How to
Create a Simple Website in 2023
📚 Fast – Easy – No Coding 🔰

You Could Make a Website in 10 minutes using this awesome pdf checklist!

Quick Overview

Learn how to create a simple website quickly with no coding and no stress. Building your website has never been easier. Let me show you how to make a website that you can be proud of in less than 1 hour with no coding needed.

Steps to Creating a Simple Website Like a Pro:

Step 1: Find a Unique Domain Name (Your Website address or URL)
Step 2: Get the Best Web Host (Home for your Site)
Step 3: Pick a Template and Theme (Free or Premium)
Step 4: Install Website Files: WordPress, Theme & Demo Files (It’s Easy, Trust Me!)
Step 5: Finish Your Website(Add your personal touch)
Extras: SEO & Tips for Success (Optional But Recommended)

Step 1:
Find a Unique Domain Name
(Your Website address or URL)

Type in different domain names below and check to see if they are available for your website to use. Don’t be shy, try as many as you like!

Reserve It Now!

Watch the following video for great tips on how to pick out an awesome domain name:

How Do I Choose a Good Domain Name?

If you’re serious about making a name for yourself, or starting a business, then securing your domain name or web address is one of the most important things that you can do. Your domain name will become a part of your brand identity, and is your storefront on the internet.

You do not want an address that sounds generic, or like it was your second choice.

Give it some thought and be creative. Don’t feel bad if you can’t think of a name for your website right now, or the one you really want is already taken. Your site’s domain name is an important aspect of your business or personal identity. But remember, once you find one that’s available, someone could snatch the name out from under you if you wait too long to get it. Reserve it as soon as you find it!

For some excellent advice on choosing your domain name watch the Youtube video above.

Remember – Keep it Simple: Be Creative. Have Fun. Pick a Great URL, and Reserve it ASAP!

Can I Get a Free Domain Name?

Yes, you absolutely can get a free domain name!

Here are 3 ways that you can do it:

The usual way is to use a web host that includes a free domain name with it’s hosting plan. There are many such web hosts. Be careful however because usually there is a catch to this. You should look to see how long the domain is free for as sometimes the domain is only free for a year, and then it renews at a high yearly rate. Also, if you want to keep your own physical address, phone number and email address out the hands of spammers and telemarketers, you will want to have domain privacy activated for your domain name. There is almost always an extra annual charge for this. Read the fine print.
There are certain unusual TLDs which are completely free. The TLD is the last letters of your domain name after the last period such as .com. Unfortunately .com is not one of them! The free endings include .tk, .ml, .ga, .cf and .gq. You can register these at Freenom however, keep in mind that there are a lot of bad and malicious sites that have been registered using these endings. Not only could you find yourself with an abandoned domain that already has a bad reputation, but even if you don’t, visitors may be suspicious of the unusual ending.
The last way is to register a free site with WordPress.com, Wix.com, or Blogger.com. Your site will probably have ads placed on it, and you’ll end up with a domain name that is rather ugly and unprofessional such as yourname.wordpress.com, but it is completely free including hosting! If you don’t care about making a name for yourself, this might be a great option to get you started!

Should I Keep My Domain Name Separate from My Host?

The fastest and easiest way to get a website started is to buy your domain name at the same place that you purchase hosting. This is probably also the cheapest option if you only want to purchase 1 year of hosting. We always recommend GreenGeeks as a the best host for the price to those looking to get started fast and easily for the least cost. Remember to purchase their domain privacy option if you want to keep your personal contact info out of spammers hands.

If you’re willing to spend a little more time setting up your website, and can pay for 3 years of hosting upfront, I always recommend going with A2hosting as they have the absolutely best quality hosting; sites hosted with them tend to be faster, and overall customer satisfaction is very high. Purchase your domain name separately at Namecheap.com and set your nameservers to those of A2hosting. It isn’t hard to do, but it’s not as easy as going with GreenGeeks either.

Problems with hosting at the same server:

When you host your website at the same company that holds your domain name you can run into several problems:

1. Cost

Watch for domain renewal fees and the cost of necessary add-ons like domain privacy. These can really add up.

Buying a domain name from a company such as namesilo or namecheap is usually very inexpensive. You’ll probably pay less than $1/month for a .com and you’ll get free privacy in the bargain.

2. Control

If you decide to move your website, or cancel your hosting service, you could run into the issue of domain lock. This is where you cannot move your domain name to a new service for 60 days after making any changes to the owners information. Even if not locked in, you still have to go through the process of transferring the domain which requires special codes and permissions, and may interrupt your website for longer periods of time. If your domain is separate you can simply update the nameservers to your new host, and be up and running very quickly and easily.

