix
• Squarespace
• GoDaddy

3. Choose a web host

All the websites you have visited are hosted on a server. Web hosting is making space on a server for your website, usually offered by a provider. Web hosting makes your website files (images, code, audio, etc.) visible on the web.

Choosing a hosting provider can be a challenge. Each web hosting company offers different amounts of monthly data transfers, email accounts, storage, and other services. The way you pay can also differ from provider to provider (for example, monthly payments vs. annual payments). Therefore, taking the time to know exactly what you need from a web host is essential to the success of your website.

Look for web hosting providers that offer the following:

• Unlimited bandwidth, so you’re never charged for more site traffic web as it grows .
• PCI Level 1 compliance, to keep customer data safe and secure.
• Hassle-free setup to build your website in minutes and be able to update features instantly.
• Fast servers, so customers can load your website quickly, no matter where they are.
• Unlimited email forwarding, to save time and help your business look professional.
• Your own domain , so you can quickly create and register a domain name for your website.

Shopify offers fast, reliable, and free web hosting for small businesses around the world, no matter which plan you choose. Shopify also provides a free domain for new websites until you’re ready to create a custom one. Learn more about Shopify’s website hosting plan.

4. Choose a custom domain name

A domain name is like a digital address where people find you online. It gives your business credibility and helps you rank higher in search for industry-related keywords. You can customize a domain name to make it easier for customers to remember it and find your business later.

Some companies, like Biko, an online fashion retailer, get creative with their domain names. The brand uses the domain ilovebiko.com. It’s relatable but clear and puts customers in the right mindset once they arrive.

When choosing a domain name, be sure to:

• Keep it short, customizable, and easy to remember
• Avoid hyphens and numbers
• Try protecting a top-level domain, such as .com
• See other TLDs, such as a specified country or .shop
• Include search engine optimization (SEO) keywords, if possible
• Use a domain name generator for inspiration

5. Decide on a Design

Now that you have a domain name and web hosting set up, it’s time to choose a design for your site. Your website builder will probably offer themes or templates that you can install on your store. Use these templates as a starting point for designing a basic website.

Themes are usually divided into categories. Some may be better for large product catalogs. Others are made for service businesses and certain industries, like restaurants or health and beauty.

The Shopify Theme Store is home to over 70 free and paid themes, each with their own styles and features. You can choose from themes created by world-renowned designers, including Happy Cog, Clearleft, and Pixel Union. Each high-quality theme is customizable and easy to use, allowing you to preview your storefront as you make changes to it.

Keep the following points in mind when choosing the perfect theme:

• Themes come in several styles. Find one that has the design aesthetic you want.
• Everyone themes come with built-in features. Consider which one you need based on your website goals. For example, if your goal is to make products easy to find, look for a theme with an autocomplete search bar. If you want to highlight awards and recognition, consider a theme that has a multimedia section.
• Don’t choose themes based on colors or fonts. You can customize these details later.
• Try different themes before committing to them. You’re never stuck with one theme. If you decide you don’t like the responsive design of a theme on mobile devices, you can install a new one without rebuilding all your web pages.

If you need help designing your store or need more customization, you can always bring in a web design expert. We suggest hiring a Shopify Expert to help make your store a huge success.

6. Add Relevant Pages

A relevant page on your website means different things depending on your type of business. If you are running an eCommerce site, product pages and collection pages are necessary. If you’re a restaurant owner, you’ll want landing pages for your menu and special offers.

Real estate professionals will likely add a page to display their listings and a form to collect the prospect’s contact information.

But your company’s website needs to do more you promote your business. You need to build trust with visitors and help them understand your business.

