This free tutorial will present you with how you can create a professional high-quality website with just some easy clicks. This guide was designed for the absolute newbie, so no prior expertise is required.
If you follow this tutorial, in about 1 hour you’ll have a professional high-quality website, without having to pay an online designer 1000’s of dollars.
Your website will probably be easy to customize with an easy drag & drop website page builder (such as Elementor), which provides you a top-quality, skilled design that can look nice and perform correctly on PC, Mac, tablet, or cell-phone
Here is an outline of what’s on this guide:
How to Make a Website For Free in 6 Steps
- Choose a custom domain name
- Register your domain & get web hosting
- Install your website
- Customize your website
- Add your online store (optionally available)
- Get visitors to your new website
You ought to be capable of complete all of those steps in about an hour.
Let’s begin!
Step #1: Choose a (Custom) Domain Name
The initial step to setting up your site is to pick a domain name
A domain name is one thing like yourwebsite.com
You might want to select a site extension like .com, .net, .org, .co
While .com is most popular, one of many different extensions above will work simply as well.
Once you know the area title you’d like to make use of, it’s good to verify it’s available:
If your required domain isn’t available, try a distinct domain extension, or strive to abbreviate or rearranging words. Once you discover an available domain you might be prepared to move ahead.
Step #2: Register Your Domain & Get Your Web Hosting
To get your website online it’s good to register your domain name and get your web hosting.
Web hosting is the service that shops the content material (pictures, textual content, videos) for your website and delivers it to visitors after they visit your domain name.
Where to Get a Domain Name with Hosting
I personally use and suggest Siteground.com for hosting and domain registration.
I like Siteground for several reasons:
Like lots of its competitors, SiteGround provides WordPress hosting. SiteGround regulates you’re set up with improved oversaw WordPress facilitating, assistance that allows your site upgraded security, mechanized every day reinforcements, website page storing, organizing, and computerized content material management system updates. It additionally offers a one-click setup and a free account switch.
SiteGround now not offers a free domain name, nevertheless, it offers substantial discounts for registration. The plans are much like the corporate’s shared internet hosting plans in regards to price. Your choices are to join one-, two-, or three-year contracts.
SiteGround’s base WordPress tier, StartUp ($14.99 monthly), offers a skimpy 10GB of storage, a mere 10,000 monthly visitors, and the power to host only one WordPress website. GrowBig ($24.99 monthly) ups the storage to 20GB and monthly visitors to 25,000, whereas letting you host limitless WordPress websites. The top-level plan, GoGeek ($39.99 monthly), builds upon GrowBig with its 40GB of storage and 100,000 monthly visitors.
All plans include limitless email and monthly data transfers. SiteGround additionally offers quite a few free WordPress themes. SiteGround contains many helpful in-house Plugins for building your WordPress website: WP Migrator, SG Optimizer, and SuperCacher.
Once you’re logged into SiteGround’s WordPress setup, you possibly can create posts, pages, and galleries as you’ll with every other self-hosted WordPress website. If you wish to set up a non-managed WordPress website, you can do that, too.
Step #3: Install Your Website & Create a Customized Email
Now the WordPress website building platform will probably be automatically installed.
While there are actually lots of website building platforms, far and away the most well-liked platform is WordPress.
WordPress was first launched again in 2003 as an easy platform for creating a blog. Since then it has grown to develop into the world’s hottest content management system for every type of website.
Right now, WordPress bolsters in excess of 60 million clients, huge and little, along with Bloomberg, BBC America, The Walt Disney Organization, and some more
This tutorial shows you how you can build a website using WordPress because it’s:
- Free to use. WordPress is what’s referred to as “open-source software”, which suggests it’s free to use and customize. You simply have to have a hosting account.
2. Easy for newbies. You can get a professional website up and operate in a couple of minutes by selecting from 1000’s of pre-made templates and using easy drag & drop modifying options. No coding is needed.
3. Customizable. No matter what sort of web site you might be beginning, WordPress is simple to customize to your wants.
Once the WordPress setup is complete you’ll get an email along with your WordPress login data. Make sure to monitor your login data!
Step #4: Customize Your Website
Now it’s time for the fun part!
First, you’ll need to login into the WordPress dashboard. This is the area where you’ll make updates to your website.
Just click on the “WordPress” button on the “Home” page of your SiteGround account to login to WordPress.
Choose a Website Design
Site designs are referred to as “themes” in WordPress. Changing your theme will fully change the design of your website.
Changing themes takes just some clicks, and is the best approach to make main modifications to your website’s design.
WordPress offers 1000’s different themes. You can browse the available free themes by going to the left sidebar within the WordPress dashboard and clicking on “Appearance –> Themes”
From right here you possibly can browse the available themes or seek one thing in particular.
