How To Build A Website.docx

Ready to make a website in 2019? Thanks to advances in technology and programming, creating a website today is far easier than it was at the turn of the century. This is especially true if you pick the right platform.

In reality, you don't even need to know how to develop code such as HTML or PHP. However, learning these elements later could help you customize your site to your liking. In the long run, though, even the most novice of website developers can create something spectacular.

In this guide, I am going to show you how to make a website using some of the best tools on the Internet. By the time you're done, you will have an online presence ready for visitors.

First... Picking a Website Building Platform Unlike the days of old, you don't need to manually code a website to make something amazing. In fact, you can choose from a myriad of platforms to help you construct a website without entering a single line of code.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Platform Choosing the right platform is going to center around your own desires. Do you want to build an online store to sell goods? Are you looking to entertain others with your blog? It's all a matter of what you want to share with the world.

Offering Mobile Integration More than 50% of users on the Internet are mobile. If you want to build a successful website, you need to make sure your site is ready for smartphones. Some website builders offer easier and more efficient ways to create sites for both desktops and mobile devices. Your Level of Coding Content management systems come in all forms. Some are easier to use for beginners while others are more geared for advanced online coding. Your current level of skill is going to drive which platform will be the best for you. Access to Support Don't feel bad if you need help building your site. Everyone starts from the beginning, and the platform you choose may or may not have the best support system. If you need help, you want to know that assistance is easy to access. So, What Kind of Platforms are Available? The Internet is full of development platforms to build websites. The hardest part is picking which one will suit your needs the best. Here are just a few I find the most useful. WordPress

WordPress is by far my favorite content management system. It can act as a blog, eCommerce site or even a community hub if you want to create a social channel.

Joomla Joomla is a good system that is almost as flexible as WordPress. The biggest difference is the amount of coding you'll need to learn to make certain adjustments.

Drupal Drupal is a decent system, but it requires far more coding and has less support than systems like WordPress. It's more difficult to set up and organize as opposed to WordPress or Joomla.

Prestashop Prestashop is a platform designed specifically for eCommerce. It's a good system with a free license. However, some additions can be quite costly to add later on.

CubeCart Another eCommerce platform, CubeCart offers a great deal of flexibility and options to get started. Like Prestashop, though, it also can cost a lot to add new features. This is only a handful of the systems you can use. At GreenGeeks, we use Softaculous. It's loaded with different kinds of website builders you can add with just a couple clicks of the mouse.

If you're new to website development, I suggest using WordPress. It's the easiest to use and often faster when creating a new website.

Why Use WordPress? WordPress is one of the most versatile website building platforms on the Internet. You can customize it to be virtually anything you need. It's flexibility and ease of use are reasons why it controls nearly 60% of the marketshare for content management systems.

WordPress automatically adjusts itself depending on the visitor's resolution. This means you don't need to make a lot of extra changes just to make sure your website appears nice on a smartphone. Many free themes you can get for WordPress take advantage of this quite nicely.

You don't need to enter any coding to get WordPress to do what you want. Through the use of themes and plugins, you can quickly develop the perfect site in mere moments. However, it's also easy to customize if you have coding knowledge. It's perfect for users of all skill levels.

Because WordPress is so popular, finding help for virtually any aspect of the application is easy to come by. Forums, tutorials and more are easily accessible. For example, GreenGeeks has an evergrowing list of "How-Tos" for WordPress covering a wide scope of features.

One of the most important aspects of WordPress is the fact that it's free. After installing it, you'll have one of the most powerful and feature-rich systems on the Internet driving your website.

Second... Decide On A Good Domain Name and Web Hosting Provider The next step is finding a good web hosting provider and coming up with a good domain name. Both of these elements are vastly important if you want to build a website that is successful.

It's All in the Name Your domain name is a unique address which points to your content. Think of it like being able to name your house. It's how visitors will find your site and explore its contents. You need to have a good strategy if you want a successful site.

When coming up with a name, ask yourself:

Does the name match the content? You wouldn't want to name a website "BobsChickenBarbecue.com" if you plan on building a vegan website.

