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There is a lot of information online on starting your website. I have found the process a bit difficult, but there are ways to make it much easier.
It will help to be clear before starting down this path.
Why do you want to start a website?
You might want to start a personal blog, share your writing, maybe you started a business, or have been interested in this for a while and don’t know where to start.
By the end of this article, you will know how you can create your very own website.
It’s easier than you think!
First of all, congratulations on your decision to start your own website! It’s going to be awesome. If you have further questions, remember to leave them in the comments below. Let’s get started!
Pick A Niche
If you are starting a blog or a business, one of the most important things to do is find an area you are interested in writing about. This will help give you a direction for your site.
Stay tuned for an article about picking a niche, as it’s crucial. But, you want to know what your site will be about.
Having a site with a bit of everything will confuse the reader. Trust me on this one. I’ve been there and done that.
Remember, you can have your niche be anything. One thing to take note, the more you can niche down, the better it will be.
Choosing A Name
Now that you have a niche in mind, it’s time to come up with a name.
One way you could do this is to use your name, your business name, or another name that you want your site to be called.
There are a few things to take note of when choosing a name (also known as a domain):
- Easy to remember
- Easy to spell
- Something to do with your chosen niche
For choosing the name for this site, Wilde Advantage, I had started a list of a few different names.
It’s also a good idea to search for your chosen name. I use Google, but any search engine will do.
This will allow you to see what else will come up. You can even search for your domain name and change the website suffixes (the end of the site, such as .com, .net, .org, etc.).
After you have a few names in mind, ask your friends what they think about it.
Doing this process can take up to a few days, but the hope is to get a name that you will like. You can change the name later, but it can be a pain to move a website.
And yes, I’m speaking from experience here.
What Are The Exact Steps?
Okay, now the two significant steps are out of the way. It’s time to get your site up and running.
There are a few options, but first, you need to find your piece of online real estate (or what you will call your domain name). This will be www.yoursite.com.
Side Note: The last person I helped with this process said they wanted a WordPress site. Yes, that is important, but that is not where you get a domain name. WordPress is something you will be installing after you have your site name picked out.
With that said, I would suggest getting a .com, .net, over some of the other ones out there.
Yes, .com will be more expensive, but it will be better in the long run.
Depending on the service you are signing up with, you will see different price points. But most people know and trust .com sites.
The creator of this blog loves checklists. So here is a quick list you need to have to get your site ready to go.
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- Have a niche
- Choose a name
- Pick a site (.com if you can get it)
- Consider getting a secure certificate (costs more, but its worth it)
- Get a hosting service (Bluehost or what I currently use)
- Download WordPress
- Start adding content
This might seem like a lot to accomplish, but take each step one at a time, and you will have no problem.
And next is something not everyone realizes after they purchase their domain name. Now, you have your site, www.yoursite.com, but you still need to have a hosting company before you can get up and running.
There are various companies nowadays. A majority will cost a few hundred dollars a year. A few include CloudWays, GoDaddy, BlueHost, and NameCheap (which has been my go too).
Side Note: My short plug for NameCheap lets you get your own .com domain! They are a fantastic company that has excellent customer service too. If you consider buying a domain and want it with a great company, check them out.
BUT WAIT! Maybe you want something that is an all-in-one platform. Continue reading.
I have started a few sites and found one place that simplifies everything. I’ll discuss that in the next section.
Set Up Your Site Fast, The Easy Way Is With Wealthy Affiliate!
A Simple Solution & My Top Pick
If you read my first review, you will know that I suggest getting a Wealthy Affiliate account. Why?
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- It’s free to start
- Have a website set up in under a minute (which includes the secure certificate)
- Access to great training
- Not to mention you will get access to the best community ever!
Simply put, Wealthy Affiliate has a streamlined system that will have your website up and running in under a minute. Yes, you read that right, and it might sound cliche, but if I can do it, you can too.
You can do all of this on your own, or you can go to a one-stop shop. With that, they give you the ability to get a site, domain hosting, a secure certificate, free site backups, a ton of training, and much more.
Yes, you can do it all on your own. After all, that is how I started. But if you are new to this, there is a slight learning curve, not to mention a lot of your time. Or, sign up with their free membership and start right now!
Have More Questions?
There are many other things you will do after having your site up. But that is for another post. The most important thing is to take the first step and set up your website.
Once it’s started, we can get into the other fun topics, like writing content, search engine optimization, and much more.
You can choose to do this independently or get help with Wealthy Affiliate. I have done both approaches, and if I had to do it over again, I would choose the latter. They make it super easy, and you get to be part of an amazing community.
Suppose you are interested in reading more on Wealthy Affiliate and sign up for their free service. After you have your free site up and running, you can later choose to continue with their paid version. It’s up to you.
Whatever path you decide to take, give it a try and let me know how it goes.
If you feel that I missed anything, or have further questions, let me know in the comments below. I look forward to hearing from you.
I have been involved with Wealthy Affiliate for 8 months now and i have tried to do it on my own previously as well. I have to agree with you Eric, going the WA way is a lot easier, everything thing you need is in the same place. The fee to upgrade to a yearly membership is peanuts compared to what others charge just for hosting alone. you can still learn and earn as a free member, which is a great option if you are not sure and you just want to check everything out.
Thanks, Lisa! I couldn’t agree with you more. Trying to figure everything out on your own is pretty rough. Wealthy Affiliate can take much of the pressure away.
Picking a niche and then choosing a name for our website are 2 of the MOST important things we need to think carefully about. The niche should be something we are passionate about else we will eventually lose steam and give up. The website name is then about branding and our own comfort. We need to feel happy with the website name else it can become a mental block. That’s my 2 cents worth.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Richard. I remember the first site I built used a difficult name to spell and didn’t have a direction. So what you said sums it all up.
Thanks for the comment.
Thank you for rolling out the basics at starting your own website. From the much resesr to creating the website. Top of it is the community where one can learn affiliate marketing – wealthy affiliate. It a great community with evergreen resources. The community is filled with people ready to help you out
You got that, right! Thanks for the comment and for stopping by. I appreciate it.
For those that are reading this, Parameter is an awesome resource in the Wealthy Affiliate community and has some amazing training that I have learned a lot from.
Hello there Eric Wilde. I am beginner in the online business world. I have just chose an online business good enough for me, which is blogging and affiliate marketing. And will need a website. I have read quite a lot on building a web, however it still feels amazing reading your article. Your article has it’s own uniqueness in the way you were able to breakdown the steps for creating a website. This has indeed given me more knowledge on how I can build my website.
Hi Nelson. Welcome to the online business world! I will say that it’s a long but fun process. I do hope that this post will help you in creating your own website. If you have any questions that I didn’t cover, feel free to reach out.