Well then, this article on how to create a website on your own is exactly what you require.
I walk you through the exact steps from booking a domain name and purchasing a reliable hosting service to creating a website in WordPress from scratch.
And, for any one-on-one consulting and assistance, you may mail me at tariq@bloggersbloom.com
Have you posted similar ADs online?
Or have you come across similar posts online?
✔ Looking to create a website
✔ Looking to create a website for free, on your own
✔ Any developers who could help create a website?
✔ How to create a website on your own?
I constantly see ADs & posts online looking out for developers, freelancers, or even agencies to help create a website. The truth is, one can create a website on their own.
In this day and age, you can create a website on your own without having to know any website design, development, or even coding. It’s as simple as drag and drop.
Well, maybe a little more than drag & drop.
When I decided to come out with this step-by-step tutorial on how to create a website on your own, I started off by checking on what were the commonly asked questions online related to creating a website.
Some frequently asked questions are as follows,
- How to create a website
- How to create a website on your own
- How to create a website for free
- How to create a website from scratch
- How to create a website using WordPress
- How to create a website using WIX
- How to create a website using HTML
- How to create a website step by step
- Why create a website?
- Why create a website for business
- Why create a personal website
- How long will it take to create a website
- How much will it cost to create a website in India
- How to create a website or blog
- How to create a website and sell things
I am going to cover most of the above frequently asked questions along with my step-by-step tutorial on how to create a website.
So, to begin with.
Why create a website? Why create a website for business or for personal?
Before I answer the above, let’s dwell upon these facts & figures.
Why Create a Website? Why Create a Website For Business or For Personal?
Before I answer the above, let’s dwell upon these facts & figures.
Internet Users Distribution: Facts & Figures
There are currently 4,574,150,134 internet users.
Imagine having just 0.0001% of these users as your loyal customers.
Out of this, Asia has the highest percentage of internet users (50.3%), followed by Europe (15.9%), Africa (11.5%), and Latin America / Caribbean (10.1%).
(Source: Internet World Stats as of March 3, 2020).
Are you getting a picture of your target audience?
Ok, now digest some of these Google Facts & Figures
Google receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day. Yup, 63,000 searches per second.
That’s the average figure of how many people use Google a day, which translates into at least 2 trillion searches per year, 3.8 million searches per minute, 228 million searches per hour, and 5.6 billion searches per day. (Source: SEO Search Land).
Now you understand the importance of SEO and getting your website on page 1 of Google or even better, in the number 1 position on Google. (I’ve got a course on SEO: Beginner to Advanced Course in SEO.)
Now, I can go on and on, with various numbers to answer ‘Why you need to create a website?’. You definitely do need a website in this day and age.
The all-important question should rather be – Is it too late to start an online business? Have we missed the boat?
And the answer is simple and straightforward – NO!
It’s, in fact, a great time to start and grow online. Starting online has never been easier. With the number of resources freely available and the ease at which one can kick start their website or an online business, this is as good a time as it can get.
So, what next? How do we start?
Let’s start with Step 1 of this article on how to create a website on your own.
Step 1: How to Buy a Domain Name?
Well, the first step is to buy your domain name and hosting.
Before we get into buying a domain and hosting, I would like to explain what is domain name and what is hosting?
[Check out my article on the Top 10 Best Domain and Hosting Services (2020)]
What is a domain name?
Simply put, a domain name is your unique address on the web. In the offline world, we refer to this as a mailing address, postal address, etc. The same, in the online world, is your Domain Name.
Domain names have different extensions. For e.g., you have a .com, .net, .org, .in, .co.in, etc. The commonly used domain extension is, yes, the .com extension.
Once you do have a domain name, you need to purchase Hosting.
Consider this.
If you were to construct a house, you would do so on a piece of land. The land holds your walls, doors, windows, etc. In a similar manner, a Hosting space is required for you to add your website, which would include files, pages, images, videos, etc.
Thus, in order to create a website, you will need a domain and hosting. There are a few free options. But, I would advise you, not to go in for those. They show random ads, and there are a lot of features missing in such free hosting plans.
Now, if you do visit the WordPress.org (official) website, they recommend the 3 best hosting service providers to host your WordPress website as follows,
In addition to the above, I also highly recommend the following,
Note: I only recommend products & services that I personally use. From the above list, I have personally used & continue to use Bluehost, SiteGround, Hostgator & Namecheap.
I will now go through the steps of how to buy a domain name with Bluehost and SiteGround.
In due course of time, I will add steps for the other service providers. Do keep visiting this article on how to create a website on your own.
How to Buy a Domain Name Using Bluehost
Bluehost is a leading web hosting solutions company. It was founded in 2003 and has more than 2 Million websites hosted on their servers. They have a vast team and is dedicated to helping customers around the clock, 24/7.
Bluehost is not only one of my highly recommended hosting service providers but is also recommended by WordPress (wordpress.org). I have been using Bluehost for the past 10 years, not only for hosting my websites but also for my clients.
