When you need answers to a question, want to find decor ideas for your new apartment, or want to know the cost of an iPhone, what's the first thing you do? 

You likely take out your phone and quickly search online. You may find what you're looking for—or not—but the point is that the information you're seeing is hosted on someone's website.

Websites act as virtual shops where people can learn about what you offer, buy products, and get in touch with you. Running a business involves constantly looking for ways to improve, grow, and make more money, and having a good website is an important part of that.

If you're reading this, you've probably decided to create your own website or are considering doing so. In this article, we’ll explain how to create a professional website that meets your needs.

How To Create a Website

1.  Make a plan 

Before diving into the technical aspects of building a website, it's best to spend time planning. This stage lays the foundation for the entire website development process and ensures that your website aligns with your business objectives and target audience.

Define your website's purpose and goals 

The first step in planning your business website is to clearly define its purpose and objectives. Ask yourself: What do I want to achieve with this website?

Are you looking to showcase your products or services, generate leads, drive online sales, or provide information to your customers?

Identifying your website's primary purpose will help guide your decisions throughout the development process and ensure that it effectively serves its intended function.

In addition to defining your website's purpose, it's essential to establish specific, measurable goals that you hope to achieve. Whether it's getting traffic to your business, improving conversions from clients, or enhancing brand awareness, setting clear goals will help you measure your website's performance and evaluate its success.

Identify your target audience

A target audience is the specific group of people that your product, service, or message is intended for or aimed at. So understanding your target audience is crucial to building a website that actually helps your business.

This requires you to research and analyze who you're looking to reach, as well as their demographics, preferences, behaviors, and pain points.

To do this, create user personas or profiles that represent your ideal customers, detailing their demographics, interests, goals, and challenges.

These personas will serve as valuable references throughout your website development process, helping you tailor your website content, design, and functionality to meet your audience's needs.

Research competitors' websites 

This step is particularly useful if you're not sure where or how to start. Analyzing your competitors' websites gives you inspiration for your own website; a clear idea of what works, and a picture of what you're trying to build.

Take the time to explore your competitors' websites, paying attention to their design, content, functionality, and user experience.

Identify aspects of your competitors' websites that you admire or find effective and areas where you believe you can innovate and surpass them.

Thorough competitor research helps you get a better understanding of industry trends, identify gaps or opportunities in the market, and exploit them with your own website.

Determine the features and functionalities required 

Once you have clarified your website's purpose, identified your target audience, and researched your competitors, it's time to determine the specific features and functionalities your website will require - functionalities mean the functions your website can carry out.

Consider the needs and preferences of your target audience and the goals you hope to achieve with your website.

Common features and functionalities to consider include:

• User-friendly navigation: Ensure visitors can easily navigate your website and find the information they want.

• Mobile responsiveness: Optimize your website to provide a seamless experience across devices, including smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.

• Contact forms: Include forms that allow visitors to contact you easily, request information, or submit inquiries.

• E-commerce capabilities: If you plan to sell products or services online, choose an e-commerce platform that meets your needs and integrates seamlessly with your website.

• Third-party tools: Third-party integrations such as SEO tools, social media integration, email marketing platforms, payment gateways, etc. can enhance your website’s functionality and user experience. Simply put, they make life easier.

• Analytics: Implement tools such as Google Analytics to monitor website traffic, track user behavior, and measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

By carefully considering the essential features and functionalities for your website, you can ensure that it effectively serves its intended purpose and provides value to your target audience. This wraps up the planning phase and lays the groundwork for the rest of website development.

2. Choose a domain name and hosting provider

Once you have outlined your website's purpose, goals, and features, the next step is to secure a domain name and choose a reliable web hosting provider.

Your domain name is your website's address on the Internet, or the URL a visitor types in to find your website. It is an essential aspect of your online identity and plays a significant role in shaping your brand's image and visibility. Web hosting is the service that allows your website to be accessible online.  

When choosing a domain name for your business website, aim for a name that's memorable, relevant to your brand, and easy to spell and pronounce. We'll spell that out again.

