A website is essential for anybody who aims to build an online presence and attract organic traffic. Whether you want to run an online store or a platform to showcase your talent, you need to start your own website to attract eyeballs.
To build a fully-functional website, you will need a domain name, web hosting plan, and access to a platform like WordPress or Wix. You can build a website without these tools as well, but that can be tricky for beginners.
Creating a WordPress or a Wix website makes it easy for people who don’t have coding knowledge. These platforms also offer you a customizable domain name, free content management service (CMS), and web hosting with your subscription plan.
Excited to learn more?
Then, read this guide all the way till the end. You’ll be surprised to learn how easy it is to start a website from scratch in 2024.
Let’s get started.
Disclaimer: This content contains some affiliate links for which we will earn a commission (at no additional cost to you). This is to ensure that we can keep creating free content for you.
Did you know that 40.6% of websites are built using WordPress? Along with being a standard website builder, the platform offers numerous themes and plugins to help you enhance the look and feel of your website.
Since the platform enjoys such widespread popularity, we assume that you would like to explore its website-building capabilities. So, here you go:
Your domain name is like your address on the web. It’s the name that people use to find your website on web browsers and search engines. For instance, this website’s domain name is attrock.com.
Your domain name needs to be unique, for which you need to register it. Registering a domain name can cost anywhere between $15 to $50 yearly.
Your domain name is a critical part of your website. A great domain name is more than just a name. It will resonate with your brand, boost your search performance, and appeal to your website visitors.
You should devote time to pick a domain name for your business since it can be tedious and time consuming to change it later. Moreover, changing your domain name repeatedly can take a toll on your search engine rankings and organic traffic.
When picking up a domain name for your website, you should:
There are plenty of domain extensions available today – traditional ones like .com, .org, and .net to niched ones like .blog and .lib.
It’s wise to stick with established domain extensions as they look credible and trustworthy. Most smart keyboards have a “.com” key which makes typing the URL easier. Moreover, many users automatically type “.com” in the address bar when they don’t know a website’s complete URL.
For instance, if your website’s name is “greg.pizza,” people might type “greg.pizza.com” since they might not be familiar with “.pizza” domain extension. They will encounter a 404 error and might abandon the search altogether.
Keyword-rich domain names help Google crawlers find and index your website correctly. But, don’t bet on finding such domain names easily. Be creative and combine keywords with other unique words to come up with domain names that are available as well as contextual.
Don’t go overboard with your domain name length while stuffing it with keywords. Keep the name under 15 characters since shorter domain names are easier to remember. Moreover, there's a greater chance of typos with long names, which can lead to traffic loss.
You should make sure that your domain name is easy to spell, type, and pronounce. If you plan to create a branded email ID based on your domain name, it makes even more sense to keep your domain name simple.
Avoid using hyphens. There are chances that the domain name you want is already taken. You might want to add a hyphen to make your domain name unique. But, searchers are prone to landing on your competitor’s site if they omit the hyphen while typing your domain name.
Try to avoid double letters. Domain names like “pressetup.com” are prone to typos if people misspell them. So, avoid using unnecessary double letters and tricky spellings in your quest to come up with unique names.
While it’s important to keep your domain name contextual, you don’t make sure that there is enough room to expand your business to related verticals with the same name.
For instance, a domain name like “orchidflorist.com” will pose a problem when you decide to sell flowers other than orchids at a later stage.
You should opt for flexible domain names so that you won’t have to migrate to a new website when you decide to scale your business.
In Q4 of 2020, nearly 366.3 million domain name registrations were received across top-level domains.
There are chances that the names you’ve selected might already exist. If you don’t want to invite legal troubles or confuse visitors, check your selected names for trademark issues.
You can conduct a Trademarks Search on the USPTO website or perform a basic Google search for your selected domain name to check if it’s available to register.
Image via USPTO
To save time and effort, you can use domain name generator tools like Nameboy and WPBeginner’s Business Name Generator. Within minutes, these tools can suggest hundreds of unique domain names that are contextual, unique, and keyword-optimized.
Image via Nameboy
Once you finalize a domain name for your new website, act quickly and get the name registered via domain registrars like Domain.com or GoDaddy. Registering a domain name can cost between $8 to $24, and you will need to renew it every year.
