Do you want to create a website? A website can seem daunting, especially if you aren’t tech-savvy. You’re not the only one. We have helped more than 400,000 people create websites with WordPress. Now we are creating the best step-by-step guide to how to make a website, without having to learn how to code.
This guide is for all skill levels and ages. If you have any questions, you can reach out to our team for help.
You can follow our step-by-step guide to create a website if you are not a programmer.
This guide will walk you through each step from start to finish.
- How to choose the best web hosting
- How to install WordPress
- To change the design of your website, install a template
- WordPress Pages
- Add-ons and Extensions for WordPress Customization
- Get support and resources to help you learn WordPress
- You can take it further by building websites that offer more features, such as membership sites, eCommerce stores, and selling online courses.
Let’s first cover the most frequently asked questions before we begin creating a website.
What are the requirements to create a website?
To start a WordPress website, you’ll need these three items.
- Domain name – This is the name of your website, such as domain.com
- WordPress Hosting – This is where you will find all your website files.
- 45 minutes of your total attention.
What does a WordPress website cost you?
This question depends on the type of website you want to build. We have written a 2000 word guide explaining website builders available that will help you set up a website. We recommend using self-hosted WordPress as your website platform.
It is the most used website platform in the entire world. WordPress powers almost 41% of all websites.
WordPress is open-source and free. It comes with thousands of pre-built websites and extensions. It’s extremely flexible and can be used with nearly every third-party service and tool that is available to website owners.
How do you make the most of this tutorial on creating a website?
This tutorial will show you how to create a website step by step. This tutorial has been divided into steps and will walk you through each step from start to finish. Follow the steps and you will have a professional-looking website.
Based on your requirements, we will help you find the best direction to take your site to the next level.
Have fun creating your website.
Let’s get started.
Step 1. Setup
The most common mistake beginners make is selecting the wrong platform. You are fortunate to be here so that you don’t make this mistake.
For most users, a self-hosted WordPress.org site is the perfect solution. You can create almost any type of website with the thousands of themes and add-ons included.
Let’s buy a domain name and host.
First, you’ll need to go to the Bluehost website in a new browser window and click on the green ‘Get Started Now’ button.
You will be taken to a pricing page. Here you can choose your hosting plan. Our users are most familiar with the basic and plus plans.
Click on Select to select the plan you want and then continue to the next step.
Next, you will be asked to choose a new domain.
.com domain is the best option. It should be related to your business, simple to spell and pronounce, and easy for you to remember.
You need help selecting a domain name to host your website.
Click on the Next button after you have chosen your domain name.
You will now be asked for your account information, such as your name, address, and email.
You will also find optional extras you can buy on this screen. These extras are generally not recommended. If you feel you have a need for them, you can always buy them later.
To complete the purchase, you will need to add your payment details.
You will receive an email with instructions on how to log in to your web hosting control panels (cPanel) after you have completed your purchase.
This is where you will manage your hosting account dashboard. This is also where you will install WordPress.
Step 2. Install WordPress
Bluehost installs WordPress automatically on your domain when you sign up. Once you log in to your Bluehost account, you’ll find your WordPress site under ‘My Sites’ tab.
Simply click the button to log into WordPress and you will be taken directly to the WordPress admin section.
Bluehost allows unlimited WordPress installation with all of their hosting plans, except for the ‘Basic” plan.
To get started, simply click the ‘Create Site” button under the ‘My Sites’ tab.
This will launch the Bluehost guided WordPress installation wizard. It will first ask you for a site name and, optionally, a tagline.
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To continue, click on the “Next” button.
The next step is to choose a domain name for your website and a path. You can choose a domain name you already own from the dropdown menu. You can purchase new domain names or add them to your account at any time by visiting the Domains page in the Hosting Dashboard.
After you have chosen your domain name, you may leave the directory path empty and let Bluehost pick it for you. You will be able to install a few plugins from the installer.
To continue, you can click on the “Next” button.
It may take some time for the installer to set up your WordPress website. You will receive a success message with details about your WordPress site.
These details will be sent to you via email. To access your admin area, click the login button for WordPress.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed WordPress on your Bluehost account. It wasn’t difficult, right?