• Easy to remember
• Easy to type
• Easy to pronounce
• Relevant to your brand

Consider incorporating your business name or primary keywords related to your products or services into your domain name to make it easy for visitors to identify and remember your website. Avoid using hyphens, numbers, or overly complex spellings that could confuse or frustrate users.

We're saying that you do not want a domain name that says "Mrmoneywiththevibe-sales.com." It is unappealing and difficult to remember or type. It's best that your domain name stays between 8 and 12 characters, e.g., "hivedeck.com."

Before finalizing your domain name, conduct a thorough search to ensure it is available and not already registered by another entity. Also, make sure there are no bigger brands already using a similar domain name, as this could overshadow you in the competitive spaces, even if their business is not similar to yours.

Many domain registration services are available online, allowing you to search for and purchase available domain names for your website.

After choosing a domain name, you'll need to choose a web hosting provider to host your website's files and make them accessible to visitors on the internet. When selecting a web hosting provider, prioritize reliability, performance, security, and customer support.

Compare different hosting providers and plans to find the best fit for your business needs and budget. Consider factors such as pricing, features, scalability, and customer reviews when deciding.

Many web hosting providers offer domain registration services as part of their hosting packages, allowing you to conveniently purchase both domains and hosting services from the same provider.

When purchasing domain and hosting services, carefully review the terms and pricing to ensure you understand the costs involved and any additional features or services included in your package. Consider opting for a longer-term hosting plan to take advantage of discounted rates and avoid the hassle of frequently renewing your hosting services.

Typically, hosting costs between $2 and $250, depending on the capacity of the service. With a free website builder platform like Hivedeck, however, you get free web hosting that lets you start your website with no upfront fees.

This free hosting means your domain name will have a "hivedeck.com" suffix, which can be changed whenever you feel ready to get your own hosting. You can purchase a domain yourself or get help from Hivedeck to buy and integrate a hosting plan into your website.

After purchasing, you'll receive confirmation emails containing your domain registration details and hosting.

Some popular Hosting providers include:

• Bluehost
• Hostinger
• Siteground
• Ionos
• Godaddy
• Dreamhost

3. Select a website builder or hire a web developer

Once you have completed the planning phase and secured your domain and hosting choice, the next step is to design and develop your business website. This next step starts at a cross roads. To code or not to code.

Safe to assume you want to create your website for your business rather than embark on a web development bootcamp. This means to build your website, you either choose to hire a developer or choose a website builder.

A developer will create your site by coding web pages using multiple programming languages, upload them to a web server and publish them. It takes around 3 months to complete a traditional website development project. You'd likely also have to pay for web design as well to create an appealing user interface.

Or you can use the now more popular option of website builders.

A website builder is a tool or platform that helps you create your own website without needing to know how to code, or design it from scratch. Site builders represent the future of development, which is low to no code, making things as easy as ever.

Choosing a website builder is however, a critical choice because it determines the quality of your website. So you have to consider factors such as ease of use, available features, template selection, pricing plans, customer support and how they fit into your budget.

One option that ticks all of these boxes is Hivedeck's free website builder:

• Easy to Use: You want a website builder that's simple to use. Hivedeck makes it easy with tools you can understand even if you're not a tech expert. With customizable templates, you can easily create your website without writing a single line of code.

• Design Options: Your website should look unique and match your brand. Site builders offer pre-designed templates which are layouts, or designs that you can use to create your own website without designing everything from the beginning. you to adjust colors, fonts, and layout elements.

• Features: Your website should do more than just sit there. Hivedeck gives you all the business tools you need to run an online store or a blog. You should be able to process orders, sell online, create contact forms, publish articles, etc.

• Affordability: Money matters, especially for small businesses. Website builders are more cost-effective than hiring a professional web developers. Website builders offer affordable pricing plans with no upfront fees, ideal for businesses on limited budgets. Hivedeck is totally free, so you can get your website running without spending a dime.

• Customer Support: Truth be told, you're a business owner and the whole point of getting a website is to make your life easier. Sometimes you might still need a hand figuring things out. Hivedeck has an active team ready to answer your questions and help you, from solving the littlest assistance like providing details to creating your entire website.