So, let’s go ahead and buy a domain and hosting using Bluehost.
Step 1: Visit Bluehost
Step 2: Select WordPress hosting under WordPress
Step 4: Selecting a plan
This is a call you can take. If I was to develop a number of websites, I would go in for the “Plus” option. But, if you are considering creating only one website, then you could select the “Basic” plan. Click “Select” against a plan of your choice and proceed.
Step 5: Selecting a domain name
In this step, you can either Create a new domain or Use a domain you own.
The “Use a domain you own” is typically used if you have already bought a domain using another service provider. In such cases, you can enter the domain name you’ve already purchased and proceed with purchasing only the hosting from Bluehost. Once purchased, you will have to change the DNS setting in the control panel of where you have purchased the domain. If it’s too technical, remember, I’m there to help you out!
For the “Create a new domain” option, enter in the domain name of your choice. For the sake of this article, I will check if the domain name “howtocreateawebsiteusingbluehost.com” is available.
Step 6: Proceed with entering basic details and payment options
If the domain name you have entered if available, you will get a confirmation message.
E.g., I entered howtocreateawebsiteusingbluehost.com and the same is available.
You will now proceed with entering the basic details to complete the registration process.
Under ‘Package Information‘, you can select the ‘Account Plan’ of your choice. The options available are for 12, 24 and 36 months.
Under the ‘Package Extras’, you will have options which you may decided to go ahead with or not.
The one that I would recommend is the “Domain Privacy + Protection” option. Once you do purchase a domain and hosting, you would get a number of service providers cold calling you or mail you in an attempt to pitch or sell their services. They get your contact details from the WHOIS record of your website.
If you do choose to select the “Domain Privacy + Protection” option, your contact details will be hidden, hence avoiding such sales calls.
If you do choose to unselect the “Domain Privacy + Protection” option, you will get a prompt as below.
Select an option that best works for you and proceed to the final step.
Proceed with the “Payment Information” to complete the registration process
Step 7: Create Password
On completing the payment procedure, you will be prompted to “Create your password“.
Please note. You will receive an welcome email with the username ONLY. Hence, please save the password you create here safely. It will be required to login to your Bluehost account in future.
I also suggest using the ‘Suggest Password‘ option, as show below.
Again, please do save your password safely.
Step 8: Welcome eMail
Once you have completed this step, you will receive a welcome email with your Bluehost account details.
Step 9: Login to account
Use the credentials (username & password) and log in to your account.
Congratulations!
You have completed the registration process, bought your domain name and the hosting. You are now ready to launch your WordPress website.
Step 10: Setting up the WordPress Dashboard
Once you have completed the registration formalities and you reach the Bluehost dashboard, you will notice a button “Log in to WordPress”.
Click on the same and you will be prompted to select your theme (as shown below). A theme is like your website skin. It’s the frontend design of your website. You may choose to select it now or can skip it for now. We will be going through this in depth in my next article on “How to create a WordPress website for beginners“.
Post the theme option, you will arrive to your WordPress Dashboard.
Congratulations! You are now ready to create your website using WordPress.
How to Buy a Domain Name Using SiteGround
What makes SiteGround unique is the extraordinary team of individuals, who have been delivering exceptional service for websites since 2004.
SiteGround is my preferred hosting service provider. I’ve been using SiteGround since 2012.
What I really like about SiteGround is their customer support. It’s truly world class. From the smallest issue to my bigger technical issues, I get on to their 24/7 chat, and voila. The issue is solved in a matter of 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the complexity of the issue.
In addition to SiteGround being my number 1 preferred hosting service provider, SiteGround is also recommended by WordPress (wordpress.org).
I have also recommended SiteGround to my clients, and as expected, they are happy too.
So, as explained above, for the sake of this article on how to create a website on your own, let’s go ahead and buy a domain and hosting using SiteGround.
Step 1: Visit SiteGround
Step 2: Select “Get Started” under WordPress hosting
Step 3: Selecting a plan
This is a call you can take. If I was to develop a number of websites, I would go in for the “GrowBig” or “GoGeek” plan. But, if you are considering creating only one website, then you could select the “StartUp” plan. Click “Get Plan” against a plan of your choice and proceed.
Once you have selected your plan, you will arrive at the following screen – ‘Choose Domain‘.
Step 4: Selecting a domain name
In this step, you can either Register a new domain or select I already have a domain.
The “I already have a domain” is typically used if you have already bought a domain using another service provider. In such cases, you can enter the domain name you’ve already purchased and proceed with purchasing only the hosting from SiteGround. Once purchased, you will have to change the DNS setting in the control panel of where you have purchased the domain. If it’s too technical, remember, I’m there to help you out!
For the “Register a New Domain” option, enter in the domain name of your choice. For the sake of this article, I will check if the domain name “howtobuyadomainusingsiteground.com” is available.