3. Options

Your webhost may have limited options when it comes to the ending TLD. If you are interested in the less traditional endings such as .cafe .actor .yoga etc., you may have to look elsewhere than your web host. Namesilo has an excellent selection.

4. Privacy

While some web hosts do offer a free domain name, you have to watch for hidden fees. For instance privacy is usually not included, you will have to pay an extra yearly fee to hide your personal information from spammers and telemarketers. I didn’t use privacy once, and the next day I was rung off the hook by telemarketers! Don’t forget to use those privacy services! Also, sometimes the free domain is only for the first year, and renewal rates are often excessive.

5. Safety

Hackers may be able to gain access to your web host by hacking in through your website. If they manage this, not only could they potentially damage your site, but they may be able to transfer your domain name ownership to themselves. This could be especially disastrous if you’ve made a name for yourself and rely on customer recognition, or if you have built up a great deal of traffic through search engines.

Step 2:
Get the Best Web Host
(Home for your Site)

Just like you, your website needs a home to live in.

You now need to claim your domain name, and get a web host for your website to live in.

Get Hosting & Free Domain

Comparison Charts

What is a Web Host?

Websites live on the internet on special equipment called web servers and the company who operates them is called a web host. These servers are online continuously so that you don’t have to be, and are generally protected from hackers and malware so that your site has extra protection. A good web host will have back-up servers in case something happens to the original server. It’s expensive to run a server, and web hosts spend a ton of money on servers and other technical equipment to house your site so that you don’t have to.

There are many web hosts out there, and not all of them are created equal.

After weighing the pros and cons of each service, and after reading countless reviews, there’s one clear winner for the best web host. They come out well ahead of all the other web hosts for site speed, customer service, and value for the money.

Check ’em Out

Our Second Favorite

Compare More Hosts

I recommend them wholeheartedly and without reserve for people just starting out or who have limited budgets. Their Lite plan is a great place to start, but if you have a little extra money, it’s well spent on their Turbo Plan which will make your site super fast and give a a better chance for your website to be found in search engine’s like Google.

Tips: Get Your Website Up and Running, Simply and Easily

If you just want a fast easy and cheap website for the first year with a good webhost as well, go with GreenGeeks and buy their domain privacy to go with their free domain name. I would recommend transferring the domain name the following year to namesilo if you’d like to save money just before the plan needs to be renewed.
If you’re trying to set up your site in the most optimized way for a speedy website and excellent hosting, purchase your hosting from A2hosting, and check the option to use your own domain name which you should purchase from NameSilo. You will then update your nameservers at Namesilo to custom A2hosting nameservers . Namesilo offers privacy services for free with their domain names, and they’re pricing and renewal rates are very cheap.
If you choose A2hosting, who is our most highly recommended host (I use them here for this site), scroll down to “Additional Options” when in the shopping cart and choose the “Auto-install option” to be “WordPress – A2 Optimized”.
If you are using a service other than A2hosting, there will sometimes be a WordPress auto install option which you should check. While installing WordPress later isn’t hard, if you do it now, you can skip those particular steps later! Easy Peasy!
Whether or not you choose A2hosting, we recommend eventually transferring your domain name to namesilo or namecheap and changing the nameservers there to those of your current host. It’s easy to do, comes with free privacy for your personal info, and gives you more control over your domain name. Renewals also tend to be cheaper.

How Do I Connect My Domain Name to My Web Host?

If your domain name is included in your current hosting plan, you don’t need to worry about it!

However, if you purchased your domain name elsewhere, you will need to perform an extra couple of steps. While you can always transfer your domain name to your web host, we recommend against it for a variety of reasons. The order to connect your domain name to your current web host you need to change the name of your Nameservers to your current host.

It’s really very simple:

Find the nameservers at your current host. You can usually find these by looking in your account and/or contacting your host, or just by googling your host name + nameservers. (If you have a basic shared plan at A2Hosting your name servers will be something like ns1.a2hosting.com, ns2.a2hosting.com, ns3.a2hosting.com, and ns4.a2hosting.com. You will need all of them).
Go to your user dashboard at namesilo or whichever service that you used to purchase your domain name, and go to manage domain.
Find the option for custom DNS or change nameservers. This is where you will remove the current nameservers and change them to your new ones. Use all of the available nameservers; enter each nameserver, one per line.

Step 3:
Pick a Template and Theme
(Free or Premium)

Website design is something that most people complicate and make way too expensive. You don’t need to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to design a website. You don’t even need to know how to code.

What you need is a good WordPress theme and a starter template. With a starter site or template, your job creating a website will be very easy indeed!

Check out your options below, and pick your favorite theme and starter site design.

Excellent choice for an online store. Not as speedy as Astra or Neve.

Fast, flexible & stylish. Comes with the largest library of starter sites to choose from.

Fast, lightweight and flexible. Built for speed.