You are free to decide on any theme you want, however, I’d suggest using the Astra theme, because it offers a wide range of pre-designed web sites that make this entire course simple.
In the search field, type “Astra”. Then click on the blue “Install” button on the Astra theme.
Once it’s installed click on the blue “Activate” button.
Next, on the left sidebar menu click on “Appearance –> Astra Options”
Then click on the link on the right that says “Install Importer Plugin”
Once it has been installed, you will be taken to a page with a variety of website templates to select from.
You can browse, or search for something in particular.
Be aware that among the templates (marked “Agency”) require that you simply pay to make use of them. However, there are such a lot of free choices that a paid template is not actually necessary.
Try not to get too hung up on the names of the templates all things considered. For example, here is a template is known as “Brand Store”:
Despite the name, this template might simply be used for any sort of store. You would simply add your individual product pictures (which you’ll learn how to do later in this tutorial).
The photos, content, and colors in every template might be changed, so the important thing to finding the right template for you is to look at the overall layout and functions.
For example, if the main aim of your website is to promote products, then any of the shop templates (simply search for “store”) will give you the results you want.
Once you’ve found a template that looks good, click on it, after which click on the “Preview” button on the bottom left to get a full preview.
If every part seems to be good, go ahead and click on the blue “Import Complete Site” button. If you change your mind later, you possibly can all the time come again to this step and choose a different template.
On the pop-up, make sure that the bottom 4 boxes are checked and click on “Import”.
Once the import is complete you possibly can close the pop-up window.
Add Your Logo
If you don’t have a logo for your website yet, that’s okay.
You can make a free logo for your site with Canva Or GetStencil.
Once you’ve got your logo, you possibly can add it to your website by clicking “Appearance –> Astra Options” on the left sidebar menu. Then click on “Upload Logo”.
On the next screen, you possibly can click on “Change Logo” to upload your new logo. Once added, you can also use the slider to alter the width of your logo.
Change Your Website Colors & Fonts
Return to “Appearance – > Astra Options” from the WordPress left sidebar. Then click on “Set Colors”
From right here you possibly can customize the colors used in your website design. There are several options right here, from background colors to font colors.
To tweak your text styles, return to “Appearance – > Astra Options” from the WordPress left sidebar.. Then click on “Customize Fonts”. This will give the option to change the font sizes and styles used in your theme.
Other Customizations
Presently you’ve seen a portion of the basic plan changes that can be made to your site.
To see the entire options, go to “Appearance –> Customizer” on the left sidebar of the WordPress dashboard.
Feel free to experiment with the various options. They are all simply as easy to change as the other options you have changed to this point.
We will go over more customizations within the part below on including content material.
Add Content To Your Website
Now that you’ve got the basic design of your website, it’s time to start out by including some content.
The template that you simply selected when you first set up your website contained various pages that you will need to edit, so let’s go over that first.
Editing Present Pages
you will want to navigate to the page you wish to edit. Let’s begin with the homepage.
Hover over the house icon on the top left of the WordPress dashboard, then click on “Visit Site”.
This will take you to the homepage of your website so that you could see what it looks like at the moment.
To edit the homepage click on “Edit with Elementor” from the top menu bar. Keep in thoughts that solely can see that top menu bar, as you might be at the moment logged-in to your website as an administrator.
You should now see the Elementor page editor.
This is simple to use drag & drop editor.
You will see the web page you are editing on the right of the display screen, after which various editing options on the left.
Click on any element on the web page and the editing options which might be available will present up on the left.
For instance, if I click on on the headline, the editor field lets me add new text, a hyperlink, or change the size of the text.
You may also click on the “Style” tab on the top of the editor to bring up more editing options.
In addition to editing the elements which might be already on the page, you possibly can add new elements.
To do that, click on on the dotted sq. on the top of the editing panel
This will present you with all of the completely different elements you possibly can add to your web page.
Adding elements is straightforward. Just and drag & drop the factor to the place you need it on your web page.
For example, if you wish to add a Google Map to your web page, simply drag & drop that element to the location you want it.
Continue going through your page, editing elements, adding new elements, and deleting no matter what you see fit.
Once you might be done, click on the “Update” button at the bottom of the editing panel to save your changes.
Creating new pages
In addition to your homepage, you also need to think about adding the next pages if they didn’t come pre-installed with the template you selected:
About – This is a chance to provide your prospects the backstory on you and your project. This can be an amazing place to include testimonials.
Contact – Include several options for people to contact you, including address, phone, contact form, and social media accounts.
Services – If you’re a service business then it’s best to have at least one web page describing the services you offer.
FAQ – A frequently asked questions web page is a good way for people to get their questions answered without having to contact you immediately.
