So you decided to bypass the website builder route and build your website yourself. This is definitely the harder way to go about building your website however you will learn alot more and hopefully have some fun along the way.
First thing is first. Your going to need to get yourself a domain name and a hosting plan. Now usually you can get the two together if your comfortable prepaying for a year of hosting upfront. Most hosting companies will offer a free domain name for those that pay yearly. I do. If you plan to purchase your domain name separately you will have to change the nameservers to point to your hosting account. I have included the tutorial links showing how to change your nameservers on some of the more popular domain name registrars below:
Now I’m not going to tell you which company to go with here – you will have to make that decision for yourself. I will mention a few key things you should be aware of when you are shopping around for your hosting company:
- Read recent reviews on community forums such as WHT
- Read recent reviews and complaints posted on the company forums, if available
- Chat with sales and support and gauge how knowledgeable the staff is and how quick the response times are
Finally when you have made your decision run a quick search online for the latest coupons amd sales at your chosen hosting company. No sense not getting the best possible deal. I post a wide array of hosting and domain name coupons here.
Finally Getting Started
Alright now that our hosting account is setup and our domain name is configured we can finally get started with our website. This is going to be where you will want to sit down and address your technical skills and your own learning desires to figure out how you wish to proceed. You can download a free or premium HTML template, crack open a few HTML tutorials and start building your site; or you can install WordPress, install a free or premium WordPress theme and start building your website that way.
Using a CMS Like WordPress
Utilizing a CMS such as WordPress will allow you to build a much more dynamic website with significantly less programming skill and knowledge. That being said having some basic knowledge of HTML, CSS ans JS would only help you accomplish that much more ei th your CMS based website.
To get started with a CMS based website you will want to start by choosing the platform you would feel most comfortable with and then selecting s theme to use. WordPress is by far the most popular one and the most beginner friendly. Furthermore WordPress is integrated into most major hosting control panels allowing you to install WordPress with a few mouse clicks inside your hosts control panel. A good thing to note here is that many hosting companies such as Site ground offer their own custom WordPress themes which come pre-installed with your new WordPress install. No reason to not check those out and see if you like any of them.
Assuming the provided themes aren’t up-to-par and your still looking for a theme you have a few options. A quick Google search will get you tons of free themes you can download and use on your own website. You can also utilize Themeforest to purchase a premium theme – and there are LOTS to choose from.
Building It Myself From An HTML Template
Starting off by customizing an HTML template will, depending on your existing skills and knowledge, take longer than utilizing WordPress. The process will involve plenty of research and time spent reading tutorials. However in the end you will know your website inside out. There wouldn’t be a single area of the website that would rely on a plugin whose code you don’t know. You will learn a ton and in the future save yourself s pretty penny from not having to hire outside developers for your own projects. My Getting Started with HTML tutorial series is a great starting place.