Image via Domain.com
Want a pro tip?
Majority of web hosting companies offer free domain name registration services when you buy their hosting plans. Take advantage of this offer and register your domain name for free for the first year through your web hosting company.
You will need a reliable web hosting service provider to store data and host your website.
Most website builders offer website hosting as part of their packages. But if you’re opting for standalone web hosting, don’t get swayed by gimmicky features that you’ll never use. Instead, look for critical features like uptime guarantees and SSL certificates.
Confused?
Great web hosting is all about 3 Ss: Support, Security, and Service.
When in doubt, follow the guidelines below to choose the right web host to start your business website:
Every website has unique needs and you should figure out your needs right at the onset of starting a website for your business.
Does your business website need an integrated online payment system? Or, is it going to be a simple blog with media-rich content?
Your website hosting provider should possess the right infrastructure and tools to fulfill your specific needs.
If you’re a small business owner building your first website, you should look for 24×7 support through live chat. In any case, phone, ticket, and email support are a must. Turn-around time on requests should not exceed 24 hours.
If you don’t buy managed services, your vendor might answer basic configuration issues but won’t be able to hand-hold you through the process.
Whereas, with managed services, you will be assigned a system manager who will keep an eye on security lapses, patch your software, and manage backups in a timely manner.
Your web host will charge you on the basis of the bandwidth and server space you consume. So, be honest about how many visitors you expect to get on your new site.
If you’re planning to serve a few pages to a few local visitors, buying a shared hosting plan will be sufficient. But if you’re expecting thousands of visitors, ensure that you opt for cloud or dedicated hosting.
The cheapest hosting plan you can get is the shared type. Your website’s speed and performance will depend on how much load is exerted on your shared server by other hosted websites. Moreover, you are restricted in terms of how you can upload files. There is no shell access and limited database access.
The next server type is VPS or virtual private server, in which your website runs as a virtual machine on a server. Baseline services are better than shared servers, but you should be a pro at server management if you opt for this server type.
Dedicated servers are a better option if you don’t want your site speed to get impacted by shared resources. A physical server box is rented out to you, but it sits in a remote location. You need to be familiar with server maintenance to handle dedicated servers.
For scalable hosting, opt for cloud servers that are maintained by providers like Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS). As your traffic surges, you can expand your server storage and bandwidth and pay for the additional consumption.
If a service provider is offering hosting at unbelievably low prices, go through their terms of service carefully. Contact their support executives to confirm that you’ll get unmetered bandwidth and uptime at that price.
Ensure that your site isn’t tied to one host. If the company is acquired or their management or technology changes, you can lose all of your hosted data, media, and content. Even if you work with WordPress, don’t forget to update and backup your site regularly.
Things like SSL certificates, a user-friendly control panel, and proactive customer support are non-negotiable when it comes to selecting a web hosting provider. Also, look into server locations, compliance, and platform specialization.
What should you do once you’ve selected a web host for your website?
We’ll tell you what to do.
Say, you’ve selected Bluehost as your hosting provider. Then, you need to follow the steps below:
Step 1: Visit the Bluehost website and click on “Get Started Now.”
Step 2: Select a web hosting plan after considering the number of domains, bandwidth, and storage you need.
Step 3: Select and register a domain name. If you need country-specific domain extensions like “.au,” you can purchase them from sites like Domains.com and GoDaddy.com.
If you’ve already bought a domain name from some other vendor, Bluehost allows you to use it as well. You will be required to change your domain name servers to Bluehost servers, which include:
Step 4: Once the registration process is complete, you will be taken to WordPress to start building your website.
With your domain name and web hosting plan in place, you’re ready to set up your business website using a website builder.
WordPress is a great option since it’s easy to use, reliable, and comes with tons of free themes and plugins to give your website a professional look and feel.
Like Bluehost, most hosting service providers offer native integration with WordPress. You can find one-click installs in their control panel. If not, you can always install WordPress manually by following the steps below:
Then, unzip the package using the command: tar-xzvf latest.tar.gz
WordPress will be downloaded in a folder named “wordpress.”
In case your hosting provider doesn’t offer database support, you might have to create a database manually using phpMyAdmin. Here’s how you can do this:
Here are the steps you need to follow for each location:
If your files are in a subdirectory (say “blog” in “example.com”), visit this URL: http://example.com/blog/wp-admin/install.php.