• Security: In short, picking the right website builder means finding one that's easy to use, gives you lots of design options, has the features you need, won't cost you anything, and offers good customer support.

• No maintenance required: Website builders handle the technical aspects of website maintenance, such as hosting, security, and updates, site speed allowing you to focus on running your business.

• Scalability: As your business grows, you can easily scale your website to accommodate your changing needs. Most website builders offer scalable hosting plans and additional features and integrations that you can add as your business expands.

However, if you require a unique or highly customized design for your website, hiring a professional web designer may be the best option.

4. Customize your website 

Sign up for an account with your chosen website builder platform and select a template that matches your business niche, style, and branding. Most website builders offer a range of professionally designed templates to choose from.

Whether you choose a website template or opt for a custom design, it's essential to customize the visual elements of your website to align with your branding guidelines. Consistent branding helps reinforce your brand identity and creates a cohesive experience for visitors across all touchpoints.

Key elements to customize include:

• Logo and color scheme: Incorporate your company logo and brand colors throughout your website to reinforce brand recognition and visual consistency.

• Typography: Choose fonts that reflect your brand's personality and are easy to read across different devices and screen sizes.

• Imagery and graphics: Use high-quality images and graphics that resonate with your target audience and visually represent your products or services.

• Layout and navigation: Design a user-friendly layout and navigation structure that makes it easy for visitors to find the information they're looking for and navigate your website seamlessly.

By customizing the design elements of your website to align with your branding guidelines, you can create a memorable and impactful online presence that leaves a positive impression on visitors and reinforces your brand identity.

Identify necessary functionalities 

In addition to the visual design of your website, it's crucial to develop the necessary functionalities that enable visitors to interact with your site effectively. Depending on your business goals and target audience, you may need to incorporate various features and capabilities into your website.

Common functionalities to consider include:

• Contact forms: Include contact forms on your website to allow visitors to reach out to you easily with inquiries or feedback. Ensure that contact forms are user-friendly, secure, and integrate seamlessly with your email or CRM system.

• E-commerce capabilities: If you plan to sell products or services online, implement an e-commerce solution that enables secure transactions, product catalog management, inventory tracking, and order processing. Choose an e-commerce platform that aligns with your business requirements and integrates seamlessly with your website.

• Content management: Set up a content management system that allows you to create, edit, and publish content on your website efficiently. Organize your content into relevant categories and tags to improve navigation and usability for visitors.

• Social media integration: Integrate social media buttons and sharing options into your website to encourage visitors to engage with your content and connect with your brand on social platforms. Enable seamless sharing of your website content on popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

• Search engine optimization (SEO): Implement SEO best practices throughout your website to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results. Optimize page titles, meta descriptions, headings, and image alt tags to make your website more discoverable to search engines and attract organic traffic.

5.  Create Compelling and Relevant Website Content 

Create Pages

Once you've designed and developed the visual layout and functionality of your website, the next step is to create compelling and relevant content that communicates your brand message and engages your target audience.

Content is king in the online world, and to convey your message, your website needs pages.  

A website page is a hypertext document that displays graphic information on your website. It is a customized template that has been published on your site.

Too complex? Let's try that again.

In more simple terms, any part of your website that displays content is essentially a page. Pages usually include Home, About, Contact, and Product/Service pages.

With website builders, you can tweak and customize your website all you want, layout, text, colors, fonts, images and animations to create a unique and professional-looking website you have in mind.

The pages on your website should have content informing and engaging visitors, guiding them through the customer journey, and encouraging them to take desired actions. When creating content for your business website, aim to provide value to your audience by offering useful information, solving their problems, and addressing their needs and concerns.

Use clear and concise language, avoid jargon or technical terms, and incorporate keywords relevant to your industry and target audience.

In addition to creating compelling content, it's essential to include essential pages on your website that provide visitors with the information they need to learn more about your business, products, and services.

If you need assistance creating content for your website, you can learn to use AI or contact our customer support for professional content and copywriting services.