The standard pages you want to include on your website are:

• Home Page. This is the entrance to your website. It will communicate who you are and what you provide. Use the home page to make a good impression on visitors and guide them to actions on your site.
• Product or service pages. Create pages that explain your offers and get buyers to buy. You will want to create separate web pages for each product or service you provide.
• Contact page. This gives people a way to get in touch if they have questions. You can include different ways to get support or direct people to a frequently asked question. Or create a contact form where people fill out their information and send a message to your support team.
• FAQ page. Here you can answer common questions people have about your business. It’s great to encourage self-service and free up customer support teams.
• About Page. Create a page that tells your story and explains your business model. An About page helps connect with visitors and builds trust between them and your business. You can also add links to your social media profiles.
• Policy pages. Regardless of your business model, there are certain legal policies that you must follow. For example, you will need a return policy and a shipping policy.

You don’t have to stop there. Try to create any pages that build trust with customers, such as blog posts or buyer’s guides, and showcase your offering in the best light.

7. Connect a payment system

The ultimate goal of building your website from scratch is to generate sales. You want to make it easy for visitors to buy through your website. A continuous payment system is not negotiable.

Shopify makes it easy for business owners to accept credit cards and other popular payment methods. You can offer express checkout options like Shop Pay, G Pay, or PayPal, or let customers pay over time with Afterpay.

When you set up Shopify Payments, you don’t have to deal with third-party activations. You will only need to enter your employer identification number and banking information to start selling online quickly. Shopify Payments comes with any Shopify plan.

8. Add Business Tools

As a small business owner, you’re used to doing things independently. But sometimes, you could use a little extra help. Your business website can easily become a digital vendor.

In addition to your template’s visual assets and features, Shopify offers over 3,200 plugins and add-ons to simplify managing certain parts of your online business. In the Shopify App Store, you can find free Shopify apps to help you:

• Build an email marketing list
• Find trendy products to sell on Line
• Run Facebook Ads
• Create Lead Generation Popups
• Offer Live Chat Support
• Create Loyalty Programs
• Integrate with online retail sites
• Add more payment gateways to your shopping cart
• Understand Google Analytics data

These business tools can unlock new opportunities for your website that improve the customer experience and increase sales. It all comes down to finding the right apps and the prices that meet your business needs.

9. Preview, test, and publish your website

Building a professional website for your business is the beginning, not the end. Test your website. Run a quick user experience check and make sure your products and services are being presented well. Check that there are no broken links or images. Send your website to colleagues, friends and family to ensure it loads quickly, correctly and is mobile friendly.

If you’ve followed this step-by-step guide, your new business website should be ready to go! Give it one last look to make sure everything looks good, then click Publish.

How to Create a Website with WordPress

1. Decide if WordPress is right for you

WordPress is an open source platform for building and managing websites. Its main attraction lies in its extensive customization options. There are many plugins, themes, and apps available for WordPress.

WordPress is a popular platform for eCommerce website builders because it has a wide range of options for building a store. A popular eCommerce platform on WordPress is WooCommerce.

Here are some considerations when choosing WordPress:

• WordPress is not an all-in-one platform. To use it as an eCommerce platform, you’ll need to install and manage additional extensions.

• WordPress is less beginner-friendly, especially if all you need is a simple website. You are responsible for the technical setup of your site, including hosting, maintenance, backup, and plugin installation. This may be a sensible option if you are comfortable with them (or willing to pay for outside assistance).

In short, use WordPress if you are technically proficient and willing to spend time setting it up.

2. Buy the Right Hosting Plan

No matter what kind of website you build, it has to live on a server. All of the images and videos on your site, along with their files, plugins, and extensions, all live on a server owned by a hosting service. Typically, you’ll pay a monthly fee for that service.

It’s important to get a reputable WordPress host. Some things to keep in mind are:

• WordPress specialty. Some hosts will offer custom setup and services for WordPress sites; It’s not always necessary, but it’s a nice bonus.
• Unlimited bandwidth so you won’t be penalized if you have a sudden influx of visitors.
• Easy setup. Setting up WordPress sites will require manual effort, but hosting services can do a number of things to make it easier.
• Fast servers allow customers to load your site quickly, regardless of their device or location.
• Excellent customer service, so you’ll have support when you need it. li>
• Good reviews. Look for positive experiences with support and high uptime numbers (so you know servers won’t go down when you need them to).