Store – If you might be planning to promote products on-line you’ll need product pages, a cart page, and a checkout page. Don’t add these but although. Step #5 on how to add an online store will present you with how to add these pages.
To add a brand new web page go to the WordPress dashboard click on “Pages –> Add New”
Type the title to your web page in the box, after which click on “Edit with Elementor”
Click the Astra Starter Templates logo.
From the pop-up, choose the design template that you simply wish to use for this new web page.
Choosing the same design template you used on the remainder of your website is a good suggestion.
Click on the design template and you’ll be given several web page layouts to select from for this new web page.
Select the one you need and snap on “Import Template”.
Editing navigation menus
Most templates include a menu pre-installed, but when yours doesn’t it’s a good suggestion to add one to make every part simple to find for your visitors.
To edit or create a menu, click on “Appearance –> Menus” from your WordPress dashboard.
On this web page, you possibly can choose pages and click on “Add to Menu”. You may also drag & drop menu widgets to rearrange them.
You may also change the location of the menu. The location option will vary slightly relying on your template.
Once you might have the menu arranged such as you need, click on “Save Menu” to publish the changes to your website.
If You Want The Best Tips On How To Design A Website, Click Here.
If you don’t wish to add an online store, go forward, and skip to the next section on marketing your website.
Step #5: Add Your Online Store (optionally available)
If you might be planning to promote services or products online, then an online store is what you want.
Integrating an online store along with your web site is really easy with WordPress.
To start, we have to install the WooCommerce plugin.
From the left sidebar in your WordPress dashboard, go to “Plugins –> Add New”
In the search box, type “woocommerce”, then click on “Install Now” after which “Activate”.
You will now be taken to the setup wizard, which makes the entire process extremely easy.
Just fill out the main points in every step of the wizard.
Choose Your Store Design
The final step is to decide on a design theme for your store. If you might be utilizing the Astra theme that was advised within the earlier part of the tutorial, go ahead and click on “Continue with my active theme”.
Shipping and Tax Options
You will now be given the option to automatically set up some plugins that can assist calculate shipping and tax, as well as print mailing labels. Click “Yes please!” to put in these add-ons.
All of the pages you want for your store will now be routinely created.
Add Products & Payment Options
Once everything has been installed you’ll be taken to the WooCommerce area of your WordPress dashboard.
Give close consideration to the “Finish setup” section on the right.
The two items it would be best to take note of are “Add my products” and “Set up payments”.
Click on both ones and you’ll be taken to a setup wizard that can make it easier to get these arrange.
Customize Your Store
You might wish to make some changes to the default format of your store.
To do that, go to “Appearance –> Customize” from the WordPress dashboard sidebar.
This will take you to the theme customizer. From right here, click on “WooCommerce” from the left sidebar menu.
You now have options to edit the format of the various pages in your online store.
For instance, if you wish to edit the options in your checkout web page, click on on
“Checkout” on the sidebar.
You will then be shown the various options in the left sidebar, in addition to a preview of your checkout web page on the right.
When you might be glad along with your changes, click on the “Publish” button on the top of the sidebar.
A similar process might be repeated for each of the pages in your online store.
Other Settings
You could make additional changes to the settings of your online store by going to the WordPress dashboard and clicking “WooCommerce –> Settings” from the left sidebar.
This will bring up the setting panel, where you can use the tabs to navigate to the actual setting you wish to change.
Edit Your Navigation Menu
Earlier in this tutorial, you realized how you can create and edit a navigation menu.
Now that your store is set, it’s a good suggestion to add a link to your store’s web page within the navigation menu so that customers can simply access your products.
Add Extra Features
You can add extra features to your store by adding WooCommerce extensions.
Here are among the hottest extensions:
Payments – Add different payment options to your customers beyond the default choices.
Shipping – Integrate your online store along with your shipping supplier to simply create labels and observe shipments.
Marketing – Helpful instruments to extend engagement and drive repeat gross sales.
Bookings – Let clients book appointments simply, right out of your web site.
Subscriptions – Set up subscription payments for services and products.
Customer Service – Increase buyer engagement to reduce refunds and keep customer loyalty.
Step #6: Marketing Your Website
Now that you simply’ve completed designing an amazing web site, it’s time to show your consideration to getting visitors.
There is a wide range of methods to drive extra visitors to your web site, and the very best choices rely upon the specifics of what you are attempting to achieve.
For instance, when you’ve got a local business, then business review websites like Yelp and Angie could make an enormous difference.
If you might be promoting to nationwide or worldwide viewers then you’ll need to
Add Your Website to Your Present Marketing Campaigns
If you might be already doing any form of advertising for your business then that can be a chance to bring more people to your website, which helps build belief and finally results in gross sales.
This means adding your website to issues like business cards, flyers, print promoting, promotional items, billboards, and absolutely anything else.
