Friday, August 8, 2014

How to Create a Website or Blog: Step by Step Tutorial






Creating a website or blog is not only for the Graphic Designers, Website Designers or the computer literate. It is really easy. The more you practice the more you learn. Here is step by step guide on creating your own blog or website even if you are not technical.



Domain Name



Domain name is the name and the address to your website, also called URL (www.yourwebsite.com).Your website name should sound unique and understandable, whether it is a personal, business site or a blog.



Web Hosting



For your website to be seen on the web, it should be hosted on the internet. Your web host allows you to store your website contents on their archives/servers. You should choose a hosting service after you are done choosing your domain name and registering it. In a few minutes I will list several webhosts and their prices so you can be able to choose. I use and recommend BlueHost web hosting on my Beauty and Make up blog.



What to Consider when Looking for a Web Hosting Company



·         The site builder should come with an automatic                installer (WordPress)so you do not need to install              the software by yourself.
·         Good customer service and reliability.
·         The number of templates included.
·         The disk space provided.



There are so many web host companies that it is possible for you as a newbie to choose from. Most of them offer similar services but for different price range. I will talk about a couple of the ones that I recommend in a bit starting with BlueHost as it is the best, powerful and popular web host service I know of.



1.    Hosting with BlueHost



Like I mentioned before, one does not have to be a geek, Graphic or Website Designer, be technical or computer literate to create a professional looking website. Nowadays we have CMS platform called WordPress to be grateful for. You don’t need to know stuff like HTML etc. 


WordPress makes it for you. They have automatic software which with only 1 click you are all set. All you need is to customize it according to your needs and preference once you get the hang of WordPress. If you choose WordPress.org then you can register with BlueHost as it  already has built in WordPress installers. Setting up your WordPress will not even take you more than 5 minutes. Read this article I wrote about creating a a profitable  Beauty and Make up blog or website using BlueHost web hosting.



Register a Domain Name



It is important that your Domain Name should be very relevant with your website content. Make certain that your Domain Name is easy to remember and simple to read. I f you can, please keep it as short as possible. A .com is better than a .net, .org, etc. as it is very popular. Everyone who surfs the net for a particular website will automatically think of a .com instead of a .net or .org. For example, if you are going to build a cooking website or blog, you could pick a domain name like this: “howtocook.com”, BlueHost.com can host your blog and register your site.


2.    Hosting with GoDaddy Web Hosting


GoDaddy.com is the largest domain registrar. They cost about from $6.99 per month up to $12.99 per year. You have a choice of paying monthly but it is cheaper if you can pay yearly. GoDaddy.com always has massive specials. Go Daddy package plan for starters is called economy and costs about $6.99 per month. It is mainly for small business websites as the storage space is limited. If you want to upgrade to the deluxe package is the way to go. GoDaddy is great for small to medium businesses.


How to Create a Website or Blog with GoDaddy Web Hosting



·         Sign up for www.GoDaddy.com account.
·         Log on to your WordPress and go to dashboard.             ( http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin/)
·         Click on “Posts” then “Add New” in the sidebar.
·         Create a “title” you want to write or blog about.
·         Create “content” or body of your article.
·         Hit the “Publish” button if you are ready to publish            for the whole world to view your blog.
·         The same should be done when you want to                    create a “page”. You can even hit the “save”                  button if you want to keep on creating more                    content and then later on hit the “publish” button            to publish your blog or website for viewing.
·         Create the “About” page to let visitors know what            your site or blog is all about. This is very important              as well.
·         Create the “Contact” page to let your visitors                  have somewhere to communicate with you.



3.    Hosting  your Blog  or Website with             HostGator Web Hosting


www.HostGator.com  is one of the best and biggest of several web hosting companies and my second personal favorite. HostGator has a good reputation, is reliable and affordable. They have good customer service and unlimited disk space. Setting up an account is free with HostGator. HostGator has various packages that start from as little as $4.95 per month to $12.95 per year. 


Bear in mind that coupons are always available.
 HostGator web hosting has packages such as the hatchling plan which is good if you are starting out and only need a single domain. So as a newbie I would advise you to use this plan. The hatching plan costs $4.95 per month. The baby plan is suitable for you if you intend on having more than 1 domain. The baby plan costs about $7.95 per month and is good if you want a bigger business in future. My advice to you is to choose plans that are of 2 or 3 years. They are much cheaper.



How to Register Domain Name in HostGator


·    Sign up for www.HostGator.com  account.
·    Visit www.HostGator.com to register domain name         using credit card or PayPal. Your choice.
·    Provide your payment information. It is safe and               secure.

·   To register through PayPal, sign up for free for a                 PayPal account. 

  • Provide your details and you are all set. PayPal is a good way of making payments when you don’t want to disclose your credit card information. It is very secure and easy to do.
  • Since you now own a website name and have a host company, you can connect them together. 
  • You are a few steps away from your website to be published and viewed upon by the world. HostGator is a WordPress hosting website.
  • HostGator comes packaged with default themes that are very good especially for newbies blogs.
  •  If you can please stick to the default themes until you feel you are more experienced.
  •  Now let’s learn how to create yourvery first WP blog or website.



How to Create your first WordPress Website or Blog

       ·         Log on to your WordPress and go to dashboard.           ( http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin/).
       ·         Click on “Posts” then “Add New” in the sidebar.
       ·         Create a “title” you want to write or blog about.
       ·         Create “content” or body of your article.

  • Hit the “Publish” button if you are ready to publish for the whole world to view your blog.
  • The same should be done when you want to create a “page”. You can even hit the “save” button if you want to keep on creating more content and then later on hit the “publish” button to publish your blog or website for viewing.
  • Create the “About” page to let visitors know what your site or blog is all about. This is very important as well.
  • Create the “Contact” page to let your visitors have somewhere to communicate with you.


4.    Hosting your Blog or Website with               GreenGeeks Web Hosting


GreenGeeks.com is one of the good web hosting sites to both register your website and host domain name. They are American company and have great customer and support service. They have a fair charge.



Register with GreenGeek


·         Sign up for www.GreenGeeks.com.

·         Enter the domain name that you have chosen.
·         If you don’t already have one then go to the                   upper left corner and click your desired name.If               the name you have chosen doesn’t exist or has               been taken, an “error” message will pop up. Keep           on choosing names until you find an available                 domain name that you desire.

         The good thing to do is choose a plan which                     is over 12 months as you will save money, and also           get a  domain name for free.
·        After choosing your plan and finished filling up the           form, click on the “Create My Account” button at           the very bottom.

·       Wait for the email confirmation with your login                  details.


Creating your Website or Blog using WordPress through GreenGeeks Host


GreenGeeks.com will email you a welcome email that contains login link that you will have to click on after entering your email address and password.


·         Click on a blue smiley face called “Fantastico” to            install WordPress and follow the steps.
·         Select your domain in the drop down menu if you           don’t have one already and fill in your details.
·        After several minutes, access your website by                   typing in your” domain name” then  /wp-admin.             ( http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin/ )
·         Now go to the dashboard and start blogging.
·         Create the “title” you want to talk about.
·         Create the “content” or body of your article.
·         Create “posts”, and “pages”. 

As you begin to have experience play with them and add media, comments, pictures etc.

You are now done! See how easy it was. Congratulations on owning a professional looking website that you did on your own. Remember practice makes perfect. Good luck with your website and business. Read this article I wrote about creating a profitable Beauty and Make  up Blog.

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