How to Make a Website – Step by Step Guide

Step by step guide-How to Make a Website

Want to know how to create your own website?Looked for the steps in many places but couldn't find the right steps?Have big questions regarding web site hosting and designing??
Then you are surely at the right place.

Here’s how you can create your own website without having advance knowledge of web designing.

By the time you would have finished reading this blog, you would be able to develope your own website and you would have them running in the next few hours.

Basics about Website building

First you got to understand the basics. If you are unfamiliar with the magical words like domain name and web hosting, let’s get clear. 

Domain Name

Domain name is your internet address. This is how people find you online. So for example “google.com” is the address for the search engine we all know. People  type that in their browser, and it takes them to the website. You can buy a domain name for about 10 dollars. Especially if you’re creating a website for your business. This is crucial! You can buy a domain name at a variety of sites. I personally use godaddy.com. There is also  etc. However I’ve never personally worked with these, but I know these are also quite reliable from what friends have told me. You can buy a domain name with your credit card, or paypal account. Takes a whole 30 seconds.

Web Site Hosting

A website hosting is basically your personal space on the internet. This is where all your site’s files and folders will be kept. There are 2 types of hosting - free and paid. I recommend a paid one. Here’s why. Free hosting companies are unreliable. Nothing good comes free, tells a famous saying. This is definitely true, when it comes to hosting. Free hosting companies are unreliable! The down time is quiet high, sometimes up to 25%. Meaning that 25% of the time your site will be down. Let’s be honest, search engines hate free web hosting. Good ol’ Google is well aware of which sites are hosted on free service provides.

O.k., so what should you do? Obviously you don’t want to blow a ton of money on your first project. Good news is that hosting today costs practically nothing. You can get a decent hosting for about 2 to 5 bucks a month. Believe me it’s very well worth it.

Now,lets get started!

Step one – Register a Domain Name

Your domain name is very important. If you end up with a wrong domain name you could harm your site. The domain name should be relevant to the content of the site. A good domain name will always give your visitors the first impression and bring in a lot of traffic. A good domain name should be:

1. Relevant to the content of the site
2. Simple and easy to remember

Not too long (keep it short)

Now how do I register my domain name? This is where the Godaddy.com comes in. GoDaddy.com is the world’s largest domain registrar. They offer .com domains as little as $12.99 per year.
Click here to go and get $2.95 .COM from GoDaddy.com!

After you click above link, a new window will be opened and you should see the GoDaddy.com page like this,
Registration process of your domain name is quite easy. Just type in the name that you want to be the name of your new website on the search box and check if it is available. If your desired name is available, you’ll see the message “mynewsite.com is available” then Good Luck to you! continue with the registration and checkout. If your name is already taken you’ll see the message something similar to this,

Now you can try searching for a different name on the right side which says “Add more domains“ until you get a available name. If your domain name is available, go ahead and register your domain name.

Once you find your domain name is available,  you can choose whether you want an e-mail address linked to your website. Don’t select “Add Private Registration to your domain” (You’ll get this option for cheaper price on next page). Now click on “Continue to Cart“.

Simply go through following steps to finish your registration

1. Choose your domain registration length
   • Minimum 1 year registration is available but for best results, you can register for 2+ years. search engines love that. During this promotional period register your domain name first year only $3.13 (regular $10.00), for 2 years only $13.30 (regular $26.00)
   • Private Registration available for $7.99/yr. You can choose this option if you want to hide your name and contact info from WHOIS database which means if someone search WHOIS for site ownership he does’t see your name or contact information.
2. You can add additional extensions of your domain name (eg: iknowhowtocook.net, iknowhowtocook.org) by clicking “Add” button next to each of them.
3. Now click on “Log in” or “create an account” .
4. Review your order, choose your payment type, agree to the terms and check out!

• Certify your domain name is optional unless you are planning to launch a eCommerce website.

Once you finished these steps, then you are done.

Keep in mind that do not add hosting this time because there are lots of other web hosting companies that offer more reliable hosting to your site.

Your domain will be online less than an hour.

Step Two – Set Up the Web Hosting

Now you have your domain name, let’s build the right living place for it. GoDaddy is an award-winning domain registrar. HostGator is an award-winning web hosting company. HostGator would be the perfect home for your domain name. HostGator is an well-established hosting company which has a higher reputation for their great service.

When choosing a web hosting company, consider about reliability, service, and satisfaction. lots of companies offer very cheap packages but they don’t have the service we looking for. In such a situation HostGator has become a gold mine.

HostGator offers their hosting for very reliable price and it is worth to get their service. They offer unlimited hosting, unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, 24/7/365 live support and many more.

Follow These Simple Steps to Set Up Your HostGator account.

Click on the “VIEW WEB HOSTING PLANS” button on the HostGator.com home page

Since you registered only one domain name, the Hatchiling Plan would be the best option. Select how long you want to host and click “ORDER NOW” button. (if you wish to host more than one domain, you should choose Baby Plan)

As you can see, here you should select  ”I currently Have a Domain Name” . Now enter your new domain name and coupon code and click “CONTINUE TO STEP 2″

Once you finished above steps, on the next page you will be asked to enter few information on creating an account and your payment method.

go ahead create your account, enter your payment method, agree to the terms and conditions and click “CREATE ACCOUNT” .

Now your hosting plan become active and ready for use within one hour. You will receive an email containing important information regarding your account.

Now you are done. Congratulations on your new website!

Step Three – Connecting Your Domain Name to Your Web Host

Now you already have your own Domain name and hosting account. You have to connect those two account each other so that way people can see your website on the internet. Follow these quick and easy steps to connect your domain name with your hosting account.

Go to GoDaddy.com and log in using your user name and password

Once you’re logged in, point the mouse over “Domains” tab and click “Domain Management” 

Click on your domain name and you’ll see something similar to the following picture.See the “Set Name Servers”.Click on it.

A pop-up window will open.

Select “I have specific nameservers for my domain” and enter two nameservers for the Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2. Click OK. Remember the email you received after making a payment for your HostGator account? You can find your nameservers on that email.

Now you have finished connecting your domain name to your hosting account. Usually it will take 1 hour to 24 hours to completely change your nameservers.

Step Four – Install WordPress

There are various methods to install WordPress on HostGator. But the most easiest way to install WordPress on HostGator is by using Fantastico Installer. It will take only five minutes to install WordPress using this method. Log in to your HostGator control panel. Under software/services click on Fantastico.

On the next page, click on WordPress.

On the next page, click on New Installation

select which domain you want to install WordPress. Leave Install in Directory field blank. Enter your username and password (you will be using this username and password to log in to wordpress admin panel ). Enter your email address. Double check to confirm and click Install WordPress. 

Now click Finish Installation.

Make sure to check and remember WordPress username and password. Before click on Back to WordPress Overview, read the entire notice carefully.

Now you have successfully installed WordPress on HostGator. Enter your website name (www.example.com) on the address bar on your computer and see how your new website looks like. Now log in to the WordPress admin panel (this is where you modify and update your site).

To log in to your site, go to:
www.example.com/wp-login.php

Once you logged in, you can edit your site and update it through the WordPress admin panel.

Now you are done. Congratulations on your new website!