A login prompt will display if you’ve installed WordPress correctly.
What if you want to install WordPress using Bluehost?
Here are the configuration steps you will need to follow:
You should see a lock icon next to your domain name to indicate that your website is secure. You might have to work for some time while WordPress configures your SSL certificate and shows the lock icon. Meanwhile, you can work on improving your website’s look and feel.
Right now, your new website looks very bare and unattractive. But don’t worry, you can revamp its appearance using WordPress themes. Think of themes as “skins” for your website. They control the physical appearance of your site and the way different on-screen elements interact with each other.
Currently, WordPress offers three default themes – Twenty Nineteen, Twenty Seventeen, and Twenty Sixteen. But, there are numerous free themes for beginners. You can purchase more themes from their collection of 2,900 paid themes.
To search for themes, access the “Theme Directory” in WordPress after logging into your administrator account. Or, you can click on the “Themes” tab on your WordPress dashboard.
Use advanced filters to specify subjects, layouts, and features to sort themes options.
Based on your filters, WordPress will suggest certain themes to you. You can preview each theme by accessing the theme’s “Info Page.”
If you’re satisfied with the themes WordPress has suggested, click on the “Download” button on the theme Info page. Each theme comes with installation instructions. If your theme doesn’t render correctly even though you’ve followed installation instructions, you can contact the theme’s author or WordPress support center.
All of the themes that you install will show up when you click on the “Appearance” menu in the dashboard.
You can activate one theme at a time, which means this theme’s behavior and style will be applied to your website. To activate a theme, click on the “Activate” button that appears when you hover over a theme’s thumbnail. When a theme is activated, you will receive a notification about it.
For this guide, we’re going to use the “Neve” theme. It’s a versatile theme, which comes with 20+ free designs in niches like business, restaurant, food, fitness, etc.
Say we select the “Original” design in this theme.
Click on “Import.” The design and all of its plugins and demo content will get downloaded and you can see the progress through a pop-up.
Once all of the design elements get installed, go to the “Appearance” menu and explore the customization options that the theme offers.
Let’s get started with your website design customization.
You can select the colors you want to change (text color, link color, background color, etc.) and create a new color palette for your website.
Click on “Publish” when you’re done and exit the Customizer.
To add widgets to your website, go to “Appearance” on the main Dashboard and click on “Widgets.” The widget configuration page will appear:
On the left, you can see the available widgets. On the right, you can see the on-page areas where you can display these widgets.
You can easily drag and drop widgets such as calendar, categories menu, and more in the sidebar and footer of your business website.
With all of these elements added, your website should become presentable and functional. We recommend that you explore the other customization options to make your website more engaging and attractive.
Small business owners create websites with two kinds of content – pages and blog posts. You can also use the “Block Editor” to add content to your WordPress site.
Here are the steps you need to follow to add a page or a post to your website:
To access document settings, you can switch to the “Document” tab at the top.
You can choose to keep your homepage as a custom page by choosing the “A static page” option. Or, you can choose the “Your latest posts” option to show all of your posts on the homepage itself.
Type a name for your menu in the “Menu Name” field and search for the menu items you want to display. Click on “Add Items” to add menu items and click on the “Reorder” link to change the order of menu items.
Click on the “Publish” button to save the changes.
Now that you have created a great homepage and some content pages for your website, you should plan and write your first blog post. Writing blog posts can help you target important keywords and rank your website on the results pages of top search engines.
How to start your website’s first blog post.
Select “Posts” > “Add a New Post” from the WordPress dashboard.
The post editor will open. Type your post title and set category, tags, featured image, etc.
You can change the post visibility and add password protection to it (commonly used for publishing gated content).
If you want to display social sharing buttons on your post, scroll down to the “Sharing” section of the Settings pane and select the desired buttons.
If you want to display an excerpt of the post on your social media pages or your website’s homepage, type it in the “Excerpt” field.
Last, you can control comments and pingbacks to your post by checking/unchecking those options.
Click on the “Preview” button when you’ve made all of the changes to your post.
If the post is ready, click on “Publish.”
To schedule your post for publishing it later, click on the calendar icon next to the “Publish” button and select a publishing date and time.