Raise Awareness on Social media
If you have already got social media accounts for your business then it’s a good suggestion to inform your followers that you’ve got simply launched your new website. You may even provide a promotional deal if they book an appointment or make a purchase order on your website. This is an efficient way to assist customers to build the behavior of using your website.
If you don’t have already got social media accounts, it would be best to at the least create them on big websites like Facebook, Twitter, and presumably Pinterest and Instagram. Start by asking your friends and present customers to follow you on social media. As you proceed to supply frequent updates and promotions, this may build your following and drive extra visitors to your web site.
Optimize for Search Engine Traffic
Some research indicates that 93% of website visitors originate from engines like google. Tapping into this large visitor source can result in a big inflow of new customers This cycle is known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) .Take a minute to consider what a potential customer may search for. For instance, if you own a roofing company in Springfield, then people may seek phrases like “best roofing company Springfield”.
Once you might have some ideas for phrases, go to Google and begin entering them into the search field. You will see different phrases come up as options as you type. Make note of these.
Once you actually hit enter and do a search on Google, you possibly can scroll to the bottom of the search results web page and discover a section of associated searches. Make note of any of these that make sense to your web site.
Once you might have a listing of phrases, it’s time to optimize your website so that it begins to look within the search outcomes. Keep in thoughts this process will not happen in a single day, however, by optimizing your website now you give yourself the very best probability within the weeks and months forward.
The excellent news is that by using WordPress to build your website you might have already taken step one to optimizing for engines like google. WordPress is structured in such a manner that could be very search engine friendly.
To further optimize your website, there are some things it’s best to do:
- Install the RankMath SEO Plugin
While WordPress is great by itself, the RankMath Plugin takes things to the next stage.
To set up go to the left sidebar in your WordPress dashboard and click on on “Plugins –> Add New”
Use the search box on the top right to search for “RankMath”.
Click “Install” after which “Activate” as soon as installed.
- Change your website title
Your website title is an opportunity to inform engines like google what your website is about.
In addition to your web site title, it’s a good suggestion to have a search term that you’re hoping to rank properly for within the title.
For instance, when you’ve got a roofing firm known as “Premier Roofing”, your website title is perhaps one thing like “Premier Roofing – Best Roofing Company in Springfield”. Don’t overdo it right here. Just one extra phrase is sweet.
To make this alteration, go to the left sidebar within the WordPress dashboard and click on on “General –> Settings”
In the “Site Title” box, enter your new title. Then scroll to the bottom of the web page and click on the blue “Save Changes” button.
- Use keywords in your content
In addition to incorporating keywords in your website title, you additionally wish to have them within the textual content in your pages.
Again, you don’t wish to overdo it, however simply make sure that to include a phrase or two in your content.
If you wish to target multiple phrases, then it could be greatest to do that throughout many pages.
For instance, our roofing firm could target “best roofing company Springfield” on their homepage, however might additionally create one other web page about their gutter providers to focus on a phrase like “gutter repair Springfield”.
- Submit to engines like google
Once you might have completed the above-recommended optimizations you might be able to submit your website to engines like google.
This will assist them to discover your web site and incorporate it into the search outcomes sooner.
To do that, create free a Google Search Console account, after which use the “URL Inspection” tool within the dashboard to submit your website.
Consider Online Advertising
If you might have the funds for it then online advertising generally is a nice source of recent customers for your business.
In general, online advertising works greatest for companies selling higher-priced services or products, subscriptions, or these with repeat customers. These kinds of business make extra from every buyer, to allow them to afford to spend some cash upfront to acquire new customers.
There is a wide range of places to promote on-line, however, the two massive places are Facebook and Google.
Google Ads allows you to show your advert to people after they seek specific keywords. As you noticed within the earlier part on search engine marketing, the overwhelming majority of web site visitors comes from engines like google.
With Google Ads, you possibly can choose and select the phrases where you need your advertisements to indicate. Your advertisements will truly seem above the common search outcomes, providing you with an amazing alternative to achieve a large number of viewers.
Facebook targeting is a bit completely different since people are not typically trying to find keywords on Facebook. Instead, you possibly can goal your advertisements to achieve particular demographics of users.
For instance, you possibly can target by location, age, income, and even interests. So in case you are promoting a dog strolling business, you could target folks close to you, with the next earnings stage, who even have a curiosity in dogs.
Time to Launch!
If you’ve gone by each of the steps on this guide then you definitely now have a wonderful, custom-made website. We also have some custom-made website templates.
You can always return to any of the steps on this guide to make changes to your website as you see fit.
The essential work now could be to proceed to update and market your web site to grow your visitors.
Questions?
If you might have any questions, or simply wish to say thanks, be happy to send us a message or Contact Us.
