6 steps to build your dream website

You’ve created a business and now it is time for your business to reach the next level – presence on the internet. When you’re starting out in your business, it’s important that you have a website that showcases your expertise.

Now that you are finally ready to create the client-attracting website your business deserves, “where the heck do I begin?” In this blog post, I discuss how to build your own website from scratch – just follow these 5 easy steps.

Step 1: Create a plan

Before you begin to put together your website, you need to know what purpose it is going to serve. You need to have a main goal for your website such as growing your list, booking discovery calls, selling a course, etc.

You also need to plan out how you want it to look. Using a simple design, sketch out your pages: headers, content, images, and positioning of these elements. Also, think about which pages will link to other pages, how they will link, dropdown menu options and the like. Knowing roughly how you want it to look goes a long way to getting the focused finished product you want for your business.

Step 2: Find a Web Hosting Service

You can’t have a website without a host. The hosting service is where your data will be stored, on their servers. Depending on how much space you need now and, in the future, it might be worth a few more bucks a month to ensure that your site won’t crash or get turned off. Free web hosting services usually don’t provide enough bandwidth for a major business website.

Step 3: Choose a Domain Name

What will your site be called? What is your business niche? What is your focus? Use these answers to come up with a name. Write down several and then check online to see if the one you want is available. It may take a few tries to find one you like that no one has taken. Keep it as short as possible and also easy to associate with your business.

Buying a domain name may cost a few bucks, but it’s worth it to have your own business name.

Step 4: Choose a Platform

This is just what the name implies; it is the base on which your website will stand. WordPress is the most popular choice for a platform and is my recommended choice. It is used by over 50% of all websites. It is easy to use and most of the work has been done for you by a host of developers and web designers. Just make sure you are using WordPress.org and NOT WordPress.com! You can download WordPress for FREE with your hosting provider…

Other, less functional/customizable options include Squarespace & WIX.

Step 4.1: Install WordPress

If you chose to go with WordPress, one-click installation is often offered through hosting and makes installing WordPress a breeze. You can then log into the dashboard and look around to see how to set up pages, edit and upload content and more. There are many options with WordPress when it comes to themes and plugins.

Step 5: Design your Website: 

With the numerous amounts of themes and plugins, your WordPress site is 100% customizable. For those who know coding, you can use HTML or CSS to change the pages to look like you want them to. However, you don’t need to know how to code to create a stunning website.

WordPress offers options for free and premium themes for design templates to begin with. A variety of options are available, so take some time to peruse them. If you don’t like it, you can always change it. My favorite is DIVI by ElegantThemes.

NEED HELP WITH PLANNING OUT YOUR WEBSITE?

Grab the Ultimate Website Planner + Checklist so you don’t miss any crucial steps along the way!! Inside, I break down the 5 essential steps of planning and creating a website into bite size, actionable steps so you feel like your hand is being held through the entire process…