How To Build A Website ,An easy, step-by-step guide

Not having a website means you’re losing out on potential customers. The excuse of websites being too complicated or too expensive to create is no longer valid. 

There's a lot of information on my website about affiliate marketing specifically, but I wanted to make a general page about how to build a simple website so I could reference back to it.

There are many ways to build a website, and many reasons to make one. I'm how to show you one specific way to build a simple website that can be use for many different reasons. However, our end goal is going to be making money with this website

There's a lot of information on my website about affiliate marketing specifically, but I wanted to make a general page about how to build a simple website so I could reference back to it.

There are many ways to build a website, and many reasons to make one. I'm how to show you one specific way to build a simple website that can be use for many different reasons. However, our end goal is going to be making money with this website.

If you want to learn how to build a simple website and make money from it, this is the page to be on.

Of course, I can't show you the entire money-making process here because that takes a long time to learn and I don't want to confuse this page with a bunch of unnecessary information.

I will link to resources at the bottom for you how can turn your website into a real business. For now, I suggest you skim the page for basic information, because you have a few options to decide before you take your first step.

Basic Things You Need

There are three basic things you need to get your website working properly.

1. Domain ( recomended namecheap)
2. Hosting ( recomended bluehost)
3. Website Builder

They all work together to make the millions of websites available on the internet. Just those three things!

The domain is like the website address, that's pretty obvious. The hosting is like the place where you store your files: images, text, and code. The website builder is the engine that runs everything and displays it nicely so people can read it on their computer or smartphone.

There are many choices for website builders, but we are going to use WordPress. It's free, and is very versatile. That means you can do a lot of different awesome things with it, AND it means you have a lot of choices of hosts (we'll discuss that later).

The domain part is easy. There are many “registrars” where you can purchase domains. They are paid yearly, and cost about $0,69 till $15 a years for namecheap

Namecheap is cool because they have flat-rate pricing and free privacy for the first year. Knownhost is very fast, and I love their support (super fast!). I previously had many issues with hacking and after moving those websites to Knownhost I've had no issues at all for 4 

years

.

Tips for Finding Business Website Domains

If your business name is taken, here are a few tips to keep in mind as you search for alternate names:

1. Domain names are important for search engines, like Google. Consider including words that people are likely to use when searching for your business. “ProStar Lawncare” is probably better than “ProStar USA.”
2. Domain names should be easy to pronounce and remember. Keep your name as short as possible and avoid punctuation like dashes. As a simple rule of thumb, make sure somebody can find your domain if they hear it spoken out loud.
3. Use location to find a unique URL. If all other options are taken, add your city/area name to the domain. For example, a company called Smith Plumbers based in Albany, NY, could try www.smithplumbersalbany.com. This, again, can help your website appear in Google since customers are likely to enter their city name when searching for a service.

 Choose Which Platform & Host are Right for You

Once you’ve chosen a domain, the next step is to decide where to host your website. A host is the service that actually stores your website and transmits it to visitors. In our experience, the two best host platforms are Bluehost and Wordpress for platform.

Bluehost is the most versatile hosting option and the one that delivers the most value. You can register your domain, host your website, AND get a business email address for just $2.95 per month. Click here to check out Bluehost’s hosting plans.

Time To Make Some Choices!

STEP 1: GET A DOMAIN & WEB HOSTING

In order to get set up your WordPress (or any other type of websites), you’re going to need two things:

• A domain name (a web address like yoursitename.com)
• Hosting (a service that connects your site to the internet)

The WordPress platform itself is free, but a domain name and hosting will cost you around $0,69 – $5 a month. However it costs less than a coffee, so it won’t break the bank.

Owning your own domain name looks far more professional than having your site on someone else’s domain (like yourbusiness.my-free-website.com), and it’s super affordable, too.

Plus, having your own hosting will also make sure your website loads quickly and won’t go down for hours at a time (pretty important for everyone who visits your pages.)

Where do I get a FREE domain name and hosting?

I’ve mostly used Bluehost.com as a web hosting and domain registrar.

They’re really affordable, have good customer service, and they’re currently throwing in a domain name for free – so it’s worth checking them out.

When you get a domain name, you’ll also get a personal email account(s): you@yoursite.com – way more professional than a generic Gmail or Yahoo address.

Already have a domain name and hosting? Go ahead and skip ahead to step 3, where I’ll explain how you can set up your website.

STEP 1: Go Bluehost {click)

Remember: Since I’m using Bluehost myself, I’ve negotiated a special discount for WebsiteSetup.org visitors (67% OFF).