Essential pages to include on your website include:

• Homepage: Craft a captivating homepage that introduces your brand, highlights your unique selling propositions, and directs visitors to key sections of your website.

• About Us: Share your company's story, mission, values, and team members to humanize your brand and build trust with visitors. This helps visitors understand who you are and what you stand for.

• Products/Services: Showcase your products or services in detail, including descriptions, specifications, pricing information, along with compelling images or videos that showcase their features and benefits to help visitors make informed purchasing decisions.

• Contact: Make it easy for visitors to get in touch with you by including contact information, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses, as well as a contact form for inquiries or messages.

• Blog: Maintain a blog on your website to share informative articles, industry insights, how-to guides, case studies, and other relevant content that demonstrates your expertise and provides value to your audience.

• FAQs: Anticipate common questions and concerns that visitors may have and provide answers to them on a dedicated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page to help streamline the decision-making process and alleviate any doubts or uncertainties.

• Testimonials: Feature testimonials, reviews, or case studies from satisfied customers to build trust and credibility for your brand and demonstrate the value of your products or services.

By including essential pages on your website, you can provide visitors with a comprehensive overview of your business offerings, address their questions and concerns, and guide them towards taking desired actions such as making a purchase or contacting you for more information.

Optimize Content for Search Engines (SEO) 

It's not enough to create great content—you also need to ensure that it's optimized for search engines to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website's content, structure, and performance to increase its organic (non-paid) visibility in search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Here are some key strategies for optimizing your website content for search engines:

• Keyword Research: Start by conducting keyword research to identify the terms and phrases that your target audience is searching for online. Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to discover relevant keywords with high search volume and low competition.

• On-Page Optimization: Once you've identified your target keywords, incorporate them strategically into your website's content, including headings, titles, meta descriptions, and body copy. Aim to use keywords naturally and avoid keyword stuffing, as this can negatively impact user experience and lead to penalties from search engines.

• High-Quality Content: Create high-quality, informative content that addresses the needs, interests, and pain points of your target audience. Aim to provide value and answer users' queries comprehensively, and use engaging visuals, such as images, infographics, and videos, to enhance the user experience.

• Mobile Optimization: With the increasing use of mobile devices for internet browsing, it's essential to ensure that your website is optimized for mobile users. Use responsive design techniques to ensure that your website displays correctly and functions seamlessly across devices of all sizes.

• Page Speed: Page speed is a crucial ranking factor for search engines, as users tend to abandon websites that take too long to load. Optimize your website's performance by minimizing page load times, optimizing images, using caching techniques, and leveraging content delivery networks (CDNs) to deliver content efficiently.

• User Experience (UX): Focus on providing a positive user experience for visitors to your website by ensuring intuitive navigation, clear calls-to-action (CTAs), and fast-loading pages. Use descriptive and user-friendly URLs, optimize internal linking, and structure your content logically to enhance usability and accessibility.

• Meta Tags and Schema Markup: Optimize your website's meta tags, including title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags, to provide search engines with relevant information about your content. Additionally, consider implementing schema markup to provide search engines with structured data that enhances the visibility and presentation of your content in search results.

• Local SEO: If your business serves a local audience, optimize your website for local search by including location-specific keywords, creating a Google My Business profile, and obtaining citations from local directories and review sites. Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews and testimonials to boost your local credibility and visibility.

6.  Publish your website

After carefully planning, developing, designing and refining your website, it's time to prepare for its grand debut. Launching your website involves more than just making it live—it's about ensuring that everything is in place for a successful rollout and seamless user experience.

Here's a comprehensive guide to help you navigate the launch process:

Set up Website Analytics 

Before launching your website, it's essential to set up website analytics to track its performance, monitor visitor behavior, and gain valuable insights into user interactions. Google Analytics is a popular and powerful tool that provides in-depth data on website traffic, user demographics, acquisition channels, and more.

