Do you want to create a website in 2020 but confused about where to start and how to start? Then your dilemma will end up here. Of Course there are lot of guides available on internet about how to create a website without coding but I can assure you this is the most detailed and easy step by step guide for creating your first website online.
There are many ways to create a website, here we choose the most easiest and fastest method which can be done in 1 hour or less. To get started with creating website you need two things.
Table of Contents
Step1: Buy Webhosting and Register a domain name
- Domain Name ( An address to find your website in the internet)
- Web Hosting( To host your website files and connect to the internet)
These two are the most important things to setup a website. These services are normally available in such a time frames like one year, two years and more. Most of the domain name providers provide free domain for one year along with the hosting plan.
Here we choose bluehost as a domain and web hosting registrar.
They also giving a free domain if you purchase any one of the web hosting plan provided by them. As a first time offer they are giving hosting for $2.95/mo only and also giving one free domain. So its better to have a look into this before purchasing a domain separately on domain registrars.
If you already bought domain and hosting then you can skip step 1 and move to step 2 , where you will get to know about setting up a website.
- Go to Bluehost.com
If you want to get a discount of $2.95/mo go through the below link.
- Choose Suitable Plan
After you click on get started now , you’ll be redirected to the page where different types of hosting packages available.
- Basic
- Plus
- Choice Plus
Choose basic if you are on tight budget or to tryout features of web hosting before upgrading to plus or choice plus plans. For new sites with no traffic it is better to start on basic plan which comes for $2.95/mo.
You can change to other whenever you need to scale up things like establishing a big website which contains more content and media etc.
- Choose or Create a Domain Name
If you already have a domain name then add that in the second section where it shows “use a domain you own” and click on next button or create a new domain along with your webhosting. If the any domain name doesn’t strike your mind then you can create your domain later also.
- Fill Basic Account Information
Here you need to basic information about you including your residential address, phone number and email address. If you are creating website for your business you can add business name otherwise leave it blank. Make sure to enter your primary email address as it receives all important information from the hosting provider.
- Choose Account Plan and Complete Registration
This is the most important step where you select suitable plan for your website. If you want to give it a try then pick the basic plan and if you are satisified with the speed and service of the hosting then you can upgrade to the best plan available from the hosting provider.
As the period of the plan increases price of the package goes down. Choose the suitable plan and complete the account creation.
- Choose Payment Method
By default payment information consists pay by credit card method, if you have difficulty in paying through credit card you can use paypal by clicking on more payment options.
- Setup Account Password and Log into Bluehost
After completing payment, you will get a message from bluehost that your payment was success and confirmation email will be sent to your email address. Click on create account button and choose a strong password with a mix of capital letters, special characters and numbers. Now you all set to install blogging software on your website.
Step2 : Setup Your Website
After buying domain name and webhosting you are all ready to launch your website. To create a website first you need to install a content management system on your website. One of the best cms is wordpress with more than 50% of the websites solely run on this cms.
Install wordpress with one click installation
Here are the steps that you need to follow
- Log in to your web hosting account by giving account details
- Click on My sites then click on create site.. If you feel difficulty in finding control panel click on profile menu which shows all important links on right side.
- Give site title and tagline then click on next button.
- If you’re already setup domain, installation will be done on that directly. If not then you need to choose domain to complete wordpress site setup.
- If you choose autopilot installation you’ll get login details on the next screen. Kindly note them down to access your website.
- Now you’ve successfully created your website.
Step 3: Design Your Website
Now you have successfully installed wordpress on your domain. To give an elegant look to your website you need to apply a theme. Wordpress itself provides thousands of themes, choose any one of the theme which suits your website category.
How to Find a Theme that Suits Your Website
- Log into Your WordPress Dashboard
To log into your website you need to add wp-admin at the end of the your site address. For example https://www.testsite.com/wp-admin replace testsite with your domain.
You will get a wordpress dashboard exactly like this
- Access themes section
Click on Appearance and choose themes from the menu. Now you’ll get nearly 1500 free themes under various categories. Browse those themes and find the one which suits your website. Always look for responsive themes which will look good on mobile devices also. Featured section provides most popular themes.
- Install New Theme
Once you decided which theme to install, click on Install now button and after installation click on activate to apply the theme on your website. You can change themes infinite number of times without affecting your website content. For a detailed guide about how to install a WordPress Theme .
Step4: Add Content to Your Website
By installing theme you completed designing part of your website. Now you are all set to add content. Depending upon your business you can add pages to your website. Adding pages is the easier than you think.
- Look for Pages section on right sidebar of the wordpress dashboard and click on pages menu, select add new to add a new page.
- Add title of the page and write content what do you want to read by your customers. You can add images,videos and many more in the content section. After completing the writing click on publish button, that’s it you’ve created your first webpage.
- You can create any number pages you want in this way.
Adding and Editing Posts of the Blog
Along with pages you can also create posts if you think about to keep it is a blog. You can write any number of posts under different categories. You can do that in two different ways.
- Create a new category by clicking on categories option on right sidebar. Add a name to category, add description if need and click on “add new category” button.
- You can also create category right after creating a post , to do this write post and click on add category on the left sidebar.
Note: If you don’t create any category those all posts endup in uncategorized section. It is better add categories for better user experience.
Adding Pages and Categories to the Menu
Adding menu to your website is the most important thing to do because a user can easily locate your pages and posts under categories with the help of menu. Look here for adding pages and categories to menu bar.
- Click on appearance section on right side bar and choose menus.
- Give a menu name and click on create menu button
- Now add all pages and categories by ticking all check boxes then click on add menu.
- Now you can see all pages under menu structure. Rearrange pages as you like by drag and drop.
- Choose the location menu in website by selecting display location under menu settings.
- Finally click on save menu to view changes.
That’s it you successfully add menu to your website.
Basic Settings and changes of Your Website
Your website title is the one that people search on internet search engines. If you choose one click installation it adds default title and tagline to your website like my blog and my wordpress blog.
You need to change that to standout from all other websites in the web. To do that click on settings-> General and add title and tagline like the following way. Don’t forgot to save changes.
Installing Plugins to Your Website
Plugins are the coded extensions which allows wordpress users to make most out of their website. You can perform so many operations by simply installing a plugin. There are thousands of plugins available in wordpress repository.
You can use plugins to do unlimited things on your website from creating simple comparison tables to complex server optimization operations.
How to Install a New Plugin?
Installing a wordpress plugin is not a tough task, all you have to do is search the plugin you need by providing keyword.
- Select Plugins section from the right side bar of wordpress dashboard .
- Click on Add new button, search for plugin and click on “Install Now” button.
- After that click on active button to activate the plugin.
How to Install WordPress Plugin Manually?
You can also install wordpress plugin by uploading the zip file to the wordpress directory.
- Select Plugins section from the right side bar of wordpress dashboard.
- Click on Add new button, select upload plugin -> Click on Choose File, select zip file and click on Install Now Button.
- Now click on Activate Plugin in the next page.
That’s it, in this way you can install all other important plugins for your website.
Congratulations – You’ve successfully completed your website setup. Now install Google Analytics to know about the visitors of your website. Here is the complete tutorial about how to install Google Analytics to WordPress Website .