A D O M A I N I S T H E U N I Q U E N A M E T H A T S E R V E S A S T H E A D D R E S S O F Y O U R W E B S I T E O N T H E I N T E R N E T ( L I K E W W W . E X A M P L E . C O M ) . D O M A I N S A R E U S U A L L Y R E G I S T E R E D T H R O U G H D O M A I N S E R V I C E P R O V I D E R S A N D A R E O F T E N P A I R E D W I T H A S P E C I F I C D O M A I N E X T E N S I O N , S U C H A S . C O M , . O R G , O R . N E T . R E G I S T E R I N G A D O M A I N I S T H E F I R S T S T E P T O C R E A T I N G A W E B S I T E S I N C E I T R E S E R V E S Y O U R O N L I N E " A D D R E S S . "
USING A WEBSITE BUILDER USING A WEBSITE BUILDER
WEBSITE BUILDERS ARE TOOLS THAT ALLOW YOU TO CREATE AND DESIGN A WEBSITE WITHOUT NEEDING TO CODE. THEY OFFER TEMPLATES, DRAG-AND-DROP INTERFACES, AND VARIOUS CUSTOMIZATION FEATURES. HERE’S HOW TO GET STARTED WITH A WEBSITE BUILDER:
SIGN UP: REGISTER ON A WEBSITE BUILDER PLATFORM (E.G., WIX, SQUARESPACE).
CHOOSE A TEMPLATE: MOST BUILDERS HAVE PRE-DESIGNED TEMPLATES FOR DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES (E.G., E-COMMERCE, PORTFOLIOS).
CUSTOMIZE: USE THE DRAG-AND-DROP TOOLS TO ADD AND ARRANGE TEXT, IMAGES, VIDEOS, AND OTHER ELEMENTS.
PUBLISH: ONCE YOU’RE HAPPY WITH THE SITE, YOU CAN PUBLISH IT ON THE INTERNET, LINKING IT TO YOUR DOMAIN.
TYPES OF TOOLS FOR WEB DEVELOPMENT TYPES OF TOOLS FOR WEB DEVELOPMENT
DOMAIN REGISTRATION SERVICES: TOOLS FOR PURCHASING AND MANAGING DOMAIN NAMES (E.G., GODADDY, NAMECHEAP).
WEBSITE BUILDERS: PLATFORMS FOR CREATING WEBSITES WITHOUT CODING (E.G., WIX, SQUARESPACE, WEEBLY).
HOSTING SERVICES: COMPANIES THAT STORE YOUR WEBSITE DATA AND MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE ON THE INTERNET (E.G., BLUEHOST, SITEGROUND).
SEO TOOLS: TOOLS TO HELP YOU OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE FOR SEARCH ENGINES (E.G., SEMRUSH, AHREFS).
ANALYTICS TOOLS: PLATFORMS TO ANALYZE WEBSITE TRAFFIC AND USER BEHAVIOR (E.G., GOOGLE ANALYTICS, HOTJAR).
POPULAR OPTIONS (EXAMPLES) POPULAR OPTIONS (EXAMPLES)
GODADDY: KNOWN FOR DOMAIN REGISTRATION AND AFFORDABLE HOSTING. GODADDY OFFERS WEBSITEBUILDING TOOLS, THOUGH THEY’RE SIMPLER THAN DEDICATED WEBSITE BUILDERS LIKE WIX OR SQUARESPACE.
WIX: A DRAG-AND-DROP WEBSITE BUILDER WITH EXTENSIVE CUSTOMIZATION, AN APP MARKET FOR EXTRA FUNCTIONALITY, AND GOOD E-COMMERCE SUPPORT. WIX HAS A FREE PLAN WITH WIX-BRANDED ADS AND PREMIUM PLANS WITHOUT ADS.
SQUARESPACE: POPULAR FOR VISUALLY APPEALING TEMPLATES, MAKING IT A GREAT CHOICE FOR PORTFOLIOS, BLOGS, OR DESIGN-FOCUSED WEBSITES. IT ALSO OFFERS STRONG E-COMMERCE FEATURES.
HIDDEN GEMS HIDDEN GEMS
CARRD: AN AFFORDABLE WEBSITE BUILDER FOR SIMPLE
ONE-PAGE SITES, GREAT FOR LANDING PAGES AND PORTFOLIOS.
WEBFLOW: MORE ADVANCED BUT VERY FLEXIBLE, COMBINING WEBSITE BUILDING WITH DESIGN AND CMS (CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM) FEATURES.
STRIKINGLY: KNOWN FOR EASE OF USE WITH BEAUTIFUL TEMPLATES, ESPECIALLY GOOD FOR SINGLE-PAGE WEBSITES OR PORTFOLIOS.
COST DEPENDS ON YOUR NEEDS:
DOMAIN REGISTRATION: AROUND $10–$20/YEAR, THOUGH SOME DOMAIN EXTENSIONS (.IO, .TECH) CAN BE PRICIER.
WEBSITE BUILDERS: FREE OPTIONS EXIST, BUT THEY COME WITH LIMITATIONS (LIKE ADS OR RESTRICTED FEATURES). PAID PLANS USUALLY START AT:
WIX: $10–$30/MONTH.
SQUARESPACE: $12–$40/MONTH.
HOSTING SERVICES: FOR MORE CONTROL AND FUNCTIONALITY, A CUSTOM-HOSTED WEBSITE (LIKE WORDPRESS.ORG) WILL COST $3–$20/MONTH FOR HOSTING, PLUS DOMAIN FEES.
SUMMARY OF COSTEFFECTIVE TIPS SUMMARY OF COSTEFFECTIVE TIPS
START SMALL: USE FREE TRIALS OR FREE TIERS TO GET
STARTED AND DETERMINE IF YOU LIKE THE BUILDER.
CHOOSE A FLEXIBLE PLATFORM: WIX AND SQUARESPACE ARE GREAT FOR VISUAL FLEXIBILITY, WHILE WEBFLOW IS POWERFUL IF YOU KNOW A BIT OF HTML/CSS.
DISCOUNTS AND BUNDLES: SOME PROVIDERS, LIKE GODADDY AND BLUEHOST, OFFER DISCOUNTS OR BUNDLE DOMAIN REGISTRATION WITH HOSTING.
TIPS FOR CHOOSING A DOMAIN NAME TIPS FOR CHOOSING A DOMAIN NAME
KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE: AIM FOR 2-3 WORDS AND AVOID NUMBERS OR HYPHENS.
USE RELEVANT KEYWORDS: INCLUDE KEYWORDS RELATED TO YOUR NICHE, BUT KEEP IT NATURAL. CHOOSE THE RIGHT EXTENSION: .ORG IS THE MOST TRUSTED FOR CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND NON-PROFITS, WHILE .COM AND SPECIALTY (.TECH, .STORE) OR COUNTRY CODES WORK BEST FOR BUSINESSES AND SPECIFIC NEEDS. MAKE IT BRANDABLE: UNIQUE NAMES ARE MEMORABLE; AVOID GENERIC TERMS. PLAN FOR FUTURE GROWTH: AVOID NAMES THAT MAY LIMIT EXPANSION.
CHECK AVAILABILITY: USE TOOLS LIKE GODADDY TO CONFIRM IT’S OPEN. MATCH SOCIAL HANDLES: CONSISTENT NAMES ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA HELP BRANDING.
