10 Steps to Create a Website (from Scratch) in 2024

Creating a website involves:

• Planning
• Content creation
• Web plan and development
• Testing

Historically, this process has taken months.

Not to notation the analyzable coding, method jargon, and steep learning curve. Making it look similar an intolerable task to tackle by yourself.

But with almighty no-code tools available, gathering a high-performing website doesn’t person to beryllium arsenic complicated. And you don’t needfully request method skills. (Specifically, heavy cognition similar programming and server management).

You tin make a website successful a fewer days. Or a fewer weeks to let clip for much contented creation.

This station shares 10 steps to marque a website acceptable to pull traffic, leads, and sales.

Let’s begin.

Step 1: Define Your Website Goal

Before you commencement gathering your website, specify its halfway purpose. This determination volition usher your design, website architecture, tools, and method decisions passim the instauration process.

Here are immoderate communal goals to consider:

At Backlinko, our apical goals are to thrust postulation and cod emails.

We make implicit 857K monthly visitors from integrated traffic.

And we person implicit 320,000 subscribers connected our email list.

How we’ve built our website is indispensable to achieving these results. Some important decisions include:

• Using WordPress: To springiness america the astir power to instrumentality SEO champion practices and people hundreds of long-form articles
• Using large hosting: To grip the measurement of visitors and load pages rapidly to a planetary audience
• Using email integrations: To nexus our newsletter sign-up forms to our email selling tool

You mightiness privation to physique a website to showcase your photography portfolio. Your decisions volition beryllium wholly antithetic from the ones we’ve made.

Instead, you whitethorn see utilizing a level similar Squarespace. There, you tin easy marque highly customizable portfolio pages to amusement your champion photos.

If you merchantability carnal products, see utilizing tools similar Shopify. It has ready-to-go templates for merchandise pages, buying carts, and unafraid payments.

A spot of readying goes a agelong mode to a smoother website instauration process.

Step 2: Choose Your Domain Name

Your domain sanction is your website’s code connected the internet. Like your integer storefront.

If you already person an established business, it’s a bully thought to marque your domain sanction the aforesaid arsenic oregon precise adjacent to your concern name. This helps with marque consistency and makes it easier for customers to find you online.

If you’re starting a caller business, you person the flexibility to take a domain sanction that fits your marque and is disposable for registration. In immoderate cases, the availability of a desired domain sanction mightiness adjacent power your concern name.

Pick a domain sanction that’s:

• Memorable: Aim for thing abbreviated and casual to retrieve for visitors
• Brand-related: Incorporate your concern oregon idiosyncratic marque name
• Relevant: Consider utilizing keywords related to your website’s absorption (e.g., “petphotography” for a favored photographer’s site)

For inspiration, usage domain sanction generators similar Domain Wheel and Nameboy

Once you’ve picked the name, you tin acquisition your domain done a domain registrar similar GoDaddy oregon Namecheap.

Domain registration typically costs up to $20 per year, depending connected the supplier and domain hold you take (e.g., .com, .net, .org).

Also, see a country-code top-level domain. Use it if your concern operates successful a geographic region. For example, if you’re making a website for your canine grooming business, Happy Clean Paws, successful London, usage the domain sanction happycleanpaws.co.uk. This volition assistance imaginable clients and hunt engines recognize that your concern is local.

Your domain sanction isn’t conscionable for your website. You tin besides usage it to make a nonrecreational email address. And for online verifications similar connected societal media.

Step 3: Choose a Hosting Provider (If Required)

Web hosting is simply a work that reserves server abstraction for your website’s information (like text, images, and videos). And ensures that radical tin entree it online.

Your hosting decisions should align with your website’s requirements and goals.

For example, if you program to people blogs, representation galleries, and multimedia, prioritize a supplier that offers capable retention and velocity optimization.

If you take a self-hosted level similar WordPress.org, Joomla, oregon Drupal, you’ll request to prime a hosting provider.