STEP 2: Choose Website Hosting Plan

Once you click “get started now,” you’ll be taken to a page to select the hosting plan of your choice.

I went ahead and selected their “basic” option, which is a great choice for new websites. Plus, at the moment they’re running a special discount of $2.75/mo (usually it’s $7.99/mo)

The “plus” and “prime” plans are great, but you don’t really need all the extra bells and whistles they offer unless there are millions of people flooding your site each day.

Save your hard earned cash and opt for the cheapest package to start out with.

STEP 3: Pick a Domain Name

As an easy starting point:

• If you’re making a website for your business, your domain name should match your company name. For example: YourCompanyName.com

• If you’re planning to set up a website for yourself, then YourName.com can be a great option.

For this site (WebsiteSetup), I chose WebsiteSetup.org

Domain names usually end with .com, .org or .net, but in recent months, a huge amount of domain extensions (the end part of the web address, like .com) have come out, ranging from .agency to .pizza.

My best advice? Avoid the weird extensions and go with .com, .net or .org unless they perfectly describe what you have to offer – and even then, see if you can find a more common name.

If you’ve already got a domain name, just enter it in and click “Next” on the “I have a domain name” form.

If you aren’t ready to choose a domain right off the bat, you can do it at a later point in your website setup.

STEP 4: Fill In Your Details

To create your account, just enter in your personal information on the “create your account” page.

You’ll need to add in your first name, last name, country, street address, city, zip code, phone number, and email address. Your receipt will be sent to the email address you enter here.

It’s optional to also add in your business name within this form.

Then, enter in your payment information to continue.

STEP 5: Check Your “Package Information” and Finish Registration

The next step in registering for a Bluehost account is to select you plan and package.

These are the last steps you’ll go through before your account creation is complete, so pay close attention to the extra options available, like Domain Privacy Protection.

• Domain Privacy Protection is only $0.99 cents more per month, and keeps your personal information under wraps such as your name and address.
• If you want to keep your website and domain information anonymous, go ahead and spend the extra $0.99 per month. If you don’t, be sure to uncheck this box.

STEP 6: Create Your Password

Once paid and registered, you’ll be able to create your password:

STEP 3: SET UP & CUSTOMIZE YOUR SITE

Once you’ve bought your domain name and set up your hosting, you’re well on your way!

Now it’s time to get your website up and running. The first thing you’ll need to do is install WordPress to your domain.

Installing WordPress

There are two possible ways to install WordPress, one MUCH easier than the other.

1. TO CREATE A WEBSITE WITH WORDPRESS (OR JOOMLA & DRUPAL), USE ONE CLICK INSTALLATION:

Almost every reliable and well-established hosting company has integrated 1-click-installation for WordPress, which makes getting going a snap.

If you signed up with Bluehost or any other similar hosting company, you should find your “1-click-installation” in your account control panel.

Here are the steps you should follow (should be similar/same on all the major web hosting companies):

1. Log in to your hosting account.
2. Go to your control panel.
3. Look for the “WordPress” or “Website” icon.
4. Choose the domain where you want to install your website.
5. Click the “Install Now” button and you will get access to your new WordPress website.

Choosing a Theme/Template for your site

Once you have successfully installed WordPress to your domain, you’ll see a very basic yet clean site:

But you don’t want to look like everyone else, do you?

That’s why you need a theme – a design template that tells WordPress how your website should look. 

Here’s where it gets fun: There are thousands of awesome, professionally designed themes you can choose from and customize for a site that’s all your own.

Here’s how to find a theme you like:

1. Log into your WordPress dashboard

If you’re not sure how, type in: https://yoursite.com/wp-admin (replace “yoursite” with your domain).

This is what the WordPress dashboard looks like:

Everything is easily labelled. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, don’t sweat it – I’m going to show you where to go next.

Once you’re in the dashboard, you’ve got access to over 1500 free themes! Just look along the side bar for “Appearance”, then click “Themes”.

If you want something more professional or elegant than what you find here, you can head over to ThemeForest.net where there’s a HUGE library of themes to pick from at varying costs.

2. Install your new theme

IMPORTANT: Changing themes won’t delete your previous posts, pages and content. You can change themes as often as you want without having to worry about lose what you’ve created.

How do I add content and create new pages?

With your theme installed, you’re ready to start creating content. Let’s quickly run through some of the basics:

Adding and editing pages

Want a “Services” page, or an “About Me” page (like I have on my menu at the top of the site)?

