How to Create a Website for Beginners?

Are you wondering how to create a website?

A website is, in effect, a digital showroom of your business. Just as with the physical elements of your business brand, a website must reflect the latest designs, trends, and technologies.

Designing a website can be daunting, even for more experienced developers, for beginners, it can sometimes seem like a mountain too big to climb.

First-time web design using website builders (such as Wix, WordPress, Site 123, and Squarespace) make it possible for people with very little development knowledge to build a website.

These website builders allow users to customize templates in order to design a website without the need for any coding knowledge and experience.

If you are only planning a basic website then these platforms will help you get the job done. However, if you want something better you will need to call in the experts, who can add the more sophisticated features that you require at a later date.

But let’s show you how to get a basic site up and running.

In this blog, you will learn all about web design and creation. Before talking about web design, let’s have a quick look at the basics of the website and the different types, etc.

What is a Website?

The definition of a website is, “A website is a collection of web pages and related content identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server”.

A few examples of the different types of websites:

Homepages

Many companies only need a simple online presence to advertise their business. A simple homepage website fulfills this function and can take only an hour or two to complete.

Ecommerce Websites

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The ecommerce website is one of the most used types of websites in the world today. Ecommerce websites are business online platforms that allow users to buy and sell goods and services online.

The most popular example among online stores is Amazon, which now operates in 58 countries the world over. The online store acts both, as a retailer and as a seller market, where private individuals and companies can sell their goods.

This is an example of a complex website that requires several professional software developers.

Portfolio websites

A portfolio website provides a platform for creative workers to display their artwork and their portfolios. This is ideal for painters, authors, designers, videographers, furniture manufacturers, and anybody else who creates art. This is a relatively straightforward website to build.

Landing pages

A landing page is a web page used in a marketing campaign to encourage users to do a specific action. These are relatively straightforward to build.

Blogging Website

A blogging website contains videos, photos, articles, and blogs. The content on a blogging website is updated regularly by one or more bloggers in order to retain customers looking for new information. Can be built via WordPress, etc.

Social Media Websites

The most popular type of website is used to connect people. Social media websites are open to everyone. This is a complex project that will require a software development team.

Fintech Website

A complex website that often is integrated with a mobile application. Fintech apps are extremely lucrative but require one or more teams of expert software developers. This cannot be done via a simple website builder such as WordPress.

How to Create a Website?

The web development industry is growing very fast. The web development industry is built on innovation, this includes web design too.

Basic website design and creation is not an impossible task anymore for beginners. Many online website builders can be used to help you to create a website. While your website might not be industry-beating, you can use basic website builders such as Wix and WordPress to help you.

Here is how you can do just that:

Step-by-step Guide to Creating a Website

As with any other software project, there is a proper process or ‘steps’ to be followed when designing and building a website. The following four main stages represent this process and are vital to get right when creating a high-quality website on time and within budget:

1. Planning

Planning is the initial phase in designing a website and is vital to get it right in order to prevent problems and overruns at a later stage. Planning involves close collaboration between the product owner and the developers.

Identify the need for a website.

It is imperative to start by identifying the need for a website. Since there is so much market competition as well as customer-side requirements, the product owner must do their research to understand the market for their site.

This key information represents the foundation of any site as it will govern everything from its design to its features.

What exactly are you attempting to accomplish?

Once you set the goal for your website, you should focus on the target audience. When users arrive on your website, what action do you want them to take? Is your website only to display data? Is it to make a profit? To get people to sign up?

The responses to the above questions will determine the way your website operates and channels people through its various pages.

For instance, a landing page is an essential part of your ecommerce design, these pages are used to initially attract customers to the site before they are quickly funneled off to the site’s services.

Look into the most recent web design trends.

Although web design is constantly changing, there are common trends that you must adhere to. It’s important to highlight that you must still be original to ensure that your site stands out.

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If visual elements are suitable to your website type, for example, product lists for an ecommerce store, then use them. However, make their design eye-catching so that it is fresh and appeals to your target audience.

Choose the appropriate website builder or content management system (CMS)

A website builder is also known as a content management system. This is a platform that allows user customization and control of their website design and content.

While a professional developer will use coding languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP, a user with very little knowledge can use a content management system that automatically does the coding for them. If you plan to build a basic website without coding knowledge then it’s time to choose the right website builder for your web design.

Here are the most popular website builders:

WordPress

WordPress is an open-source and self-hosted CMS that is used to design websites and publish content. There are thousands of design templates integrated with WordPress that are known as WordPress themes.