Step 5: Proceed with entering basic details and payment options
If the domain name you have entered if available, you will get a confirmation message.
E.g., I entered howtobuyadomainusingsiteground.com and the same is available.
You will now proceed with entering the basic details to complete the registration process.
Please ensure you save the email ID and password you use to create this account. You will need these details to log in to your SiteGround dashboard later on.
Under ‘Purchase Information‘, you can select the ‘Period’ of your choice. The options available are for 12, 24 and 36 months.
Under the ‘Extra Services’, you will have options which you may decided to go ahead with or not.
In addition to the mandatory ‘Domain Registration‘, the service that I would recommend is the “Domain Privacy” option. Once you do purchase a domain and hosting, you would get a number of service providers cold calling you or mail you in an attempt to pitch or sell their services. They get your contact details from the WHOIS record of your website.
If you do choose to select the “Domain Privacy” option, your contact details will be hidden, hence avoiding such sales calls.
Accept the terms and click on “Pay Now” to complete the registration process
Step 6: Welcome eMail
On completing the registration process, you will receive a confirmation and welcome mail in your registered email ID.
You will have to click on the link mentioned in the email to ensure your domain name is action and thereby, confirm on your contact details.
Once you have clicked on the above link confirming your contact details, the domain name will become active in couple of hours time. Sometime even within 15 minutes.
You can now go back to the SiteGround homepage and click on Login on the top right hand corner.
Step 7: SiteGround Dashboard
Congratulations! You have completed the registration process and have purchased a domain name and hosting using SiteGround.
Click on ‘Websites‘ on the top menu links
The domain which you purchased will appear under ‘Website Details‘.
Click on CPANEL against your domain name
Your website CPanel – Control Panel.
Spend some time on this page and familiarise with the various options available here.
From creating subdomains, transferring your domains to SiteGround, WordPress Installer, backups, creating email IDs, creating SSL, etc., and a whole lot more can be performed from your CPanel.
Step 8: Installing WordPress
From the above CPanel, click on ‘WordPress Installer‘ under the ‘WordPress Tools‘ tab.
You will get the following screen. Click on the ‘Install’ tab.
Select version 5.4, which happens to be the latest WordPress version. At least at the time of writing this article on how to create a website on your own.
Choose the domain URL.
For this example, I have created a subdomain https://wordpress.bloggersbloom.com. So, I will select the same URL.
Choose a Site Name and Site Description of your choice.
Please note.
You will have to select ‘https://‘ under Choose Protocol. It’s important you use the ‘https://‘ protocol. Helps customers and above all, Google identifies your website as a trusted source and using an SSL certificate.
By the way, SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. SSL is the standard security technology (a protocol) that offers secure communication between web servers and browsers (web clients) over an insecure network, such as the internet.
Back to our installation.
Note, you would notice an error under the ‘Choose Protocol’ & ‘Choose Domain’ stating ‘A trusted SSL Certificate was not found’. Ignore this for the time being.
Enter in the Site Name & Site Description. In this example, I’ve just mentioned “My WordPress Blog’ for both. This can be changed later on too.
Now, the Admin Account details. The ‘Admin Username’ and the ‘Admin Password’ are your WordPress backend login details. Please ensure you save these details and keep them safe. It is also highly recommended that you go along with the recommended password, which will be a mix of characters, numerals and special characters.
Set an Admin email ID of your choice too. And then click on ‘Install’.
Step 9: Setting up the WordPress Dashboard
Congratulations!
You have completed the WordPress setup process.
If you do click on the URL, for e.g., in my example it is https://wordpress.bloggersbloom.com, you will notice the following screen.
The reason being, the SSL certificate has not been installed for the domain name.
Remember the error we had earlier when we selected Protocol.
Step 10: Installing SSL
Let us get back to the CPanel in our account. Click on the ‘cP’ logo on the top of the page.
Click on ‘Let’s Encrypt‘ under the ‘Security‘ tab.
In the next page, select the domain for which you want to add the SSL. The drop down will be under “Install new Let’s Encrypt Certificate”
After you have selected the domain for which you want to Install new Let’s Encrypt Certificate, click ‘Install’.
You will get a prompt “Successfully Installed SSL“.
The process of adding SSL would take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.
Once the SSL certificate has been added, you will notice the following screen in which your Encrypt Certificate is active for the selected domain.
Go ahead and visit your domain name/ URL.
For e.g., in this example, I will check back on https://wordpress.bloggersbloom.com
Congratulations! Your site is live with the ‘https’ protocol active.
Next: Check my article on How to create a WordPress website for beginners to create a wordpress website
As you’ve seen in this article now, it’s pretty easy to set up your domain and hosting. And once you have the two set up, you can make use of the auto-installer option in your control panel to install WordPress.
Was this article on how to create a website on your own helpful? Are you confident to create your own website now? I’d like to hear from you. Do send across your comments.
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