To set up Google Analytics for your website, follow these steps:

• Sign up for a Google Analytics account or log in to your existing account.
• Create a new property for your website and obtain a tracking ID.
• Install the Google Analytics tracking code on your website by adding it to the <head> section of your web pages.
• Verify that the tracking code is working correctly by visiting your website and checking for data in Google Analytics reports.

Once Google Analytics is set up, you can start tracking key metrics such as website traffic, page views, bounce rate, average session duration, and conversion rates. Use these insights to identify areas for improvement, refine your marketing strategies, and optimize your website for better performance.

Submit Website to Search Engines 

To ensure that your website is indexed and appears in search engine results, it's important to submit it to major search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

While search engines will eventually discover and index your website on their own, submitting it manually can expedite the process and improve its visibility in search results.

To submit your website to search engines, follow these steps:

Create a sitemap for your website that lists all its pages and URLs.

• Submit your sitemap to search engines using their respective webmaster tools or search console platforms.
• Monitor the indexing status of your website in the webmaster tools dashboard and address any crawl errors or issues that may arise.

By submitting your website to search engines, you can ensure that it is crawled and indexed promptly, allowing potential visitors to find it through organic search queries.

7. Promote and market your website

Once your website is live and accessible to the public, it's time to announce its launch and celebrate this milestone with your audience. Effective communication and promotion are key to generating excitement, driving traffic, and maximizing the impact of your website launch.

Consider the following strategies to announce your website launch:

• Email Marketing: Send out an email announcement to your existing customers, subscribers, and contacts to inform them about your new website and encourage them to visit and explore its features.

• Social Media Promotion: Share posts on your social media channels announcing the launch of your website, accompanied by engaging visuals, videos, or sneak peeks of its key features.

• Press Release: Write and distribute a press release announcing the launch of your website to relevant media outlets, industry publications, and online news platforms to gain exposure and attract attention from potential customers and stakeholders.

• Website Banner or Popup: Add a prominent banner or popup message on your old website (if applicable) or landing page announcing the launch of your new website and directing visitors to explore it further.

• Blog Post or Announcement Page: Publish a blog post or create a dedicated announcement page on your website detailing the features, benefits, and highlights of your new website, along with a call-to-action (CTA) prompting visitors to visit and explore it further.

• Paid Advertising: Consider running targeted paid advertising campaigns on platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or LinkedIn Ads to promote your website launch and reach a wider audience.

• Search engine optimization: Implement effective SEO strategies to improve your website's visibility in search engine results and attract organic traffic.

With these strategies, you can create buzz, generate excitement, and drive traffic and attention to your website.

8. Monitor Website Performance Post-Launch 

After launching your website, the work doesn't stop there—it's crucial to monitor its performance closely and make adjustments as needed to ensure its continued success.

Regular monitoring and analysis of key performance metrics will help you identify areas for improvement, track progress towards your goals, and make informed decisions to optimize your website for better results.

Key performance metrics to monitor post-launch include:

• Website Traffic: Track the volume and sources of website traffic to understand how visitors are finding and accessing your website. Monitor metrics such as total visits, unique visitors, and traffic sources (organic search, direct, referral, social, etc.).

• Engagement Metrics: Measure user engagement on your website by analyzing metrics such as page views, average session duration, bounce rate, and conversion rates. Identify high-performing pages and content, as well as areas for improvement or optimization.

• Conversion Rates: Monitor conversion rates for key actions or goals on your website, such as form submissions, email sign-ups, product purchases, or downloads. Analyze conversion funnels to identify bottlenecks or areas where visitors may be dropping off before completing desired actions.

• SEO Performance: Keep track of your website's search engine optimization (SEO) performance by monitoring rankings, organic traffic, and keyword visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). Use tools like Google Search Console, SEMrush, or Moz to track keyword rankingand identify opportunities for optimization.

• Technical Performance: Regularly check your website for technical issues, errors, or performance issues that may affect user experience or search engine visibility. Monitor website speed, uptime/downtime, mobile-friendliness, and crawl errors to ensure that your website is running smoothly and efficiently.

With Hivedeck, you can create all kinds of websites for your businesses . You have the option to do this yourself or let our ever available customer support team assist you every step of the way.