About Demo Sites (aka Starter Sites or Templates)

A starter site is a site design based on a theme such as Astra or Neve. Not all themes will have a free template to go with it. These templates are not necessary, but they give you the power to create a beautiful website simply and quickly.

Demo sites often make use of an additional visual editor plugin such as Elementor or Beaver Builder which make editing the site extremely easy, however if you want a faster site, you should consider sticking to templates designed with the native WordPress builder called Gutenberg.

When choosing which type of starter or demo content to use, you’ll find Elementor based templates to be very easy to work with, with slick design features, smart looking designs, and spiffy animations.

Keep in mind however that both Beaver Builder and Elementor will cause your web pages to take longer to load for your visitors which can hurt sales, and drive users away.

Gutenberg templates are made specifically for the WordPress editor and will result in a faster loading time for your visitors.

It’s very important to have fast load times for your web pages, and if you don’t mind working with an editor where the changes you make won’t look exactly like the finished result until you hit the preview button, then you should use a Gutenberg template.

Step 4:
Install Website Files: WordPress, Theme & Demo Files
(It’s Easy, Trust Me!)

WordPress makes creating a website as easy as playing with blocks when you were a kid!

It wasn’t long ago that In you needed to know how to code complicated pages in html and other weird coding languages in order to make a website. When I made my first site in 2010, it took me almost a year to finish it!

Today though, creating your own unique website is fast and simple. All you need is WordPress!

One of the great things about WordPress (a free website builder that over 30% of the top websites use), is that it lets you easily set up a professional looking website that you own and can be proud of.

WordPress is so popular that it has a huge community that has created a massive library of free themes and plugins to make creating a custom website even easier. In fact sometimes the sheer number of choices free or paid can be a bit overwhelming!

Install WordPress

Most web hosts will have a special installer available so that you can install WordPress quickly and easily.

Just sign into your we hosts user account, and go to cPanel or your account dashboard. You’ll usually find the WordPress installer there.

Once you find it, click on install, follow the directions, and soon you will have your basic WordPress website installed. It’s completely free to install with any good web host. You’ll make up your sign-in information during the 1-click installation, just be sure to write it down or remember it so that you can sign into your website to make changes.

Tip: Pick a good username for your admin account when you install WordPress. “Admin” makes a hackers life easy!

Get Theme Files Ready

Now, take a moment while your site is installing, and make sure that you have already found and downloaded your theme from step 3. If you haven’t, don’t worry, just go back to step 3 in this lesson, and pick one out to download onto your computer.

To save time and make your site beautiful quickly, choose your starter/demo content now from the theme website as well.

Install Theme and Demo Files

Once your site is finished installing, log into your site (yourwebsite.com/wp-admin), and you’ll find yourself in the WordPress dashboard.

Go to Appearance>themes in the menu on the left, then click ‘Add New’ and upload the file from your desktop and activate your new WordPress theme. (If you haven’t downloaded it yet from the theme website, you can also search for it in the search bar of the ‘Add New’ area, and install it from there).

Next, if you’ve chosen Astra as your theme, go over to Plugins>’Add New’ then type in “Astra starter templates” in the search bar. (If you chose a different theme, follow the instructions found on your themes website to install starter or demo content to your website, then skip to the following step).

Find the plugin “Starter Templates – Elementor, Beaver Builder, Gutenberg & Brizy Templates”, by Brainstorm Force and click on upload. This will take a few moments, then click the activate button when the process is complete.

You should now be able to choose your website template by clicking on the templates folder in the side menu of your site and finding your preferred template.

If you run into any problems, or if you chose a theme other than Astra, check out these links to help you get your starter website installed:

Astra – How to Import a Complete Site

OceanWP – Importing Sample Data

Neve – How to Import Demo Content

You now have your very own starter website!

Take a look around and see what it looks like.

Then, let’s keep going to step 5 to make your website really yours.

Step 5:
Finish Your Website
(Add your personal touch)

Now let’s customize your site just a bit to reflect you and your style. It’ll be the little tweaks that you make that will make it shine and say to the world “I’m awesome!”.

Site Identity

Under ‘Appearance’ you’ll usually be able to find your theme’s options as well as the site ‘customizer’ which allows you to alter and customize your site’s default appearance and details. You’ll often find ‘Site Identity’ right in the main ‘customizer’ menu, however in Astra it’s tucked inside a ‘Header’ submenu of the customizer. ‘Site Identity’ is where you’ll usually find your personal details, such as your site title, business location, logo, etc. You’ll need to update these to reflect you or your business.

If you’re using a starter site, most of the options regarding the site’s design will already be set, but it’s always good to know where they are in case you want to make changes to your websites design, so feel free to explore.

Tip: Don’t forget to click “Publish” to save any changes that you make.