And here’s what to look for:

• Reliability: Consistent uptime is important for a palmy website. Look for providers with precocious guaranteed uptime percentages (99.5% oregon higher).
• Scalability: Does the hosting supplier connection plans with expanding bandwidth? It’s important for the hosting to beryllium capable to accomodate your increasing website postulation and retention needs.
• Security: Your big should supply information measures similar firewalls, malware scanning, and regular backups. It should besides supply an SSL certificate (HTTPS), which encrypts and protects your website visitors’ information.
• Pricing: Compare plans and features to find the champion worth for your money

Here are a fewer hosting providers we recommend:

Hostinger

If you’re conscionable starting, Hostinger is simply a large entry-level, low-cost hosting provider. It offers 1-click WordPress installation and escaped pre-built templates to plan your site.

Additionally, Hostinger provides perks for caller users, specified arsenic a escaped domain for the archetypal year, a beingness information certificate, and concern emails.

Siteground

Siteground offers amended tract loading velocity and lawsuit enactment than Hostinger. It besides offers escaped regular backup and a escaped SSL certificate.

You besides get much precocious features similar staging environments, which let you to trial changes and your website earlier making them live.

Kinsta

Kinsta is simply a much precocious hosting provider, offering premium managed WordPress hosting.

Since Kinsta’s infrastructure is built connected Google Cloud, it offers higher velocity and show compared to the erstwhile 2 providers connected our list.

Backlinko is besides utilizing Kinsta.

Step 4: Pick a Website Builder

The close website builder lets you make a nonrecreational website without the request to code. This means you tin physique a website successful a mates of days with nary method knowledge.

And conscionable arsenic important, you tin marque updates to your website without hiring a programmer.

Top Website Builders

While determination are a batch of website builders retired there, present are a fewer of them based connected their usage cases:

• Wix: Best for beginners, Wix is simply a low-cost drag-and-drop website builder
• Squarespace: Best for booking appointments, showing your portfolio, and selling your services
• Shopify: Best for gathering an ecommerce website wherever you merchantability your products
• WordPress.org: Best for a blog, WordPress.org is known for its versatility and customization opportunities

Building a Website from Scratch

If you person in-depth coding cognition oregon are consenting to prosecute a web developer with those skills, you tin physique your website from scratch.

This offers the astir power but besides the steepest learning curve. Or requires continuous attraction from a nonrecreational web developer, which tin beryllium pricey.

Step 5: Plan Your Site Architecture

Site architecture outlines however your pages are organized and linked together. It creates a wide way for visitors to navigate and find the accusation they need.

A well-organized tract architecture enhances idiosyncratic acquisition and plays a important relation successful SEO by helping hunt engines recognize your website’s operation and content. Which tin pb to improved hunt visibility.

Lucidchart has a ocular sitemap readying tool that you tin usage for free.

Here’s an illustration of what a site architecture could look like:

When creating a sitemap for your website, marque definite you nest pages logically nether due categories and subcategories.

Here are a fewer tips to assistance you physique your ocular sitemap:

• Start with halfway pages: First, database your indispensable pages. Such arsenic Homepage, About Us, Services/Products, Contact, and possibly a Blog.
• Think similar a visitor: Put yourself successful your imaginable visitor’s shoes. What are they apt to beryllium looking for and however would they expect to find it? For instance, if you connection services, marque definite your work descriptions are wide and casual to find.
• Nesting pages: Group related pages nether wide categories and subcategories. For example, a photographer’s tract mightiness person “Portfolio” arsenic a top-level class with subcategories similar “Weddings,” “Couples,” etc.

Step 6: Design Your Website

With your tract architecture successful place, it’s clip to bring your imaginativeness to beingness done design.

Pick a Theme oregon Template

Themes and templates are pre-designed layouts that you tin customize to lucifer your brand. You tin bash this with nary anterior method oregon plan experience.

Templates tin besides see circumstantial features, similar portfolio layouts, magazine-style blog designs, oregon interaction forms.

Most website builders similar Wix and Squarespace connection galore templates oregon themes to kickstart your design.

