How to start your own website in 20 minutes

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I've been a website developer for more than 14 years, so I've learnt the easiest methods for starting a new website and sourcing the best prices available.

Follow my quick and easy steps for total beginners and you will have a live website and your own (free) domain name within 20 minutes, for less than the cost of a coffee each month!

After creating your website, I'll share my best 5 hacks for getting traffic and 20 ways to make money from a blog. 🙂

It may help you to open the setup page in a new window before we kick off.

5 reasons to create a website

1. Worth it just for your résumé and a professional email address
2. Generate passive income (make money in your sleep - keep reading)
3. Gives you freedom to work from anywhere
4. It's ridiculously easy and affordable (and fun)
5. So my grandma doesn't show you up... here's what you're up against:

What makes a website?

There are 4 parts to creating a website: domain name, hosting, content management and design.

Every website needs to be hosted. A web host is just a home for your site and its content (like a remote computer).

The host then 'serves' the website to visitors when they type in your domain name.

BLUEHOST

WordPress is a free Content Management System (CMS) that sits on your web host. It's a bit like the operating system for your computer, and allows anyone to make, design, write and manage their own website without knowing any code. The platform powers 25% of all websites (including CNN, NASA and this site!) and is totally beginner friendly.

Confused? Don't be! We'll be using Bluehost who take care of everything from the domain name to design templates. The best thing is their 1-click install for WordPress, so you'll be set up and ready to start posting for the world to see in no time!

Why Bluehost? 6 main reasons:

• 1. Affordable (from £3pm)
• 2. Reliable (99.9% uptime)
• 3. Free domain name, email addresses & 1-click WordPress install
• 4. Brilliant 24/7 support and training guides
• 5. 30 day full refund policy
• 6. Officially recommended by WordPress

To create a website, you need to follow these 4 simple steps.

4 steps to create a website

1. Choose and register a domain name

A domain name is what people type into their browser to view your website. savethestudent.org is a domain name. It's also used for email, such as [email protected].

There's a wide range of domain name extensions available, including .com, .org, .net, .info, .biz.

Registration typically costs £9 ($12) a year, but you can get yours free only with this link:

a. Click here to lock in the free domain name offer

b. Click "Get Started Now" and select the "Basic" plan for now

c. Type in your preferred domain name to check availability.

If your domain name is available, you'll see the "Create your account" page. Congrats! Continue to Step 2.

If it's not available, you'll be told to try another variation. Consider changing a word (wordhippo.com is handy), using hyphens (-), adding a number or pick a different extension.

Don't stress if you can't think of the right domain name now. You can click the "Choose Later" link at the bottom. Names often pop into my head as I build my sites, and it's also easy to move an existing website to a new domain. Today is about getting the site live!

2 Setup website hosting

The "Basic" package is more than enough for most new websites, and you can uncheck the other paid options for now if you don't want them.

To secure the super-low monthly price, you need to pay for at least one year but it's cheapest for three years.

It's ridiculously cheap for what you get. Bluehost also have a no-hassle 30 day full refund policy.

Make the upfront payment using your normal card details or PayPal (click "more payment options").

3 Choose a WordPress theme

Now you'll be asked to choose the initial theme design for your new site!

I recommend selecting "Ocean WP" because it's free and versatile for any kind of site (even e-commerce). You can always change it later if you like.

Hover over the panel and then click "Use this theme". It can take a few minutes to be applied.

In the meantime, check your email inbox to verify your account, activate your domain name and get details for accessing your control panel.

If you go to view your site now, it'll likely show a holding page as your website can take a few hours to go live across the internet.

This is a good chance to start exploring WordPress and perhaps even write some content!

4 Add some content

On your Bluehost control panel click "Login to the WordPress" to get going.

WordPress makes it easy to start writing content that looks great. Clicking on "Posts" > "Add New" will open up the editor window, which allows you to build, format and write your post without any need for code.v

Once you have a couple of articles published on your website's topic, there are endless opportunities to start growing your audience and make money from home!

To learn more about what you can do with WordPress and how to use it, read First Steps with WordPress. You can also reach out to Bluehost support 24/7.

Source: Savethestudent.org