How to Build a Website from Scratch: A Complete Guide

We'll teach you how to build a website from scratch for free or with no coding experience.

You thus decided to sit down and launch a company website immediately, only to learn that it may not be that simple.

We've got you, so don't worry.

It might be difficult to start from scratch when creating a website. However, in this day and age, having a website is essential. Additionally, hiring someone to build the full site could be too expensive for you.

The good news is that you can make everything yourself, or at least the majority of it. When necessary, you may then work with a qualified web developer or designer to add more sophisticated capabilities.

How to build a website from scratch is what we'll look at next.

Select a domain and hosting company

Every website has a hosting location. Hosting refers to the location of the website's files. When users input a website URL into their browser—such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge—the browser contacts the host to download the necessary resources.

Large website hosting includes, for instance:

Hostinger

GoDaddy

Hostgator

Bluehost

Dreamhost

When you sign up for a hosting plan, the host will assist you through the domain registration process.

The domain functions as a website's address outside the front door. It serves as that website's "main" address.

Here are some pointers for selecting a domain name:

Keep it brief.

Make it distinct.

Make it meaningful to what you sell

If you come up with a better concept later, you can always modify the domain. To make sure the old domain successfully reroutes to the new one, you may need to engage a web developer.

Decide on the website's primary objective

The platform you choose to build the website on will be greatly influenced by its main goal.

Static websites

A static website is unchanging and devoid of any extra features. Using HTML and CSS, static webpages are produced.

HyperText Markup Language is known as HTML. It is the literary language used to create every website you see online.

Cascading Style Sheets are known as CSS. This refers to the style details, such as typeface, color, and layout, for any website.

Regular news and content

Use a CMS, such as WordPress or Squarespace, to constantly update the content on your website.

Both platforms have advantages and disadvantages. For a thorough comparison of the two, see our in-depth article on WordPress vs. Squarespace.

But in essence, it is as follows:

In general, Squarespace is simpler to set up, but it is less versatile over time.

WordPress is more work to maintain, but it's quite versatile and has a lot of strong features.

For WordPress, Hostinger offers a "one-click installation" option.

Additionally, compared to static sites, CMSes provide a lot more capability and flexibility.

E-commerce

A platform with e-commerce capabilities is required if you wish to sell products on your website. This feature is available on Squarespace as well as WordPress. While Shopify provides this as too, it is far more limited in other ways than WordPress and Squarespace.

Web app

A website that provides visitors with software-like features is known as a web app. Web applications include things like Midjourney and Google Docs.

These days, even someone without a programming background can design a web application. However, if your web app development project is complex, we advise hiring a web developer.

Design the website

Website development is distinct from website design. Without any prior understanding of HTML, CSS, or coding, you can create a website. Even pen and paper may be used to develop a website.

But coding expertise is necessary to create a website.

Website design is the process of arranging the parts of a website such that they look good and provide a great user experience. Some considerations that site designers should address include:

Branding

Colors

Fonts

Images

Display resolutions

Once the design is complete, a web developer may translate it into the code needed to make it visible on various devices.

Designing a WordPress website

If you opt to utilize WordPress, you'll probably choose a website template for the website's basic layout. WordPress offers more than 10,000 free themes as well as a wide selection of reasonably priced premium themes.

The official WordPress theme repository and independent merchants both provide premium themes.

Designing a Squarespace website

For those without any prior knowledge of website creation, Squarespace was created. The firm offers hundreds of templates that you may edit to create a unique look. You may simply change the colors, fonts, and layouts on Squarespace.

Designing an HTML and CSS website

Various website builders provide various functionalities. Some just let you choose a template and then change the fonts and colors, while others include a drag-and-drop interface. Your choice of website builder will determine this.