WordPress is a famous CMS that allows users to develop their own WordPress sites using drag-and-drop visual elements. The most basic version is free but requires users to purchase a domain name, etc.

A WordPress website offers a decent balance between a straightforward user interface and technical functions that allow users to create more advanced websites that include features such as FAQs and the ability to alter code through an interactive website editor, etc.

For detailed tutorials on how to use WordPress then you can read our article on How to Build a WordPress Website.

Wix

Wix is one of the most popular website builders in the market. Wix allows you to design your own website with design customization or templates. Wix offers free Webhosting along with the creation and publication of your website.

It is aimed at creating simpler websites and is an all-in-one platform that allows users to create, alter, and publish without needing to find a web domain, etc.

2. Design and Creation

You will go through the following stages to create a website as a beginner.

Select your Own Domain Name and Web Host Wisely

Finding the best domain is important. A domain name should be the reflection of your brand. It should be simple, and easy to remember while being SEO-focused so that it does not overlap with another brand.

If you select a domain focused around the SEO keyword ‘Amazon’, for example, you will never get any traffic.

Including a brand name in the domain name increases the possibility of getting better search engine results.

When it comes to your web hosting services provider (the platform that handles your server requirements), this should also be in accordance with the nature of your business. Important considerations when choosing the right web hosting platform and service are page loading speeds, scalability, etc.

Consider the following questions, does the webpage respond reliably? Are they capable of handling the amount of web traffic? What security and backup strategies do they have? Do they have a scalable solution?

When you have found the answers to the above questions and any other additional questions such as price, etc., you are now ready to select your web host company.

Appealing and Clean Design Customization

The design of your website should be appealing and eye-catching. A well-designed page allows users to see the value of your brand and content rather than being distracted by flashy images and layout.

A clean and simple design is essential to create a great user experience, something which motivates visitors to return.

Color Scheme

Another key design element is the color scheme. Always select an effective color scheme for your website according to the business’s niche as it gives the first impression of your brand to the visitors. The color scheme should attract your target audience.

Just take a look at Apple’s color scheme:

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Functionality

The functionality of a website is determined by several criteria such as the loading time, security, operations, views from the user’s perspective, surveys, contact forms, and feedback section. These all aspects should be working correctly to maintain the functionality of a website.

Functionality options are very limited with web builders such as WordPress and Wix so you won’t be able to do much in this regard. If you need to build functionalities then it’s time to hire a developer to help.

Usability

If your website is easy to use, it will automatically generate user interest. To increase usability, the information and content should be clear and concise. Before launching your website, make sure that your website has all the important features that make your site accessibility easy.

Call to Action (CTA)

A call to action encourages a customer to contact you by using the website. Your CTA must be appropriate for your business. The purpose of CTA is to develop a relationship between a company and its customers.

Stock Photos

Always be careful with the selection of content for your website. All content must adhere to copyright laws. The content on your website should be original, from a free site, or paid for. Use of stock photos might result in fines if you do not post them with the permission of their owner.

Testimonials

Customer Testimonials should be a part of your website as they can help to promote your business. You can show off your company’s skills and achievements. Here is how we use them:

Make your website a Collaborative site.

Include the contact page on the top of your home page in the menu list or in your header section. This will allow website visitors to easily find your contact detail when they need to.

This is important for simple websites as they don’t have more advanced contact features such as chatbots and contact customer service options.

Application Support.

If your business model involves heavy reliance on online services then you should really consider investing in an application. Mobile apps dramatically increase customer retention and interaction. You will need a developer for this.

3. Launch

When you have done with the design, it’s time to test and then launch your website. Before launching the website, you will need to undertake search engine optimization as well as other marketing strategies.

This is vital as it will help you to rank in the search engines so that you can reach your customers. A great way to boost your SEO for a basic website is to include a blog that includes SEO-optimized articles.

4. Maintenance

After the site has gone live, it will require maintenance. Top-of-the-line hosting, minor changes and tweaks, technical assistance, continuing backups, security, CMS, plugin upgrades, and more are included in the website maintenance plans.

The amount and complexity of these really depend on how complex the site itself is.

Planning to Create a Website?

We have tried to offer you a basic overview of the factors that go into a basic website design and launch. Basic website builders can help you get a simple website up and running. However, if you are looking to create a more complex website or to add features to an existing website then you will need a professional developer.

Take a moment to tell DevTeam.Space about your project by filling out one of our project specification forms, and we will get in touch to see how our skilled software developers and project managers can help.

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