Step-by-Step Directions

This page will walk you through the steps to creating your own website.

1. The very first step to creating a website is to purchase your domain. If you are planning on creating a site that you will host on a server that you access you can go to GoDaddy or Hostgator and register an available domain name and then select the appropriate hosting package. Visit the hosting page for more detailed information on choosing the correct hosting package which can be found on the bottom of this article.

If dealing with your own server is too complicated you can always choose to work with a company that takes care of that component for you. Using a service like Homestead allows you to create a professional website without having to worry about the hosting. The process is similar with Homestead, you register a domain and then you start building your site, bypassing the more complicated server issues. You can find out more about using Template services, like Homestead, on the Template page on our site.

2. Now that you are either set up with Homestead or a domain name with a server you can start building your website. If you are using Homestead you can use either the Lite SiteBuilder or SiteBuilder to create the site. Sitebuilder allows you to add pages and edit them, much like a word document. You can bold text, underline text, change background colors, upload photos, etc. Once you have the pages and basic design all set, you can start adding some more advanced functionality. One of the nice things about Homestead is they have much of what you need already available for you to use. You simply need to add the functionality. For example, let’s say you want today’s weather report to show up on a page when a user visits it, you just add the zip code and the site will automatically take care of the rest. Or, let’s say you want your Facebook page on the site, you can just add your profile information and the site will show a professional Facebook logo with your account on the page. The site offers many advanced tools for creating advanced websites in an easy and affordable way.

Alternatively, let’s say you went the other route and you are using your own server. First thing to do is to log in to the C-Panel or Domain Manager section. You will either want to create the files using HTML with CSS or PHP/HTML with CSS and upload them to your server under your domain names public directory or, another option here, is to use a Content Management System (CMS), like Drupal, to build your site. You can see more about this topic under the marketing page of this site. If you decide to use a CMS, most hosting providers offer a quick install feature. You can simply choose the service (Drupal, Joomla!, WordPress) and it will install in the directory for you. Then you will be emailed the administrator login information. Unless you know how to use the specific CMS system you may want to stick to the easier option with Homestead. Most CMS’ are complicated and highly powerful. The learning curve can be pretty steep. If you decide that you do want to learn then I recommend visiting Lynda.com for great video tutorials.

3. Great, now that your site is up and running it’s important to do the proper marketing for your site. Search the web or our site for important information about marketing your site.