1. Look along the sidebar in the WordPress Dashboard for “Pages” -> “Add New”.

2. Once you’ve clicked, you’ll find a screen that looks a lot like what you’ve maybe seen in Microsoft Word. Add text, images and more to build the page you want, then save it when you’re done.

Adding pages to the menu

If you want your new page to be linked to in your navigation bar,

1. Save any changes you’ve made to the page by clicking “Update”

2. Click “Appearance” -> “Menus” in the sidebar of the WordPress Dashboard

3. Find the page you created and add it to the list by clicking the checkbox next to it and then “Add to Menu”.

Adding and editing posts

If you have a blog on your website, “Posts” will be where you turn to next. You can use different categories to group similar posts.

If you want to add a blog to your website, you can use different categories and posts. Let’s say you want to create a category named “Blog”. To do so, simply add it to your menu and start making posts.

Here’s what you need to do:

a. Create a new category by going to “Posts -> Categories”

b.or  Create a blog post by going to “Posts -> Add New”. Once you’ve finished writing your blog post, you need to add the right category for it.

Once you’ve created your category, simply add it to the menu, and you’re in business!

Customization & Endless Tweaks…

In this section I’ll cover some of the basic things I’m asked about all the time that will help you to tweak your website.

Changing Your Title and Tagline

Page titles explain to searchers what your website is about, and they’re also a big part of how search engines determine your rankings, so you want to be sure they’ve got the keywords you want to target in them (but in a natural way, written for real people).

You should use a unique title on every page of your site. For example, my site’s title is “How to Make a Website”.

(Can’t find it? Just hold your mouse over the tab at the top of your web browser).

Taglines are added at the end of titles across every page. My site’s tagline is “Step by Step Guide”

In order to change the title and tagline on your website, go to “Settings -> General” and fill in the form below:

Setting Up a Static Front Page

Some people contact me saying they’re frustrated that their home page looks like a blog post. You can fix that by making your home page “static”.

A static page is a page that doesn’t change. Unlike a blog, where the first new article will show up at the top every time, a “static” page will show the same content every time someone comes to the site – like a home page you’ve designed.

To set up a static front page:

1. Go to “Settings -> Reading”

2. Choose a static page that you have created. “Front Page” denotes your home page, “Posts page” is the front page of your blog (if your entire site isn’t a blog).

If you don’t choose a static page on your own, WordPress will take your latest posts and start showing them on your homepage.

Editing sidebar

Most WordPress themes have a sidebar on the right side (in some cases it’s on the left).

If you want to get rid of the sidebar or edit out items you do not need like “Categories”, “Meta” and “Archives”, which are usually pointless, here’s how:

1. Go to “Appearance -> Widgets” in the WordPress Dashboard.

2. From here, you can use drag and drop to add different “boxes” to your sidebar, or remove the items you don’t want.

There’s also a “HTML box” – a text box where you can use HTML code. For beginners, don’t worry about this bit – just drag and drop the elements you’d like in your sidebar.

Installing Plugins to Get More out of WordPress

What is a plugin?

“Plugins” are extensions that are built to expand WordPress’ capabilities, adding features and functions to your site that don’t come built-in.

They’re shortcuts to getting your site to do what you want to, without having to build the feature from scratch.

You can use plugins to do everything from adding photo galleries and submission forms to optimizing your website and creating an online store.

How do I install a new Plugin?

To start installing plugins, go to “Plugins -> Add New” and simply start searching.

Keep in mind that there are over 25,000 different FREE plugins, so you’ve got a LOT to choose from!

Installation is easy – once you find a plugin you like, just click “Install”.

To save you some time, I’ve put together a list of the most popular plugins that webmasters find useful:

• #1 Contact form 7: My website has a contact form on my About Me page. It’s an awesome feature to have, as people (like you!) can fill in the form and send me an email without logging into their own email provider. If you want to do something similar, definitely get this plugin. P.S. 

• #2 Yoast SEO for WordPress: If you want to make your WordPress site even more SEO-friendly, this plugin is a must-have. It’s free, and it’s awesome. You’ll be able to edit your title tags, meta descriptions and more, all from within the page itself – no more fussing with WordPress settings.

• #3 Google Analytics: Interested in tracking your visitors/traffic and their behaviour? Just install the plugin, connect it with your Google account and you’re ready to go.

Congratulations – you’re ready to launch!

go here for starting making money

credited : websitesetup.org

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