Getting your website online may seem like a daunting task—but if you follow the right steps, the task might be easier than you think. You don’t have to be a website design expert with years of experience to create a beautiful website, and it doesn’t need to cost a fortune!
I have been engaged in website construction for more than ten years, and I have never stopped researching website hosts and website building tools almost from the beginning until now.
There are generally two ways to create a website. The first way is to use a website builder – a platform designed to make it easy for anyone to build a website, even those without any experience or technical knowledge.
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The second way is to use WordPress. This method requires more work, but if you like to tinker with technology, using WordPress is also very simple and you can enjoy greater flexibility.
I’ll cover both in this guide, so read on to find out which option is better for you.
Option 1: Use a website builder
A website builder is an online tool that makes it very easy to build a website. The website building tool is very powerful and does not require any programming or technical knowledge, making it easy for novices to get started and useful for professionals.
The interfaces of these website builders are so intuitive and flexible that you can create a beautiful website in just a few hours (or even minutes). Most website building tools are priced very friendly, and many offer free packages or free trials, so you can start building a website without spending a penny.
Website builders come with pre-designed templates that set the style, layout, and color palette of your website. You just need to choose a template and add content and images according to your brand style.
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Different website building tools have different methods of building and editing websites. I personally prefer drag and drop editors. This method gives you better control over the layout and is easy to operate. You can place website elements wherever you want, and you can drag and drop to add new elements where you want them.
Some website builders offer a selection of apps that make it easy to add functionality and integrate other services to your site—you can add mailing lists, appointment systems, live chat boxes, and anything else you can think of, usually at no additional cost. .
There are countless website building tools on the market, but their quality varies. My personal favorite is Wix because it offers hundreds of templates and numerous free (and paid) apps for great design flexibility. Check out our guide to the best website builders for other great products.
Using a website builder: a step-by-step guide
1. Decide on the type of website you want to build
Most website builders can create almost any type of website. You might want to create a personal website, blog, online portfolio, or interactive resume. If you are an entrepreneur, you can create a website or online store for your company to sell your products or services.
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Of course, a website's purpose doesn't have to be singular. For example, you might want to create a website for your business that contains both your portfolio and an online store. With the right website building tools, the creative possibilities are endless.
2. Choose a website builder that suits your needs
Website builders have different strengths and functions, and you need to choose one that meets your needs. For example, while most website building tools allow users to add online stores or additional features to their websites, website building tools such as Shopify are specifically designed for e-commerce. On the other hand, its general functionality (e.g. blogging) is very limited.
In my opinion, Wix is the most flexible website building tool. It has great e-commerce features, tons of apps, and a drag-and-drop editor that gives you complete control over the look and feel of your website. Wix tops our ranking of website builders. In this guide, I'll use it to demonstrate the steps for creating a website. That’s not to say you can only choose Wix, these steps will work for most quality website builders.
3. Select a plan (package)
Most website builders offer a free plan, or at least a free trial period. If your website is just starting out, or you're on a tight budget, the free plan may be the best solution. The free plan lets you try out the website builder without spending a penny.
Its disadvantages lie in various limitations. You can only use designated subdomains (for example: username.wixsite.com/yourcompany), which doesn't matter if website building is just a hobby. But if your website is commercial in nature, it is best to choose a custom domain name (yourcompany.com) to make it easier for customers to remember.
Additionally, the free plan will also make your website look unprofessional with the website builder’s branding all over it.
It also typically limits the data you can get, and things like app installation or access to e-commerce tools require payment to unlock. If you value your website, you may want to upgrade to a paid plan.
It's important to understand the type of website you want to create before choosing a plan, as this can help you choose the best plan that fits your budget and meets your needs. For example:
If you want to sell your products online, you need to choose a dedicated e-commerce plan (at least one that provides the necessary e-commerce tools). Wix has launched a general plan and a business/e-commerce plan, but only the business/e-commerce plan supports online payments.
If you want to display a large number of videos or high-resolution images of your work on your website, you need to choose a plan that offers large storage space and high bandwidth. For example, Squarespace offers unlimited photo storage on all of its plans (including its cheapest plan).
I recommend choosing the lowest-priced plan that offers the features you need. If your needs change in the future, you can always upgrade to a more expensive plan.
4. Get Started: Select a Template
The first step in building a website is to choose a template. All website builders use templates (some website builders call them themes, but the two words mean the same thing) as the basic component of the website. Templates are professionally designed to work on a variety of devices, helping you get your website online in less time.
Templates establish the style and basic layout of your website (which can later be customized), giving you a basic framework upon which you can customize and add content.
Most website builders have a library of templates that you can browse before you even sign up. As you can see in the screenshot of the Wix template library, templates are arranged by categories. The categories of templates are not intended to impose limitations (not to say you can't choose a portfolio template for your blog), but each category contains templates designed specifically for different types of websites.
The best templates are eye-catching and ready to use. And Squarespace has the most eye-catching templates.
5. Customize templates
Technically, once you select a template, you don't need to customize it in any way. However, no matter how beautiful your template is, customizing your site can make it stand out from the crowd of similar sites (especially when compared to sites using the same template). You might as well start by adjusting the color and font of the template to make the website more consistent with your corporate brand.