Publishing content isn’t enough. You should run content audits from time to time to evaluate the performance of your blog posts and update under-performing content.
For omnichannel marketing, you need to drive traffic from your website to your social media pages and vice versa. Let’s learn how to add social sharing buttons to your new website.
To do so, click on the “More” button.
You can edit button labels and change how they appear (label only, label+icon, etc.).
Keep an eye on the “Preview” section that shows how your buttons will look in different button styles.
That’s how easy it is to make your website social media friendly.
Adding social sharing buttons will make it easier for visitors to share your articles within their social circles, which will help you build brand awareness.
Forms are a great way to collect information about your visitors and resolve their problems. Your potential clients can also use forms to connect with you and ask questions about your services and products, or request a quote.
In WordPress, adding forms is fairly straightforward.
Here are the steps you need to follow to add various types of forms:
If you want to send newsletters to your website visitors, you can add a subscription form block to your website. Visitors who fill out your subscription form will elect to receive daily/weekly newsletters from you.
Here’s how a subscription block looks like:
To add a subscription block, follow the steps below:
But before you do that, add mailing plugins like Mailchimp or MailerLite to your site. If you have WordPress Business plan or more advanced plans, you can choose from a greater number of mailing list plugins.
Toggle on “Place button on new line” if you want the subscriber count to show below the “Subscribe” button.
If you plan to sell products/services on your website, the first thing you need to do is to install the WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress website. The plugin will enable standard ecommerce features like cart and checkout. It comes with versatile pricing plans and robust customer support.
A wizard will walk you through the WooCommerce plugin installation. However, here are the steps you will have to follow:
If you plan to accept offline payments as well, click on the “Offline Payments” checkbox at the bottom. Then, click on the “Continue” button.
That’s it! Your ecommerce page is ready and you can import products through your admin dashboard.
To review and update your store information, head over to the Settings tab.
Ensure that you create an SKU (stock-keeping unit) or barcode for each of your products. This is essential for inventory management.
Along with WordPress, there are many website builders that you can use to start your business website.
If ease of use and affordability are your prime concerns while working with tools, Wix might be a great choice for you. The intuitive website-building tool lets you build unlimited free sites using their powerful website editor.
Wix also has an AI-powered designer, Wix ADI, that automatically puts together your website after asking you a couple of questions about your niche and web design preferences. You can easily add your custom content and media to your new website and get it up and running in a few minutes.
Sounds good, right?
Exactly.
But that’s not all. Wix has something for everyone. From online stores to creative agencies, Wix has abundant templates and features for all sorts of clients. They have professional-looking website templates, built by qualified designers.
On top of that, you can buy 250+ business solutions from the Wix App Market to add more customizations and functionalities to your website.
These are just some of the reasons why we decided to add a section on how to start your website using Wix in this post.
Most website builders work in more or less the same fashion.
So, let’s dive right into how to start your website using Wix. There are two main methods for building a website with Wix:
The drag-and-drop Wix Editor allows you to build your website using templates, blank canvas, and Velo (coding platform to add customizations).
Best for: People with limited design experience
Wix offers a plethora of templates (900, to be precise) for anyone who wants to build a great-looking website on a tight budget. The best part is that most of these design templates are included in your free Wix subscription.
We recommend that you explore the different template options Wix offers for your niche. You can also go through Wix’s design portfolio to see templates in action.
No matter which template you choose, Wix offers you complete control over its look and feel. You can remove and add style elements as needed from the editor itself.
When you find a template that you like, you can preview it by hovering over it and clicking on the “View” button. If you don’t like what you see, close the template and keep reviewing other templates.
Best for: People with designing skills
If you don’t fear blank canvases, you can build your website from scratch using a blank or any minimalistic template. You can create a unique personality for your business website and make it stand out from that of your competitors.
You will get complete freedom to design your website the way you visualize it.
Once you select a template, you will be redirected to the Wix Editor where you can drag and drop buttons, grids, blocks, etc. and can play around with layouts and colors to get the desired look and feel.
Best for: People who desire advanced customizations and possess coding skills
Wix allows you to add JavaScript snippets and databases to your web pages through its coding platform, Velo. By customizing the way your on-page elements interact with each other, you can get a greater control over your website functionalities.
What else?
