How to Create a Website – Formsbee Blog

Want to make a website but feel lost? Good — you’re in the right place. This guide strips away the jargon and walks you through everything, step-by-step, so you can launch a clean, usable site even if you’ve never coded before.

Quick overview (the 7 steps)

Decide the goal and content
Choose a domain name
Pick hosting or a website builder (no-code vs code)
Install your site (CMS or static)
Design pages & add content
Make it visible (SEO & analytics)
Secure, publish, and maintain

I’ll expand each step, give practical tool suggestions, show a tiny HTML starter, and finish with a checklist you can follow.

1) Decide the goal & plan your content

Before tools and domains, answer: What is this site for?

Common goals:

Portfolio (show your work)
Simple business site (services + contact)
Blog (write articles)
Landing page/waitlist (collect emails)
Small shop (sell digital goods or products)

Make a short plan:

3–5 pages: Home, About, Product/Services, Blog (optional), Contact
Gather logos, a short bio, images, and 3 example pieces of content.

Why this matters: a clear goal keeps your site focused and speeds everything up.

2) Choose a domain name (your website address)

A domain is what people type to reach you: yourname.com.

Tips for picking one:

Keep it short and memorable
Prefer .com if available; .xyz, .tech, .dev are fine too
Avoid hyphens and complex spellings
If you can’t get exact match, use yourname + word (e.g., subashdesign.com)

Where to buy:

Namecheap, Google Domains, GoDaddy — all fine. Search and buy (cost ≈ $10–$20/year for common TLDs).

3) Pick hosting or a website builder

Two main routes: No-code builders (fast, easy) or Hosting + CMS / Static site (more control).

A – No-code builders (best for total beginners)

Wix — drag & drop, all-in-one
Squarespace — polished templates, ideal for portfolios
Webflow — more design control, steeper learning curve
Notion → Super / Fruition (for super-simple pages)

Pros: fast setup, hosting + SSL included, templates, no code.
Cons: less control, monthly fee.

B – CMS on hosting (WordPress / Hugo / Ghost) — best for blogs & flexibility

Shared hosting (cheap): SiteGround, Bluehost, Hostinger (≈ $2–$10/month)
Managed WordPress: Kinsta, WP Engine (more costly but easier scale)
Static sites + hosting: Netlify, Vercel (good for devs and fast sites)

Pros: full control, plugins, cheaper long-term, exportable.
Cons: requires some setup and maintenance.

Which to choose?

Want quick, visual site — pick no-code (Wix/Squarespace/Webflow).
Want blogging, extendability, or low cost — pick WordPress on shared hosting or a static site on Netlify.

4) Install your site (step-by-step for two common flows)

A – Quickest (No-code builder example — Squarespace/Wix)

Sign up at the builder site.
Pick a template that fits your goal.
Replace demo text with your content (home, about, contact).
Connect your domain (the builder guides you).
Publish. Done.

B – Flexible (WordPress on shared hosting)

Buy hosting + domain (many hosts have a “one-click WordPress install”).
In your hosting control panel, find “WordPress installer” and run it.
Log into yourdomain.com/wp-admin.
Pick a theme (Astra, GeneratePress, Kadence are lightweight).
Install essential plugins:
- SEO: Yoast SEO or Rank Math
- Caching: WP Super Cache / LiteSpeed Cache
- Security: Wordfence or simpler built-in options
- Forms: WPForms or Contact Form 7
Create pages and publish.