Meanwhile, WordPress.org relies connected outer themes. You tin usage plugins similar Elementor to customize your site. It provides a drag-and-drop interface for gathering pages and layouts without method knowledge.

Here’s what Elementor’s website template room looks like:

Pick the template you similar the astir for your marque earlier customizing its plan adjacent further.

Before choosing a template, instrumentality a look astatine different websites successful your industry. Get an thought of what their layouts look like, what sections they have, and what colors they’re using.

Then unfastened a template room of your website builder and filter designs by industry.

Let’s accidental you’re gathering a question website utilizing Elementor. Type “travel” successful the hunt bar, and you’ll get a enactment of website layouts and designs that are champion suited for question websites. Like this:

When you similar a preview, click connected it to unfastened it and reappraisal however the full leafage would look similar if you implemented that design.

Once you find the template you like, click “Insert” to commencement editing your site.

Then click connected immoderate constituent (text oregon image) to alteration them.

Choose Colors

Choose a colour palette that aligns with your marque individuality and appeals to your people audience.

Consider utilizing colour science to evoke emotions successful your audience. Let’s instrumentality a look astatine the emotions colors evoke successful people:

For example, if you ain a bakery oregon a java shop, usage lukewarm colors similar brownish and orangish to make a cozy, inviting atmosphere. These colors besides stimulate appetite.

Green aligns with a concern selling integrated food. Or an biology organization. Because greenish signifies health, growth, nature, and sustainability.

A fiscal advisor could see utilizing bluish arsenic it signifies stability, trust, and professionalism.

Once you’ve chosen your superior marque color, usage a escaped Adobe Color instrumentality to prime the colour palette for your website.

This instrumentality features preset colour palettes and trending colors. Alternatively, you tin create your ain palette by picking the colors. Or upload an representation (e.g., a photograph of your products) and extract the colour palette from it.

Watch Andrew Kan’s YouTube video beneath to spot Adobe Color successful action:

Choose Fonts

Choosing the close font is important for your site’s readability. It’s besides a mode to amusement personality.

You whitethorn privation to usage aggregate fonts connected your website to differentiate the sections.

Look astatine this illustration from The New York Times. The website uses 1 font successful headlines to marque them basal out. And different 1 for excerpt.

But bounds yourself to 2 to 3 fonts for consistency. And marque definite they look bully together.

Your superior font should beryllium wide and casual to work for assemblage text. Headings tin incorporated a much stylistic font.

Finally, marque definite your font choices are readable crossed assorted devices. Like desktop and mobile.

Set Your Logo and Favicon

Your logo is simply a ocular cornerstone of your brand. It’s often the archetypal happening radical spot and remember.

The logo past becomes a awesome they subordinate with your products and services.

If you don’t person a logo, see utilizing a logo plan instrumentality similar Canva. Which lets you plan your ain logo with nary plan experience. Or prosecute a graphic designer.

Once you person a logo, adhd it to your website header.

Additionally, make and acceptable a favicon. A favicon is simply a tiny icon that appears successful browser tabs, adding different interaction of branding.

Your favicon mightiness beryllium a miniature mentation of your logo oregon a simplified graphic that represents your brand. For example, a bakery website could acceptable an icon of a croissant (or different treat) arsenic your favicon.

We extracted the past missive of our marque sanction from our logo and acceptable it arsenic a favicon. So it looks similar this:

While favicons are tiny, they adhd a nonrecreational interaction and assistance users easy place your website among their unfastened tabs.

Step 7: Create Essential Pages

A well-structured website is built connected indispensable pages serving antithetic purposes. These pages supply information, usher visitors, and found spot with your audience.

The nonstop pages you request volition alteration depending connected your website’s extremity (back to measurement #1). Let’s reappraisal them, starting with immoderate that are cosmopolitan for each types of sites.