Is the name of your site short and sweet? The shorter a name is, the easier it is to type. A long name could lead to misspellings or avoidance from users.

Is the domain name easy to spell? A simple misspelling of a word in the name could cause traffic to go elsewhere.

Are you using the right domain extension, like .com or .net? Some extensions will not be available to you depending on where you live. Today, there are a slew of extensions available depending on industry and purpose. Be creative.

Coming up with a good name for your website is often fun if not frustrating. Every time you think you have a good one, someone already has it. However, that's easy to get around with a bit of imagination.

If you find yourself stuck trying to find a name you can try using synonyms in the name. Sometimes abbreviations are effective such as "cdc.gov."

The important thing to remember is your domain name needs to be representative of your content or business.

Why Hosting Plans Matter Deciding on a hosting plan lays the groundwork for building your site. Think of it like buying a plot of digital real estate to build your online structure. GreenGeeks has plans available that range from maintaining a simple blog all the way to more complex and larger corporate needs.

For new developers, I suggest the web hosting package we offer. It's the most cost-effective for beginners and comes with all of the tools you'll need to succeed. This also includes a free domain name, which can run you around $15 per year depending on what registrar you use.

GreenGeeks won't ask you for additional payments to unlock certain features. Personalized email, web space, bandwidth, shopping carts and more are all available to you regardless of what you want to build for one low price.

And if you need to expand beyond your plan, we can help you upgrade and scale to your needs. For instance, what if your eCommerce site grows beyond your limits? It's not a problem at all as we can help you expand your digital real estate to accommodate your visitors.

When you're using GreenGeeks, you're also doing your part to help the environment. We use renewable energy sources to help power our data centers, which means your website has a carbon reducing impact on the environment.

Third... Install and Configure WordPress Once you have your domain name and web hosting account set up, it's time to install WordPress. You have two different methods available: automatic and manual. I'd suggest using the automatic method simply because it's easier and much faster.

Automatic WordPress Install

We use Softaculous to install WordPress and many other management systems. It's a user-friendly system that takes a lot of the work out of setting up the platform. It will do its own databases and give you control over admin accounts and passwords.

Softaculous is accessible in the cPanel dashboard from GreenGeeks.

Install WordPress using Softaculous

Installing WordPress Manually If you're more hands-on, you can also install WordPress manually. This is more involved as it requires downloading WordPress, uploading to the server, creating your own database and running the install app.

Although it's more time-consuming than using Softaculous, it's not overly difficult. In fact, installing WordPress manually is quite easy as long as you follow the steps closely. Just keep in mind the time it takes to download and upload WordPress will be dependent on your Internet speed.

Manually Install WordPress

Deciding On a WordPress Theme A theme is the actual appearance of your website. It will govern over things like colors, where blocks of information are placed and sometimes include tools to customize the look.

When deciding on a specific look and feel of your site, you should consider the following.

What Is the Niche of Your Site? Niche sites often have the highest rate of success for a specific audience. For example, a website centering around the best places to go fishing in the United States would garner traffic from those looking for good fishing spots.

When you focus on a particular topic, you want your layout to accentuate the content. Colors, images and even the font can play a part to give the material you write a certain aesthetic.

Do You Want Something Free or Premium?

In WordPress, you have access to a wide scope of free themes. A lot of these are quite feature rich and easy to manage. However, a lot of people like the idea of purchasing premium themes. These paid-for layouts often come with tools and functions to provide more in the way of customization.

I would suggest using a free theme for now. Once you get used to customizing and how themes impact your site, you may want to buy one to engage your visitors even more.

Installing a New Theme in WordPress Managing WordPress themes is relatively simple, especially if you do it through the admin panel. All it takes is a couple clicks of the mouse and you can alter how your site looks near instantly. If you don't like the theme, you can quickly change it back.

Installing A New Theme in WordPress

5 Essential Plugins to Install for WordPress One of the reasons why WordPress is so popular is because of the vast number of plugins available. These are small apps you can install to give your site more functionality.

For instance, you can install a FAQ addition to give a professional look to a Frequently Asked Questions page.

Here are five essential plugins I suggest installing. Each has a specific purpose and will play a role in maintaining your website.