Step 2b. Login to WordPress
What this means is you simply need to log in to your Bluehost account, and then click the Login to WordPress button to get started.
You can also log in to the WordPress dashboard by simply going to yoursite.com/wp-admin/ directly from your browser.
Bluehost accounts can be used to create multiple websites. To create additional websites, simply go to the My Sites section.
You can also see our detailed guide to installing WordPress if you use a different WordPress hosting service such as SiteGround, HostGator, or WP Engine. This guide provides step-by-step instructions for each provider.
After WordPress has been installed, you can customize your website design by choosing a new template and creating new pages.
It wasn’t easy!
Let’s now move to the next step. Choose a design for your site.
Step 3. Select Your Theme
WordPress themes are professionally designed templates that you can use to modify the appearance of your website.
Each WordPress site is pre-loaded with a default theme. Your website will look like this when you visit it:
This isn’t very appealing to most users.
The WordPress admin dashboard allows you to change the theme. Visit Appearance >> Themes. Click on the “Add New” button at the bottom of the page.
The next screen will allow you to search for 8.474 free WordPress templates that are listed in the official WordPress.org themes database. You can sort them by most popular, most recent, featured, and other features (e.g. layout, industry, etc.).
Are you having trouble choosing the right theme? You can find our top picks for premium themes and these amazing free WordPress themes here.
For the sake of this guide, we’ll be using Bento. This is a multipurpose, free WordPress theme that can be used on any type of website.
You can search for the free theme name you are looking for by typing it in the search box.
WordPress will display the theme in search results. Click on the Install button to install the theme.
After you have installed your theme you can modify it by clicking the Customize link in the Appearance menu.
This will launch the theme customizer where you will be able to change your theme settings with a live preview of your website.
It doesn’t take too much time to set up your theme. Once you have content on your site, you will be able to customize it better.
Let’s look at how to add content to your WordPress website.
Step 4. Add Content to Your Site
WordPress defaults to showing your blog posts as the homepage of your website. WordPress can be configured to show any static page on your website as the homepage. We’ll explain how later in this guide.
You can create a separate page for your blog or news section to show your recent posts. You can also create a website with no blog section.
Let’s now add content to our website.
Start by adding pages to your WordPress website. You don’t need to worry if there isn’t enough content available for these pages. They can be edited and updated at any time.
Go to Page >> Add New Page in the WordPress admin area. This will take you to the page editor screen. It will look similar depending on which theme you have.
You will first need to give a title to your page. Let’s call it ‘Home’.
You can then add content to the text editor. You can add text, links, images, embed videos, audio, etc.
Once you have added content to your page click the publish button to make it available on your website.
You could have an about page and contact us page, or a blog page that displays blog posts.
Let’s now add some blog posts.
Go to Posts >> Add New In your WordPress admin area you will see the screen you saw when you added pages.
The visual editor allows you to add a title to your post and then add the content. You’ll also notice some extra options in the sidebar like post formats, categories, and tags.
To save your draft, click on Save or Click on the Post button.
Step 5. Customizing and Tweaking Your Website
Once you’ve created content for your website, you can customize it and present it to your visitors in a professional format.
Let’s begin by creating a static homepage (also called homepage).
Set up a static front page
Visit the Settings >> Reading Your WordPress admin dashboard will display the page. Click on the “Front page displays” option and then choose the “Pages” you previously created for your blog and home pages.
To save your changes, make sure you click the “Save Changes” button at the bottom.
WordPress will now use your homepage page, ‘Home’, as your front page.
Change Site Title and Tagline
During installation, you can choose the title of your site. WordPress automatically adds a tag to your site title. It says “Just another WordPress website”.
You can modify your site’s title or tagline by visiting www.reg.me.Settings >> General Page.
Your website title is the name of your site, such as WPBeginner. Your tag line is usually one line that describes your site.
You can also leave out the tagline field if you wish. WordPress SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO and AIOSEO will override this for better search engine optimization (more later).
To save your settings, don’t forget about clicking the Save Changes button
Configure Comments Settings
WordPress has a built-in comment system that allows users to leave comments about your posts. This feature is great for WordPress user engagement but spammers can also use it.
You will need to allow comment moderation on the website in order to deal with this.
