How to start a website – Duford Digital

Here are the basic steps to create a website. I’ve included my affiliate partner links and/or discount promo links where available.

1. Create a topic coverage plan

Create a plan for the topics your website will cover. Make a list of all the articles you think you could write or would like to write. Then group them together into categories.

Write a quick first draft for 3-5 of your article ideas. You can do this in a text editor like Word or Pages, or even in a draft email or on a notes app. Just get some words down.

Write down a few paragraphs about yourself or your website. This will be the draft text for your “About” page. Also think about any media (text, photos, videos) you’d like to feature on the home page.

2. Buy a domain name

Buy a domain name from a domain registrar. You can think of the domain name like an “address plaque” for your website.

I use NameCheap to buy domains. Choose a unique and relevant domain name for your website. You can use ChatGPT to suggest potentially available domain names.

3. Buy a year of server hosting

The next step is to choose a web hosting provider to store your website’s files on one of their servers. This will make your website accessible online. You can think of the server hosting as the “digital ground surface area” on which your website will sit.

Popular, dependable options I’ve tried include Bluehost, SiteGround, and WPX (shared hosting). Most offer a discounted price for the first year. They typically list monthly prices, but the deal only apples if you pay for the whole upcoming year.

4. Choose a website builder

Now, you need to choose a website-building platform. The most popular and versatile website builder is WordPress.org. It currently powers about 43% of the websites on the internet. Most server hosts will install WordPress for you on your domain URL once you’ve paid for server hosting.

If you’re not picky about too many details, you can also choose an all-in-one website builder like Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, or WordPress.com. These usually also include server hosting, so you can skip the step above if you choose an all-in-one builder.

5. List your main pages

Now it’s time to write a list of all the main pages your website will need. At minimum, you should have these five core main pages:

Homepage
Blog page (list of articles)
Contact
About
Privacy policy

You might also want to have a “Shop” page, a “Resource Library” page, a “Portfolio” page, or an “FAQ” page.

6. Implement the website layout

Use the website builder to create each of the main pages in your website layout. You’ll also want to ensure each of these pages are linked in either the top or bottom menu.

Usually, the home page is linked via the logo in the top menu. Popular pages like “Home,” “Blog,” and “About” are listed in the main top navigation menu. Less commonly accessed pages like “Privacy policy” (which you need to have) are listed in the bottom footer menu.

7. Add content to main pages

Add words, text, and video to your homepage, about page, and any other important pages. This media does not need to be perfect; you can change it easily later on. But you need some content on the page to start to see what works.

8. Start creating articles

Start creating articles/blog posts based on the topic coverage plan. Use the draft articles you created in the first step. Add one photo to each post as the “feature image.” Use a photo you took yourself.

Keep a list of all the pages and articles on your website, preferably in a Google Sheet.

9. Add branding

Choose a few colors, fonts, and potentially a logo for your website. Canva is helpful for finding color palettes. Add your branding choices to the homepage and other key places on your new website. Again, this can all be changed later on, and you sometimes need to try a few different tones to get the proper contrast for legibility.

10. Add analytics

Add Google Analytics and Google Search Console and Bing Search + Webmaster. These are the industry standard analytics tools for websites. These tools will help tell you how many visitors are coming to your website and how they find it.