Many today create sites on the Internet to show themselves and connect with other users. Modern companies cannot afford not to have their own Internet resource, as this is an effective way to attract more potential customers.
If you want to create your site, you are surely worried and assume that it will take a long time. So many believe, but such an opinion is erroneous. In fact, there are no big difficulties in this matter. Below is a detailed instruction, following which you can learn how to make sites from scratch.
First of all, remember the following:
- You do not have to be a computer specialist to create a site from scratch;
- You do not need to know the basics of code, manage hosts or servers;
- you do not need a lot of money.
If you want to create a website, you just need to know where to start. Follow the instructions below and you can start your resource in a few hours. Regardless of whether you are interested in creating sites for business or for your personal needs, this process will be similar.
If there are no programming skills: choose an automatic constructor
Automated constructors are the easiest, cheapest and fastest way to create a website. Some of the most common services are Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, and Jimdo. Currently, these designers are at the core of millions of sites created by regular users. If you are not a specialist in web programming, this is the best choice for you.
Thanks to the designers, the work of creating site pages comes down to actually dragging and dropping elements around the screen. The entire workflow is as simple and intuitive as creating a PowerPoint presentation.
The developers created the special software necessary to create a site from scratch on their own, so now you just need to use the cursor on the screen and drag the slide show, blocks of text, image or video in the order you choose. You can insert your own text, upload any images, insert videos (for example, from YouTube) and click “Publish”.
It is believed that the organization of the site requires knowledge of HTML (hypertext markup language - a common coding language for text fonts and styles) and CSS (cascading style sheet - used to compose web pages). Creating code takes many months (and requires special skills), and using it to create a site is complicated and time-consuming.
How to choose such a constructor?
Using a high-quality constructor means that any user can create their own resource on the machine. That is why the choice of such a service is your first step when creating a website from scratch yourself. Any of them does not require the introduction of codes. This means that you will not need to spend a lot of money on hiring freelancers to figure out the design and creation of the site.
When choosing a constructor, be guided by the following parameters:
- Which interface do you consider the easiest to use?
- which templates and design features do you like best;
- Does the functionality of the designer help you create the site that you planned.
It is also useful to check how each of these constructors is suitable for mobile versions of sites. Since today a large number of users (potential visitors to your site) access the Internet using smartphones, it is very important that your resource looks good on any device. Before you make a site, examine the capabilities of each service.
In this regard, all Squarespace themes are sensitive to mobility (this means that the loaded pages will automatically look the same, regardless of which device your visitor uses). Jimdo and Weebly offer a wide range of mobile versions, while Wix and GoDaddy provide mobile editors that let you customize your site to look more comfortable on mobile devices or even hide certain content from mobile browsers.
Good designers allow you to switch between full and mobile versions so you can make various settings. Learning how to create sites using these services is very easy. It is worth noting that the above services have very limited free features. If you want to create a large site, you will have to pay for their use monthly.
You can also create your own resource with the help of an engine (such as WordPress), but only if you have the basics of technical knowledge, or resort to the help of a studio to create sites. Simple CMSs can be of great help, but sometimes they require code changes to correct errors.
If basic skills are available: select an engine
What languages ​​are used to create sites? Back in the mid-2000s, most sites were built using HTML, CSS, and even Flash. It took a long time, and to master these skills was not easy. Today, only basic superficial knowledge of these languages ​​is enough. How to learn how to make sites using such platforms?
If you want to quickly make a functional, compatible with mobile devices and convenient resource yourself, you will need to choose a platform or engine. These days, these services have allowed the creation of sites to become accessible to everyone, since they make it possible to configure a large volume of HTML pages automatically without writing code.
According to the latest statistics, WordPress is the most popular content management system (55%), followed by Joomla (20%) and Drupal (11%). All of them are completely free to use. That is why it is best to use WordPress, especially to create an information site.
Drupal is a very powerful platform, in demand among experienced coders and professional developers, but its interface is quite complex, which makes it not the best choice for beginners. Joomla is similar to WordPress and works well when creating an online store site, but you will need at least some technical coding skills to create the individual settings that are required for you.
WordPress customization is the lightest and easiest platform, but it is quite flexible to cater to the requirements of every user. Further instructions for creating the site will be given as an example of this engine.
