How to Build a Website
I ordered a website from a designer a few years ago. Everything went well during the initial phases of the process, and I really liked the result of his work. Problems started to creep in the minute I gave him the rest of the money, though.

I have logged into the website, only to find out that many of its plug-ins were outdated. I knew a few things about web design myself - at least enough to get a bit scared. So, I called my designer, and I have asked him to update the plug-ins himself. I knew how to do that, but I was afraid that the site may break during the process, and I didn't want it to be my responsibility.

I've got a shocking response from him: he didn't want to update the plug-ins either, because he was afraid that the site will break as well. As you can imagine, that was the last time I ordered a website from a designer. I chose to learn how to design websites myself.
Your mileage may vary, of course. Maybe you are working with a serious, hard-working web designer and you are very happy with the result of his or her work.
 

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However, this article is intended for people who want to tackle web design themselves, even if it's just for the very purpose of understanding the web design process, and thus being able to work with their designers.

So, what do you need to get started? Everything begins with choosing a good domain name. I like this site, because it makes it easy to see if the domain I'm interested in is available or not.

Try to think at a memorable name that is short and punchy. Let's pretend that you intend to launch an e-commerce store that will sell sunglasses, for example. You could pick the "best-sunglasses-you-could-ever-buy.com" domain, for example, but that would be a silly idea. In this case, "sunnyshades.com" is probably a much better alternative.

This domain name may already be taken and used by a company, of course, but I only wanted to give you an example. Once you've got a great domain name idea, you can verify if it is available and purchase it from one of the major domain registrars: GoDaddy, Bluehost, Namecheap, etc.

Then, you will need to purchase a hosting account. Basically, you are renting (for a monthly fee) a fraction of a server's CPU power and hard drive space. You could host the website on your own PC, of course, but this means that people would be unable to access it the minute you shut down your computer. On the other hand, the server used by the hosting company is powered on at all times (or at least that's what supposed to happen) so your website will be live 100% of the time.

Companies like Hostgator and Bluehost provide affordable hosting packages, and their quality is good enough for most people's needs. You can expect to pay $5 to $10 per month for a regular, shared hosting plan.

It's time to choose your website platform. I have some experience with Joomla! and WordPress, and if you are a beginner, my recommendation is to choose the latter platform. WordPress is easy to set up and maintain, and you'll find lots of plug-ins and templates that go with it.

For best results, use the cPanel within your hosting account to install WordPress. It's as easy as inputting your website title and description, and then pressing the "install" button. Then, add one of the numerous themes that are created by the huge community, to transform your website from a dull one into a fantastic masterpiece.

Finally, and the needed website pages to the menu. You can also add a few posts to the blog section, of course. Don't forget about the WordPress plug-ins I've mentioned at the beginning; most of them are free, and they will provide a lot of great features. Don't install every plug-in you run into, though; each one of them may decrease website speed a little bit. Feel free to test as many plug-ins as you want, of course, but only keep the ones that are necessary and/or useful.

Did you make it this far? Then, congratulations! You are ready to launch the website!
 

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