You can create web applications that complement your website. Using Velo APIs, you can design your app’s structure and features. In Velo, if you turn on the “Dev” mode, you can get inside your app’s code and modify it as you want.
Best for: Beginners
For technologically-challenged people, Wix offers a disruptive new technology, the Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence).
The AI-backed engine asks users a few questions about what they expect from their website. After analyzing their answers, the Wix ADI puts together a website that is tailored to meet your specific needs.
You can easily create a fully-functional website – connected domain, web hosting, social media integration, and ecommerce functionality.
Not convinced?
Then, watch the Wix ADI in action in this demo video:
Video via YouTube
That’s cutting-edge technology!
And, that’s not even the best part about Wix yet.
What’s the best part then?
It’s their pocket-friendly pricing plans. Wix allows you to build unlimited websites for free. You can get access to their slick templates, point-and-click editor, and SSL certificates without spending a penny.
However, if you need a connected domain, online payment integration, and ad-free websites, it’s best to opt for Wix’ paid plans. With prices as low as $15 per monthl, you can build secure websites and take advantage of their 24×7 customer support services and visitor analytics.
Q1. How can I start a website for free?
A. There are a few website builders like Wix and WordPress that allow you to create your own website for free. Wix offers 500+ customizable templates, robust web hosting services, SEO tools, and proactive customer support.
Though Wix lets you build websites for free, such websites have a downside, which you may discover too late. Free websites will show ads that you had never signed up for and they won’t allow you to accept online payments. This can turn off your visitors.
If you want to build an ad-free website, you will have to sign up for one of Wix’ paid plans that start from $15 per month.
Q2. How much does it cost to start a website?
A. You can build a website for free using website builders like Wix and WordPress. They don’t charge you for storage space or free templates and plugins. But, there will be limitations on bandwidth, functionalities, and support in their free plans.
Q3. Is it free to start a website?
A. There are tools like Wix that allow you to set up a website for free. WordPress also lets you build a free website on their platform. However, you’ll have to pay for purchasing a domain name.
Wix offers a few domain names for free for a year. It also offer free web hosting, templates, and 24×7 customer support but with access to limited features only.
Q4. What is the cheapest way to start a website?
A. The most cost-effective way to start a website is to use website builders like Wix and WordPress. They offer easy-to-use website editors, professional-looking templates, useful learning resources, and great customer service to help beginners.
While Wix offers free a domain name for a year, plus web hosting and templates, WordPress charges you for registering a domain name.
Q5. Is Wix really free?
A. Yes, Wix lets you build basic websites for free. But these websites run ads and have limited bandwidth and storage options.
If you want more storage and bandwidth, you can opt for their paid plans. Their lowest-priced plan (Combo) is worth $15 per month. At this price, you can get a free custom domain for one year, free SSL certificate, 3GB storage, and 30 minutes of video hours.
Q6. Do you get paid for having a website?
A. No, you don’t get paid for having a website, but you can monetize your website in many ways, including:
Q7. Which type of website is best for earning money?
A. Various types of websites have a great monetization potential, including:
Q8. How much does Wix charge to create a website?
Wix lets you build basic websites for free. But these websites run ads and offer limited bandwidth and storage space.
To get access to advanced features, you can opt for their paid plans, which start from $15 per month.
Starting a WordPress website is not that difficult. If ever you get stuck at any point, head over to the WordPress Support Center that offers insightful articles, video tutorials, and an active user community.
In this post, we’ve covered all of the information required to start a basic website or blog. If you need to set up a special type of website like an online course site or a live streaming platform, you can use website builders meant for that purpose.
Do you have any questions about the website-building processes explained in this article? Feel free to ask them in the comments section. We’ll be back with the answers soon.
Disclaimer: This content contains some affiliate links for which we will earn a commission (at no additional cost to you). This is to ensure that we can keep creating free content for you.
Your sales funnel metrics dictate how your business is performing and how you can take…
Zuora is among the most notable names in the recurring billing and subscription industry. It’s…
When it comes to the best hashtags for the wedding industry, people usually think about…
Fomo Review: The Summary Box Fomo is a social proof automation tool that can help…
Video editing is not just cutting and combining clips; it's how you tell a story.…
There’s no shortage of content on the internet. In fact, there’s so much content that…