For All Sites

Regardless of your website extremity and type, make these pages:

• Homepage: Acts arsenic your integer storefront, showcasing your marque and cardinal offerings
• About Page: Connect with visitors by sharing your story, values, and mission
• Contact Page: Give visitors ways to interaction you by providing your interaction accusation (phone, email, address) and including a interaction form
• Privacy Policy: Build spot by explaining however you grip idiosyncratic information and comply with regulations

Additional Pages For a Blog

If having a blog is portion of your selling strategy (which we recommend), adhd the pursuing pages arsenic well:

Additional Pages For an Online Store

If you’re gathering an online store, adhd these pages:

• Product Pages: Showcase idiosyncratic products with details, images, prices, and lawsuit reviews
• Collections: Group your products by class for casual browsing (for example, men’s clothing, women’s clothing, sale)
• Sizing: Help customers by providing wide sizing charts oregon guides
• Shipping and Returns: Let your customers cognize what to expect successful presumption of shipping and what your argumentation is for returns

Additional Pages For a Portfolio

If you’re a work supplier gathering a portfolio website, make the pursuing pages:

• Project Gallery: A ocular overview of your champion work, showcasing your skills and experience
• Individual Project Pages: Provide elaborate descriptions of each project, highlighting your process and results
• Testimonials: Share affirmative feedback from clients to physique credibility and trust

Step 8: Identify What Content Your Target Audience Wants

To scope your goals, you request to make contented that your assemblage wants. To bash this, find their questions, problems, and hunt terms.

Brainstorm Audience Questions

Think astir your perfect customers. What questions oregon problems bash they person that your website could answer?

You tin find these questions successful a fewer ways:

• Customer feedback: Pay attraction to the questions customers inquire you straight done in-person interactions, telephone calls, societal media, oregon email
• Social listening: See what radical are talking astir and what questions they’re asking connected societal media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X) and online forums (Reddit, Quorra) applicable to your industry
• Topic probe tools: Use tools similar Google Trends, “People Also Ask” conception connected Google hunt results, Answer the Public, oregon Exploding Topics
• Competitor research: Look astatine your competitors’ websites, FAQs, and blogs to spot what questions they’re addressing
• Internal brainstorming: Gather your squad and brainstorm imaginable questions your assemblage mightiness have

Make a database of these questions.

Then, reply them done long-form contented similar blog posts oregon a elemental often asked questions (FAQ) section.

This workout could besides pb to caller merchandise ideas, work offerings, and pb magnets to physique your email list.

Do Keyword Research

Keywords are the words and phrases radical usage successful hunt engines.

Keyword probe is the process of identifying the keywords that tin assistance your concern look successful applicable searches. It’s usually the archetypal measurement successful SEO, which is the astir sustainable mode to pull website visitors.

Use keyword probe tools similar Semrush’s Keyword Magic to place hunt presumption to see connected your website.

Think of 1 wide keyword that’s astir applicable to your business. We telephone it a effect keyword. For example, if you person a store selling integrated food, “organic food” could marque a large effect keyword to statesman with.

So, benignant it successful the hunt bar, prime your people portion successful the drop-down menu, and click “Search.”

The instrumentality volition amusement you the hunt presumption related to your effect keyword.

Collect the keywords that are astir applicable to your concern successful a spreadsheet.

Then, sprinkle them wherever it makes consciousness passim your website—on your homepage, astir page, blog posts.

Step 9: Optimize Your Website for SEO

SEO is astir making your website much disposable to hunt engines similar Google—helping imaginable customers find you.

Even with a caller website, elemental SEO steps tin laic the instauration for higher rankings successful Google search.

And doing SEO arsenic you make your caller website volition prevention you a batch of clip successful the future.

Do On-Page SEO

On-page SEO focuses connected optimizing idiosyncratic pages connected your tract to assistance hunt engines recognize your contented and fertile it higher successful applicable searches.

Higher rankings yet thrust much integrated postulation to your website.

On-page SEO includes meta titles and meta descriptions, interior linking, and representation SEO. Let’s speech astir each 1 successful much detail:

Write Compelling Meta Titles

The meta rubric is simply a bluish clickable header you spot successful hunt results. Like this one:

Keep it concise (between 50-60 characters) and see your people keyword.

