It is no easy task to find out what are all the basic steps to starting your website. Everybody has their own idea. I have done this hundreds of times for friends, family, clients, and so I am going to break it down for you very quickly so you know what is the best approach for you!
First you will need to purchase the domain.
Second you will need to host the domain with a hosting service (GoDaddy, Dreamhost, BlueHost.) WordPress does this too, but look for the monthly cost that you are willing to account for.
Get organized about where and who you are making these purchases with because they will provide add-on services and fees as you get through the “shopping cart” of building your website and so you want to be cautious. I compare it to knowing what you want to buy before you go to the store. That way you are more powerful as a consumer in the process.
Know what you want to buy: (1) domain name, (2) hosting services. Then you are going to need a CMS platform. This can be WordPress, this can SquareSpace this can be Contentful, the list goes on. Sometimes CMS platforms also provide abilities to purchase the domain name and be the hosting service. But know that these things are separate — and so if you decide to buy all in one, the cost may be higher due to the convenience.
Once you have all these items figured out, you will need to build the content and design. Layout, copy, and email creation can take hours to weeks. AGAIN – less is more. Get refined on the message, the copy, and remember — this is just to capture your future customers. This is just a page to anchor people to your brand. The website is 1 moment of a customer’s journey with you. They come to specific actions. (See my article “the top 5 reasons why people visit your website“.)
Then you need to make your website ready for Search Engine Optimization. (See my article on Getting your new website to rank on Google).
More to come . . .