Check out Bluehost, as WordPress recommends it. With 24/7 support and great reliability, it’s certainly worth checking out.

3. Choose and register a domain name

4. Choose a theme for your site design

This is where you can start casting your creative magic and really personalize the site.

WordPress has a large community of theme builders, who means that you are sure to find something perfect for your site. Just follow the Themes link in your WordPress dashboard (or visit the WordPress themes site) to see what’s available.

There are a variety of free themes you can use, which tend to be simpler themes without complex functionality. Or you can pay for premium themes, which will often have great aesthetics, a wider range of page templates, and sometimes a custom user interface.

If you’re having trouble choosing, most the library’s templates let you play around with interactive demos to see exactly how they work. Remember to keep in mind the main purpose of your site; Don’t choose a topic for recipe blogs if, for example, you sell phone cases.

The actual design of the website (colors, fonts, backgrounds, etc.) can be changed later. The most important thing here is to come up with a theme that your target visitor understands and enjoys. Remember to put your needs ahead of your own aesthetic preferences.

Later on, you can always work with a WordPress designer to customize your site or modify pages and templates.

5. Create and customize your content and pages

In your WordPress dashboard, in the main menu on the left side of the page, you will see Pages. Click here, then Add New.

This is where you will add static pages like your About and Contact pages. Take your time to make them readable, to the point, and relevant to your brand. The editor gives you many options for arranging the layout of the page, adding links, images, and videos to make things attractive to your users.

In WordPress, the alternative to pages is posts. These are part of the blogging functionality and are designed for all the new content you post throughout the life of your site. To create a new blog post, go to the dashboard menu again and select Posts > Add New.

You can click Publish for both types of content when you’re done adding them to your site.

6. Choose and Install Useful Plugins

Which WordPress Plugins Should You Use? Everything depends on what do you want. There are plenty to choose from, so browse the plugin catalog to find the best one for you.

That said, we recommend getting plugins from utilities like Akismet (spam protection) or Jetpack (security and speed) and one of the analytics plugins to see how many people are visiting your site.

If you’re building an online store, this is the part where you activate it as a plugin: you’ll need it to activate payment systems, shopping carts, item inventories, and other crucial e-commerce functions.

You can also find SEO tools and other popular plugins like:

• WooCommerce
• Easy Digital Downloads
• MemberPress

No need to overdo it, just stick with what you need. The more plugins you have, the more complicated things can get, especially if something goes wrong.

Shopify also has a WordPress integration. You can add a Shopify Buy Button to your WordPress website and sell it for just $5 per month. All you need is a product to sell and you’re ready to launch. You can also customize the Shopify Buy button to match the look of your brand.

7. Run final checks and go live.

Now for the final step: making sure everything works.

This is a professional website that represents your business, even if you have a business fun and quirky. brand, you still have to get the basics right. This means making sure there are no:

• Typos
• Broken links in your navigation menu
• Images not loading
• Non-Mobile Friendly Pages

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes: what would it be like to navigate your site for the first time? Even better, ask for feedback: friends and family can help, or you can ask for feedback online through message boards and business communities.

That’s it! Your WordPress site is ready to go. It’s time to tell everyone you know and get it out into the world.

Now that your business website is live, what’s next?

Start by patting yourself on the back. You’ve gotten over the hardest part of getting your business online. Now remember, your website is not a static asset to be blocked and never touched again. Please revisit your business regularly to keep adding content or keep it up to date with your brand identity, new products and announcements, and any other small adjustments you feel are necessary.

For the next steps, you probably want to start selling online. If you’ve built a Shopify store and you’re ready to make money online, read How to get your first sale in 30 days.

And if not, there’s never been a better time to get your business online. Are you ready to take the leap?

Ready to create your first business? Start your Shopify free trial, no credit card required.

.