Getting started: domain and website hosting
To set up your site, you will need two elements:
- domain name (web address, for example yourname.com);
- hosting (a service that connects your resource to the Internet).
So how to learn how to make sites? The engine itself is free and accessible to everyone, but a domain name and hosting will require you to pay a small amount. Owning your own domain name looks much more professional than the name of your site in a third-party domain (which will be the third level). In addition, independent hosting guarantees that your resource will load quickly and will not be disconnected for several hours in a row. This will have a huge impact on his attendance.
Once you register a domain name, you will simultaneously receive a new email account that will be your personal one. It looks more professional than a general mailbox on Gmail and other services. Next step by step the creation of the site is as follows:
- Choose a provider that provides hosting services.
- Register in the service you have chosen.
- Go to the page that allows you to choose a hosting plan for your needs and financial capabilities.
As a rule, for beginners, the basic option is quite suitable, which costs a very modest amount. Subsequently, you can always switch to another plan.
How to choose a domain name?
If you are busy creating a website for a business, the domain name must match the name of your company. You can choose an international registrar, then the name of your site will end in .com, .org or .net. Or stop at the more popular .ru or .su. It is also worth noting that in recent years a very extensive number of domain extensions have appeared - from .agency to .pizza. However, it is better not to opt for them if they do not describe exactly what you can offer. For example, when creating an online store site, it is better to limit yourself to standard .com.
If you already have a well-thought-out domain name, just enter it and click on "Next" in the appropriate form on the registrar's website. If you are not ready to select it right away, you can do it at a later time.
How to register hosting?
To create your own account, simply enter your personal information in the registration form of the hosting provider. You will need to indicate your last name and first name, country and city of residence, as well as address, zip code, phone number and e-mail. A confirmation request will be sent to the email address you enter. After that, you must enter your billing information.
The next step during registration is to choose a plan (tariff) and hosting package. After that, pay attention to the available additional options in the creation and maintenance of sites, for example, protecting the privacy of the selected domain. Then make the payment. Everything, you can begin to create a site.
Uploading the engine to the hosting
Once you have registered a domain name and set up the selected hosting, you can begin to work directly on creating the site. The main thing you need to do at the beginning of the process is to install WordPress (or another platform) in your domain. Two methods of such loading are used, one of which is much easier than the second.
Firstly, almost any reliable and reputable hosting company has an integrated installation of WordPress and Jumla in one click, which greatly simplifies the download process. You can find this service for creating a site on the profile control panel.
Below are the steps that you need to follow (they should be similar for all major providers):
- Log in to your hosting account.
- Go to the control panel in it.
- Find the Site icon or WordPress.
- Select the domain to which you need to upload your resource.
- Click the button titled “Install Now,” and you will have access to your new WordPress site.
Secondly, you can do a manual installation. If for one of the reasons (some services do not allow one-click installation) you do not have the opportunity to download WordPress automatically, you will have to do it yourself.
Setup process
So how to make a website? After you successfully install WordPress or another engine in your domain, you will be able to view a very easy to manage, but clean Internet resource. In order for it to acquire any distinctive features, you need a theme - a design blank (template) that tells the platform what your site looks like. The choice can be creative and interesting. There are thousands of attractive themes created by specialists that you can download and customize for your site based on its theme and purpose.
How to find a template that you like and fit better:
- Go to the WordPress toolbar.
- Share free themes. To do this, look at the Appearance sidebar, and then click Themes. If you need something more professional or original, you can go to the resource ThemeForest.net, which presents a huge library of templates available at various prices.
But before you do this, it is advisable to spend some time viewing free templates. Many of them are professional and of high quality. You can search by specific keywords or apply filters to find themes that are in harmony with your style. Finding the perfect one may take some time, but it's worth it.
When learning how to create sites, you should consider the following: you need to look for patterns that “react” in appearance to the site format, since this means that they will display well on every mobile device.
Post a new topic
Once you have selected the template you like, you can easily download it. To do this, click on “Install”, and then click “Activate”.
Remember that replacing a topic will not affect your previous posts, posts, pages and content. You can change them regularly without worrying about losing your existing materials.
How to add information and make new pages?
