How to get started creating your own website

Are you looking to create a website but not sure how to get started? Read on...

1. Create a domain name

You may have already chosen a domain name, but if not this is the first thing you will need to do to get started.

Your domain name is the name of your website, so www.yourdomainname.com for example. If for a business it should be your business name, so businessname.com, or if for a personal website then yourname.com.

What domain extension is best to use

The domain extension is the last part of your domain name, the bit that appears after the dot. There are lot’s of different choices to purchase today, so which is best to use?

.com

The most commonly used domain name extension. It is short for commercial, so is best used for a commercial website and is the best choice if you are looking to work with clients outside of the UK, it’s also usually the most expensive to buy.

.co.uk 

Is the country-specific domain extension for the UK, it’s the best choice if you are building a website for a local UK business, so great for tradespeople, it can also often be cheaper to purchase than .com

.net

Is short for network. It was designed for internet, networking and email service providers so best used for network-type businesses.

.org

Is short for organisation, so best used for community and local public businesses.

There are many other domain extensions you can buy and you will probably get these a lot cheaper, but make sure you match your domain extension to your website’s purpose, don’t just buy a name because it is cheap as it can make your business appear untrustworthy. According to Google, there are 367 million domain names registered as of 2021, so with this in mind, your domain name needs to be short, memorable and describe what it does. It also needs to be unique and brandable.

2. Register your domain name

Once you have decided on your domain name you will need to register it with a domain registrar who will register ownership of the domain name for you. This can cost anything from 99p and £20 per year depending on the name and extension you choose, so shop around.

You will need to check if your chosen domain name is available to buy using a domain name checker. There are lot’s of different ones to use. Here is one I have used before. https://www.name.com/domain/search If your chosen domain name is not available to buy, they will suggest names that are available to buy.

If your chosen name has already been purchased or used before, it is worth checking Who.is to see who is the domain registrar is, who has bought the domain, when it was purchased and when it expired/s. https://who.is/

3. Find a website host

You’ll need to find a provider to host the your website on safe and secure website storage space. Here you will build your website content and maybe use another program to design it (a plug-in). Many companies now offer domain name, registrar, hosting and a website template as a package. These can be great if you don’t have much, or any, website coding experience.

It may be worth reading some reviews before you choose one, such as what is their customer support like and are they based in the UK as contacting their help desk could be in a different time zone or language. Also ask around and see if your connections can recommend a host they have used before as there are many to choose from. Look for quick to load times and reliable performance that works across all digital platforms, resizes for desktop, tablet and mobile.

Look at what they offer, do they have templates which you can populate with your content as this will save you time and allow you to do updates yourself. You may have a web developer in mind who can host and build your website for you! How much web space will you get and will this allow for your business to grow. Make sure you take your time to decide before you buy and note that often a web host will offer a cheaper start up price, then when you go to renew after a year the price will go up.

Make sure that your hosting service offers you an (SSL) certificate. This protects your data and sensitive information and displays as HTTPS in your website’s URL, meaning that it is safe. Here is a good read by Hubspot on web hosting https://blog.hubspot.com/website/web-hosting

4. Add some pages and content

You may have chosen to use a host that let’s you add content via a template. Using the website (CMS) Content Management System, or website builder included, choose a theme you can populate with pages and layouts you like. I suggest drawing out rough sketches on A3 paper first so you can get an idea of how much copy and images you can put on each page and how many pages you will have.

5. Publish

Once you have checked for typos and images and layout display ok on tablet, desktop and mobile screens, all links work and you are happy with it, you are ready to publish your website. 

Congratulations. Make sure you keep it up to date and check it regularly to make sure it is working ok.