Most importantly, beryllium descriptive to assistance your users. Searchers are much apt to click connected a hunt effect that straight addresses their question oregon need.

For instance, successful our illustration above, we archer SEO beginners that we person a usher specifically for them.

Write Descriptive Meta Descriptions

The meta description is simply a abbreviated summary displayed beneath the meta title. Like this:

Write a statement that accurately summarizes the leafage contented and includes applicable keywords.

Keep your meta statement nether 155-160 characters.

Connect Pages With Internal Links

Internal links are hyperlinks that link 1 leafage connected your tract to another. They assistance hunt engines recognize your site’s operation and the narration betwixt pages.

We usage interior links to assistance you larn much astir the topic.

For example, successful the blog station astir penning SEO content, we notation keyword probe and agelong process keywords. Since we person dedicated guides connected those topics, we supply interior links to pb you to those resources truthful you recognize them better.

Like this:

Here are a fewer things to support successful mind:

• Use descriptive anchor substance (text successful a hyperlink): Use descriptive phrases similar “learn much astir our services” alternatively of generic ones similar “click here.”
• Link to applicable pages: Only nexus to pages that are contextually relevant. Don’t conscionable nexus for the involvement of linking.
• Sprinkle links naturally: Avoid stuffing a azygous leafage with excessively galore interior links. Distribute them people passim your content.

Optimize Your Images for SEO

Image SEO focuses connected optimizing your images to amended their visibility successful SERPs and Google Images.

Like this:

Here’s however to bash it:

• Use descriptive record names: Instead of the default representation sanction (like IMG001), sanction your representation record thing similar “matcha latte recipe” to springiness hunt engines context
• Add alt text: Alt substance describes the representation and is indispensable for accessibility. It besides gives hunt engines much accusation astir the image, truthful see applicable keywords wherever appropriate.Like this:

  

• Compress representation sizes: Large representation files tin dilatory down your website, which hurts your idiosyncratic acquisition and SEO. Use representation optimization tools similar Image ResizerImage Resizer to compress files.

Submit a Sitemap to Google Search Console

A sitemap is simply a record that lists each the pages connected your website, acting similar a roadmap for hunt engines.

Submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console (GSC) helps Google observe and scale your pages truthful they tin amusement up successful hunt results much quickly.

You already created a ocular sitemap successful measurement 5 to spot your ain tract architecture. Now that you’ve built those pages, it’s clip to taxable them to GSC.

If you built your website connected WordPress.org, instal the Yoast SEO plugin. This instrumentality automatically creates a sitemap for you. However, enactment that it doesn’t upload the sitemap to GSC, which you’ll request to bash manually.

Site builders similar Shopify and Wix typically make sitemaps for you. Once you taxable the sitemap to GSC, these website builders update it automatically.

Step 10: Test and Publish Your Website

Before launching your website, it’s important to thoroughly trial it to guarantee a creaseless idiosyncratic experience. And place immoderate imaginable issues.

Things to look retired for:

• Functionality: Click each nexus and fastener connected your website to marque definite they enactment arsenic expected and pb to the close pages
• Proofreading: Read done your contented cautiously to drawback immoderate typos, grammatical errors, oregon inconsistencies (we urge utilizing a instrumentality similar Grammarly)
• Device compatibility: Open your website connected antithetic devices (like desktop, laptop, smartphone, and tablet) to guarantee it looks and functions good crossed assorted surface sizes
• Speed: Use tools similar Google PageSpeed Insights to cheque your website’s loading speed. Slow websites tin frustrate visitors and wounded your SEO.

If, aft investigating and reviewing your website, everything seems right, spell up and people it.

Creating Your Website Is Just The Beginning

Building a website is an important measurement successful establishing your online presence.

But the travel doesn’t extremity erstwhile you deed the people button.

Once your website is live, stock it crossed your societal media to pull visitors.

And work our nonfiction to observe 27 ways to summation your website traffic. Here, you’ll find champion practices for creating contented for your website and promoting your tract done assorted platforms.