How to learn how to make a site when all the preliminary work is completed? After installing the template, you will be ready to add data. Here you need to consider some of the basics:
- Adding pages and editing them. So, you want to create a page "About the site" or "Services" (for example, in the menu at the top of the site interface). This can be done as follows. Look at the side menu in the WordPress toolbar, select Pages -> Add New. As soon as you click on these items, you will see a screen very similar to the Microsoft Word interface. Enter text, upload pictures and other content to create the page you want, and then save it when you’re done.
- Adding pages to the menu. If you want your freshly created page to be synchronized with the navigation bar, save all the changes made to it by clicking “Refresh”. Click on Appearance -> Menu on the sidebar of the WordPress Dashboard interface. Find the page you created and add it to the list by checking the box next to it, and then select "Add to menu."
- Adding and editing messages. If you have created a blog on the site, all "Messages" will be displayed one after another. You have the opportunity to use different categories to group similar messages. So, it is possible to use different categories and headings. Suppose you want to create a category called "Blog." To do this, add it to your menu and start creating messages. To do this, go to the "Posts -> Categories" section or write your blog post by going to the "Posts -> Add New" section. When you finish typing your post, you need to add it to the appropriate section. Once you create your category, add it to the menu, and everything will be displayed on the site.
Changing the title and page names
The page names explain to visitors what your site’s theme is about, and they also directly affect how search engines see your ranking. For this reason, make sure they contain the keywords for which you want to target. You should apply a unique title on each page of the created resource. Meta tags for creating a website or signature are also included at the end of the headers on any web page. To change the title and signature on your site, go to "Settings" -> "General" and write down the data in the form that opens.
Disabling comments on a resource
The owners of some sites (mainly business-related) do not want their visitors to be able to comment on the pages. To disable comments on WordPress web pages, do the following:
- If you are creating a new page, click on “Screen Settings” in the upper right menu.
- Click on the Discussion field. “Allow comments” is displayed below.
- Disable Allow Comments.
If you want to disable comments on each newly created page by default, it’s possible to do this: find the section in the “Settings -> Discussion” menu and uncheck the box entitled “Allow users to leave comments on new articles”.
How to set up your homepage?
If you use WordPress, you probably won’t want the homepage to look like a blog post. You can fix this if you make it “static”. Unlike the standard blog, in which the first freshly created article will appear at the top each time, the configured “static” page displays the same content every time someone visits the site.
To configure it, do the following:
- Go to the section called "Settings -> Read".
- Select the static page you saved. “Home page” displays the home page, “Message page” is the first part of your blog (if your entire resource is not a blog).
, WordPress .
Most WordPress themes have a sidebar on the right side (sometimes located on the left). In the case when you want to get rid of it or edit the elements, removing unnecessary ones, do the following:
- Go to “Appearance -> Widgets” in the WordPress tools menu.
- At this point, you can use drag and drop to enable different “boxes” on the sidebar, or to exclude unnecessary elements.
There is also an HTML field - a text field in which you can apply HTML code. If you have the appropriate knowledge, just do not touch it.
Installing plugins for better functionality
Plugins are extensions designed to improve WordPress features, include new features and capabilities on your site that are not automatically built into it. These are shortcuts so that your resource can do what you need without having to develop a function from scratch.
You can use different plugins to do almost everything - from the inclusion of a photo gallery and form submission to serious site optimization and the development of an online store.
Installing such a plugin is easy. To start the installation, find the section "Plugins -> Add New" and then start the search. Remember that there are approximately 25,000 free, various extensions available. Installation is very simple - as soon as you find a suitable plugin, just click “Install”.
Which extensions are the most popular?
Below are the popular plugins for WordPress, which many webmasters consider popular:
- Contact form. This is an awesome feature, as visitors can fill out a form and then send you an email, ignoring your personal email provider. If you want to create something similar, be sure to install this plugin.
- Yoast SEO, developed for WordPress: when you want to make your website more optimized for SEO, this plugin is a must. It is available for free and works amazingly. You will have the opportunity to edit the title tags, all meta descriptions, as well as much more, and all the actions will be from the page itself. Thus, you no longer have to deal with WordPress settings for a long time.
- GoogleAnalytics: Want to track all visitors to a property and their behavior? To do this, install the plugin, synchronize it with your Google account and you will be ready to work.
If you follow the steps outlined in the above guide, you must have created a fully functional WordPress site. Continue to update and improve it for successful work.