Create Categories

If you plan on writing any posts or articles for your blog then you should set up categories for your posts in order to organize them. Don’t go overboard however. When a visitor comes to your website you don’t want them to wade through a bunch of unfilled categories, or worse yet, land on an empty category page because you haven’t written anything for it yet!

Keep it simple at first. Your categories should be the main subjects of your website, and often work well as menu items in the top menu of your website.

It’s best to start with just a couple and focus on putting at least 2 or 3 articles in each category that you’ve created. You can always add more categories later.

Go to Posts>Categories to add your new ones. You can also set your default category here (try to pick a default category that is helpful to readers, don’t just use uncategorized).

Make or Update Your Menus

Next up is menus! Most websites will have one or more menus that visitors can use to navigate your website and yours will probably need at least one as well. The usual spots that you’ll find a menu are at the top, the bottom, and/or the sidebar of your website. Menus are very easy to make or change. Just go to Appearance>Menus and you’ll be able to drag and drop items to create whatever form of menu that you like. If you’d like to add a new menu, or edit a different one, you can do that at the top. Always remember to save your work before you change menus or go to a different page. Choose 3-6 items for your main menu, and make sure they represent what your site is about. Good ideas include using your chosen main categories, as well as using an about us and/or a contact us link in your top menu. Privacy links, and other technical links often go into a menu located in the bottom footer menu. As with everything else, you can always change your menus later.

Update Your Posts & Pages

Posts and pages are what your website is made of. Pages are generally used for permanent content such as “About Me,” “Privacy,” or “Contact Us” pages. Posts are able to be categorized, and are usually where you’ll write your articles, blog posts, and time sensitive information. Create 2 or 3 main categories for your site, and fill each one up with at least 3 articles a piece before you consider adding more.

You can locate both your pages and your posts in the left menu under “Posts” and “Pages”. Your homepage can be set under Settings>Reading. Be sure to delete, or update any demo posts and pages to be relevant to your site. Remember, anything you don’t want or need, it’s OK to just delete. You don’t want a site visitor landing on your “Hello World” Demo content!

If your site uses a special builder such as Elementor or Beaver Builder, WordPress will offer a button to “edit this page/post with” which you need to click in order to start editing the page. Otherwise, WordPress natively uses the Gutenberg visual builder. It has drag and drop capability and is pretty easy to use.

If you need help with editing in your specific visual editor, check out the following editor tutorials and help pages for the most common page builders:

Now is a great time to add your very own content. Write your first article, or add content for your website.

Go to the “Posts” or “Pages” tab on the left menu of your WordPress dashboard, click on add new, and happy writing!

Congratulations!

You’ve Made Your Very Own Website:)

Do You Need Help Making Your Website?

Learn how to set up a professional website step by step. Small easy lessons designed to get your website up and running with no stress and in less than 10 minutes a day.

Extras:
SEO & Tips for Success
(Optional But Recommended)

Update Your User Profile

The first thing that you should do is to update your user profile which you’ll find under the users menu to the left on your screen. The account that you are currently in is the administrator account and you want to make sure that you know your user name and password, and that your email address is correct etc. Take a moment to check these, and update them as necessary.

Remember, if you lose access to this account there will be problems.

If your user name is admin or anything similar, I highly recommend that you change it to something that only you would think of to prevent hackers or malicious viruses from getting into your site to easily. Also, if you are going to use this account to post articles, make sure your display name is different from your username for the same reason as above.

Take a moment to check things over and make any adjustments that you need or want.

Set up a Gravatar Profile

Most themes will automatically use a gravatar image as your profile image in WordPress. It’s a great way to customize your profile in a professional way, and keep your identity consistent across the web. You can check it out here if you’ve never heard of it. Another option is to use a specialized plugin such as WP User Avatar for more options.

Add Your Favicon

What’s a favicon you ask? Well, a favicon is the little image that appears in the tab at the top of your browser next to the title of the webpage. That cute little image is also used next to bookmarks, as a desktop icon, and generally anywhere there is an icon of your website. It is literally the symbol of your site.

You don’t have to have one, but why wouldn’t you want one?

Whatever you do though don’t leave it empty. Find something fun or cute or whatever as a placeholder until you design yours. Remember, you can always change it later. And leaving it blank not only makes you less noticeable, but it also looks unprofessional. If you want your site to be memorable, if you want to be taken seriously, that little symbol is a great way to go.

You need a favicon!

To upload a favicon, you’ll find your favicon settings in the site identity tab of appearance>customize. Now upload your favicon!

*Note – Some WordPress themes will put site identity information in a deeper folder so you might have to look around a little bit to find the right tab.

How to Create a Simple Website in 2023 📚 Fast – Easy – No Coding 🔰