C – Static site (simplest HTML starter)
If you want a tiny single page without builders, create an index.html file and upload to Netlify or any static host.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8" />
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1" />
  <title>Your Site Title</title>
  <meta name="description" content="Short description of your site." />
  <style>
    body{font-family:system-ui,Arial;margin:0;padding:40px;background:#f7f7f8;color:#111}
    .wrap{max-width:720px;margin:auto}
    header h1{font-size:28px;margin-bottom:8px}
    p{line-height:1.6}
    .btn{display:inline-block;padding:10px 16px;background:#2563eb;color:#fff;border-radius:8px;text-decoration:none}
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <div class="wrap">
    <header>
      <h1>Welcome — I made this site!</h1>
      <p>Short intro: what this site is and who it’s for.</p>
      <a class="btn" href="#contact">Get in touch</a>
    </header>
    <main>
      <h2>About</h2>
      <p>Write 2–3 lines about what you do and what visitors can find.</p>
      <h2 id="contact">Contact</h2>
      <p>Email: <a href="mailto:you@example.com">you@example.com</a></p>
    </main>
  </div>
</body>
</html>

Upload index.html to Netlify (drag-and-drop) and your site is live.

5) Design pages & add content (practice good structure)

Keep it simple and useful.

Pages to create:

Home — short headline, one sentence value, CTA (contact / waitlist / shop)
About — who you are, why you built this
Product/Services — what you offer + pricing or how to get started
Blog — optional, start with 3 helpful posts
Contact — email + simple form

Design tips:

Use one clear headline on Home that answers “What is this?”
Make CTAs obvious (buttons: “Join Waitlist”, “Contact”, “Buy”)
Use consistent fonts and colors (pick 2 fonts, 2 colors)
Mobile-first: check how it looks on phone

Images:

Use your own images or free sources: Unsplash, Pexels
Compress images (TinyPNG) to keep pages fast

Forms & email capture:

If collecting emails, add a simple form (Name + Email) using your builder or FormsBee/ Mailchimp embed.

6) Make it findable — basic SEO & analytics

A few small steps go a long way.

Essential SEO:

Set page title and meta description for each page
Use headings (H1 on top of page, H2 for sections)
Add alt text for images
Create a simple sitemap.xml (some hosts/WordPress do it automatically)
Submit site to Google Search Console (optional but helpful)

Analytics:

Add Google Analytics 4 or a privacy-friendly alternative (Plausible) to measure visitors and behavior.

Local & verification:

If you have a business, create a Google Business Profile.

7) Secure, publish, and maintain

Security basics:

Use HTTPS (SSL). Builders and hosts usually include it free.
Use strong passwords + enable 2FA on accounts.
Keep plugins/themes updated (for WordPress).
Back up your site periodically (hosting often offers backups).

Maintenance tasks (monthly):

Check for broken links and 404s
Update content or publish a blog post
Check site speed and compress images if needed
Review security and plugin updates

Costs you can expect (very approximate):

Domain: $10–$20/year
Hosting: $0–$15/month (no-code builders often $12–$30/month)
Optional: premium theme or plugins: $0–$100 one-time or yearly

Extra: Helpful tools & resources

Domain registrars: Namecheap, Google Domains
No-code builders: Wix, Squarespace, Webflow
WordPress hosting: SiteGround, Bluehost, Hostinger
Static hosting: Netlify, Vercel
Images: Unsplash, Pexels, TinyPNG (compress)
Forms & email: FormsBee (if you want waitlist), Mailchimp, ConvertKit
SEO: Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights
Learning: freeCodeCamp, MDN web docs

Quick checklist — 10 things to finish before you announce your site

Domain purchased and connected
Home, About, Contact pages created
Headline + one clear CTA on Home
Images compressed and in place
Email contact form or waitlist installed
SSL enabled (HTTPS)
Titles & meta descriptions set for main pages
Google Analytics or Plausible installed
Site tested on mobile and desktop
Backup scheduled (or export backup)

Final tips for beginners

Start small. Launch with a single page if needed. Improve over time.
Write like you talk. Clear beats clever.
Focus on visitors’ needs: what problem do you solve?
Measure. If nobody visits, adjust your content or promotion.
Ask for help – community forums, Reddit, or ask a friend who’s done it.

Or simply get in touch with me, I’ll help you setup your website.

uxsubash@gmail.com

UX Designer with 10+ years of working experince in the software industry. Feel free to reach out to me. 🤗