While different website builders support different levels of customization, one of the great things about using a website builder is the ease of customization. Each tool has its own unique editor, but what I'm about to demonstrate with Wix applies to other website builders, and the steps are very similar.
Change font
To change the font on Wix, just click on the text you want to change and then click the Edit Text button. You can edit each text box individually, or use the save theme option to change the fonts throughout your site.
In Wix, you can choose fonts for different text types. For example, you could choose one font for Heading 1 as the main heading (like the template I demonstrate below) and another font for the subheadings. Paragraph text can also use other fonts.
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Some website builders only support changing the font of the entire website, not individual headings and paragraphs. Although this choice is limited, I still recommend that the fonts on the website should be consistent.
change color
You can easily change the font color in the text settings box, and it's equally easy to adjust the color of other elements, such as the background color of columns. For example, you can use the color picker to set a solid color background (as shown in the screenshot below).
Wix automatically creates complementary color palettes to match your theme, but you can easily change the color palette using the Change Site Colors option. You can also add your own colors to match your brand.
Move elements on the page
Adjusting web content using the drag-and-drop editor is easy, you just drag and drop content into different places. Wix has a clear advantage when it comes to the freedom to adjust page layout, but other drag-and-drop editors have similar features.
Other editors may use up/down buttons to move areas of the page. The block editor combines the features of both editors. Users can move preset blocks (containing text, images, videos, columns, etc.) in the grid, which is more flexible than simply moving content up/down, but The drag-and-drop editor is even more customizable.
I particularly like Wix’s zoom out and reorder functionality. You can use this feature to navigate the entire web page and easily move areas and/or elements around the page. You can see how easy it is to move content using this tool in the screenshot below.
6. Add your own content
To add content, just replace the "placeholder" text and images in the template with your own text and images. It may take a while if you have a lot of content, but it's easy to do.
If you don’t have your own images, most website builders offer some sort of image library that allows you to instantly add free images to your website.
How to add text
You can add new text areas to your web pages with just a few clicks. In Wix, you can use the Add tool in the left toolbar and select text in the popup menu.
I recommend setting up the main text area first and then adding content later. You can use our free gibberish generator to create placeholder text, then add your own text when you're ready.
How to add an image
Just like adding text to your website, adding images is easy. In Wix, open the Add menu, select Image (just below the text), and then pick the image. You can upload images, use free Wix images and illustrations, search from the Unsplash image library, or select top stock images from Shutterstock (for an additional fee). Then just place the image anywhere on the page.
You can also use the Add Image tool to add a logo to your website. Read the article to see more of my logo advice.
If you are using free Wix or Unsplash images, these images may already be optimized. That is, they have been compressed into smaller files that won’t slow down your website’s loading speed. However, if you're using your own high-resolution images, it's a good idea to compress the files before uploading them. Compressing files is easy with free tools like Image Compressor.
How to add pages to your website
Most templates include several pre-designed pages such as Home, About Us, and Contact Us. To add more pages (such as Services or My Works), you can click the Menu and Pages button in the left toolbar, then select the Add Page button at the bottom of the pop-up menu.
As new pages are added, they will automatically appear in the site's navigation menu.
7. Add application
Applications are third-party or native integrations that extend the functionality of a website. While not all website builders offer apps, website builders like Wix have hundreds of apps to choose from. Many of these are free apps, and even paid apps often offer free versions or free trials.
You can use apps to add functionality to your website in just minutes. For example, users can use Wix’s app market to add online booking, real-time conversations, newsletter subscriptions, social media integration and other functions.
To add an app to your Wix website, just click on the App Market icon (the four small square icons in the left toolbar). Once open, you can search for a specific app or browse categories for inspiration.
Once you find an app you like, just click on the app and select Add to website.
After installing the application, your web pages will be ready to use immediately. In this example, I added Rollover Image Effects, an advanced image editing application, and you can start using this tool on your web page in less than 30 seconds!
8. Select a domain name
Before publishing your website, you need to choose a domain name. If you subscribe to the free plan, you can only use specific subdomains (e.g. yourusername.wixsites.com/yourwebsitename). Most website builders will provide a free custom domain name for the first year if you purchase an annual paid plan.
Most website builders have the option to register and set up a domain name, so you just need to choose the most appropriate domain name for your website. Choosing a domain name is very important, so you must consider it again and again! Even if you have the perfect domain name in mind, the biggest question is whether it is available.
If you can't decide, check out our comprehensive domain name selection guide!
9. Preview and publish your website
After you’ve added your content and chosen a domain name, it’s time to get your website online. With most website builders, it’s really just a click (or two) of buttons away.
Don’t rush to hit the publish button: it’s worth checking out your website using the preview option before going live. The preview feature lets you explore your site from a visitor's perspective without the distraction of an editor. Additionally, you can find areas and blank pages where you forgot to add content and fix some flaws before your visitors notice.
Most website builders will also allow you to preview a mobile version of your website. Always make sure your website looks great and is accessible on mobile devices.
After you click Publish, your website is live and you can start promoting it!