Visit Settings >> Discussions Scroll down to the ‘Before a comment appears’ section. Make sure you check the box next to the ‘Comment must manually approve’ option.
To save your settings, don’t forget about clicking the Save Changes button
Make navigation menus
Your users can navigate to different sections or pages of your website using navigation menus. Your WordPress theme will use this powerful navigation system to display menus.
Let’s add a navigation bar to your website.
You must first visit Appearance >> Menus page. Click on the Create Menu button to enter a name for your navigation menu.
Let’s add a navigation bar to your website.
You must first visit Appearance >> Menus page. Click on the Create Menu button to enter a name for your navigation menu.
Your selected pages will fill the space in your navigation menu. These menu items can be moved up or down to change their positions in the menu.
You will now need to choose a location for your display. Your WordPress theme will define these locations. Most WordPress themes include a primary menu, which is usually located at the top of your website’s header.
To save your navigation menu, click the Save menu button.
To see the menu in action, you can now go to your website.
Step 6. Installing Plugins
WordPress plugins act as apps for your WordPress website. You can add customizations and features to your WordPress website with these plugins. You can think of photo galleries and contact forms.
Click on the Plugins link to install plugins directly from WordPress.
WordPress currently has more than 58,000 plugins for free. Third-party developers and websites can also sell paid plugins.
This is our list of essential plugins you need to install immediately on your website. They are all free.
Need help installing plugins? See our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Step 7. Mastering WordPress
WordPress is easy to use, however it’s also a robust CMS for managing content. From time to time you might find yourself looking for some quick WordPress assistance.
The positive thing is that there’s plenty of free WordPress support options available.
WPBeginner is the most popular WordPress resource site on the internet. The listed resources are available on WPBeginner. They are all totally free.
- WPBeginner Blog – This is where we publish our WordPress tutorials, how-tos, and step-by-step guides.
- WPBeginner Videos – These step-by-step videos will help you learn WordPress FAST.
- WPBeginner on YouTube – Need more video instructions? Subscribe to our YouTube channel, which has more than 245,000 subscribers, and 23 Million plus views.
- WPBeginner Dictionary – The best place for beginners to start and familiarize themselves with the WordPress lingo.
- WPBeginner Blueprint – Check out plugins, tools, and services we use on WPBeginner.
- WPBeginner Deals – Exclusive discounts on WordPress products and services for WPBeginner users.
- WPBeginner Engage Group – Connect with our WordPress experts and other like-minded bloggers/website owners (over 76,000 members).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
We have answered many questions after helping thousands of people to create websites. Here are the answers to some of the most common questions regarding creating a website.
WordPress is the only way to make a website.
There are many other website builders, such as Wix, GoDaddy, and Web.com. We believe WordPress is the easiest and best platform for building a website.
It is supported by industry experts, which is why WordPress has been used on over 41% of websites.
What HTML/CSS skills do I need to be able to customize and create my website?
To build a WordPress website, you don’t have to be proficient in HTML/CSS. You can use one of the many drag & drop WordPress page builder plugins to easily customize your web design.
Do I have to pay a domain fee for my website?
If you decide to build a website with one of their web hosting companies, they may offer a free domain. Bluehost is an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider, and they’re offering WPBeginner users free domain + 60% off hosting if you choose to build your website using their service.
You can register domain names separately at a well-respected domain registrar, and then buy web hosting from SiteGround or WP Engine.
What is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
In our tutorial, we refer to WordPress, the popular self-hosted WordPress.org platform. It is the powerful open-source software you hear so much about.
WordPress.com is a limited blog hosting service. Although they have expanded their offering to include eCommerce and website plans with custom domains recently, they are still much more expensive than other WordPress hosting services such as SiteGround or Bluehost.
Can I change to WordPress.com or another site builder because I accidentally created my website with WordPress.com?
You can switch to WordPress at any time. Many beginners make the error of choosing the wrong website builder, only to find out later that they don’t have the features they require.
We have detailed instructions on how to migrate from other website builders into WordPress. It is important to ensure that your URL structure (permalinks) is transferred seamlessly so that you don’t lose search engine rankings.
This guide will help you create a website without having to hire a web designer. Also, check out our tutorial on creating a professional email address for your business and our comparison of small-business phone services.
