How To Build A Website (2021 Guide)

#1 User-Friendly & Beginner Friendly WordPress.org is hands down the best blogging platform and is so easy to use. Ideal for new bloggers and people starting a business that need a solid online presence. It’s intuitive and if you know how to use standard Microsoft programs such as Word or Excel, then chances are you’ll already know how to publish your own content on the site you’re about to build. Another great thing about WordPress is that it can be easily customized with plugins, that can pretty much do anything to your site and make it exactly how you want it. You might want just a simple small business website or a complex e-com site with hundreds of products. WP can handle this. #2 Powerful CMS WordPress is extremely powerful and can run most types of sites. It’s a trusted platform for many of the busiest websites in the world. It can handle pretty much anything. #3 Websites Are Responsive & Mobile Friendly With more and more people viewing sites on their smartphones and other mobile devices, it’s really important to have a site that is responsive to these digital demands. With WordPress, most themes come mobile friendly as standard. #4 It won’t cost you a thing! WordPress.org is free. All you have to do is buy your domain and hosting and then you’re up and running before you can say “www.” #5 Plenty of lovely people to help you out. WordPress is blessed with a vibrant and helpful community of developers who will be happy to help you out should you get stuck with anything to do with your WordPress site. Step 2 – Buy a Domain Name & Web Hosting Hosting your website on WordPress.com is free. GOOD NEWS!!! And you get a free WordPress domain name. GOOD NEWS!!! But the hosting service they give you it’s really slow (which will impact your rankings on Google) BAD NEWS!!! And the free domain name they give you is rubbish, as its a sub-domain and will make you look unprofessional. MORE BAD NEWS!!! Example: YourWebsiteName.WordPress.com So let’s look at the better way for your site to get up and running! By spending that little bit more money, your website can have its own hosting which is much faster and reliable than any free hosting you can get and your own domain name! Example: www.YourWebsiteName.com This means that you will have your very own Web Property and not a site that’s owned and rented to you from WordPress. Web Hosting And Domain Name Costs Before you can start creating your website, you’re going to need to take care of the basics. The two most important components to get your site up and running is a domain name and web hosting service. Without these two things, your visitors will have no way to access your site. Domain Name The domain name refers to the address that people will use to visit your site. It’s what your site will be identified as moving forward. Needless to say, it plays a bit part in defining your brand, so it’s important to choose a domain that represents you or your business well. Web Hosting Web hosting is where your site is actually going to be stored. Hosting companies have large data centers filled with servers. When you purchase a hosting plan, part of one of those servers is dedicated to your site. It’s where you will be putting on your files, copy, images, and anything else pertaining to your web creation. Disclosure: When you purchase a product or service through links on this page, I earn a commission. This helps me to keep this site running. There are no extra costs to you at all by using our links. Choose Your Web Hosting Typically, hosting will cost you approximately $3 – $6 per month. It’s worth it, really it is! If you’re serious about building your own website then you need your own hosting and domain name. In most of the websites that I have built, including makeawebsitehub.com, I have used Bluehost for my web hosting. Go to www.BlueHost.com and click on the “get started now”. Use this link to get a FREE domain name for the first 12 months. You can get the basic hosting package for an incredible $2.95 a month + free domain name, but I recommend the Plus plan for new bloggers, as you get more unlimited features with this deal and you can host more than one website on the account. A Quick Recap If you’re setting up a blog, personal website or business website, you will need both a domain name and hosting package. With the hosting package, you also get unlimited email addresses that are assigned to your domain name! Example: joebloggs@YourWebsiteName.com This is super useful as everything is under one roof! No hassle with having to arrange email accounts elsewhere! If you are looking to create an online store or eCommerce website then read my guide on starting a website with Shopify. Where To Register A Domain And Get Web Hosting Service Now that you know why a domain name and hosting is important, where do you get it? There are many options available. For this guide, we’ll be using BlueHost. BlueHost is an established hosting company that’s been around forever. They have a great reputation for exceptional customer support and providing reliable hosting service at affordable prices. While the provider’s data centers are located in Utah, users from around the world will have no problem accessing your site. BlueHost’s shared hosting plans start at only $2.95 per month with a promotional offer for new members. There are a few different plan tiers to choose from and there’s also different types of hosting plans available for whenever you need to upgrade. In addition to offering hosting service, BlueHost acts as a domain registrar. So, you can take care of both tasks in one place. The company offers a free domain for one year with all of their hosting packages. One thing to note is Bluehost don’t offer country specific domain names such as .de .fr .es. For these you’ll need to buy them over at Domain.com. Use our coupon code SITEHUB to get 25% off everything. Getting your domain name and hosting service is very easy and only takes a few minutes. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it at BlueHost.