If you are looking to start an online project, you surely want to know how to create a successful and professional website in the fastest and easiest way possible. Having a successful planning will facilitate this process and will help you make better decisions.
When asked ““, it is worth mentioning that its exact definition refers to an electronic document (which may contain text, video, sound, programs, links, images and hyperlinks), adapted for the World Wide Web and accessed through a browser, as long as you have an active internet connection.
With today’s technology it’s getting easier to make a site with everything you need to be successful. In this guide we tell you in detail how to create a web page, step by step and with the best tools.
Clever? Let’s do it!
How to create a website step by step
Whether you want to create a website to gain visibility in the online world or to increase business sales, these are the steps you have to follow:
1. Define an idea
Before starting any project, it is essential to think of a structure that allows each of the actions to be planned in accordance with the objectives set.
It is time to ask questions. What are you looking for with this new page? Write and publish original content on some subject? Showcase your work and sell your services? Provide information about an institution? Start selling online?
Depending on the answer, you will be able to define yourself between a , a , a portfolio, an informative website (events, business, institutional, news) or a . And, from there, look for inspiration and continue with the next steps.
2. Have a domain
The domain is a unique name through which your potential customers access your site. Specifically, it is the url that you enter in the browser.
For example, in Tiendanube we provide you with a domain of the type www.nameofyourbusiness.mystorenube.com for your store.
If you want to have your own domain (for example, www.nameofyourbusiness.com) you can register it and associate it with your Tiendanube. Below we tell you how to do it.
There are thousands of domains on the Internet and they all have different extensions: .info, .gob, .ar or .net, among others. The most common for commercial sites are those that end in .com.ar or .com.
- .com.ar: This is an exclusive local domain for sites in Argentina. It is processed in NIC.AR (National Directorate of Internet Domain Registration) and has an annual cost in Argentine pesos.
This means that, once registered, every year you will have to renew it to keep it. Its cost is cheaper than the domain.com. Here we tell you - .com: this domain is international and, therefore, its cost is in dollars. You can manage it through foreign hosting providers such as Hostgator, GoDaddy or Domain.com (the minimum contract is 1 year).
When you contract the hosting service (we will explain what it is below) together with the domain, these companies also usually offer special “packages”: we recommend you analyze the proposals of each one.
Finally, remember that Tiendanube only hosts domains ending in .com.ar or .com.co on its servers. So, if you have a domain with another extension, you will need to hire your own hosting service and link it to your store. We invite you to see some.
Do you want to create a domain in NIC Argentina?
Article
3. Have a hosting
It is the place where your website is hosted. It is made up of servers that store all the contents of the page so that it can be displayed (html files, images, videos, etc.).
Some platforms offer you the hosting service included in their plans. In other cases, you have to hire it on your own. There are services from and also abroad (such as those mentioned in the previous point), so it is usual that their cost is in dollars.
When hiring a hosting it is very important that the provider can ensure stability and security on the site. Nobody wants their page to be vulnerable to some kind of external attack or to stop being online.
Especially at times when you know that you are going to receive more traffic and they are key to your business, such as or , we recommend you pay special attention to it.
4. Choose a platform
Although it is also possible for a programmer to develop the website from scratch, the most common is to use a CMS (content management system) that offers customizable options from scratch or easily modify them when necessary.
The particularity of this type of system is that they launch a website in the fastest and most practical way possible.
In addition, they allow you to manage dynamic content (which needs constant updating) in a simple way and without the need for further technical knowledge.
There are dozens of platforms available on the market, offering various alternatives for creating all kinds of pages.
Depending on the objectives that have been established at the beginning (create a blog, an events website, an online store, a portfolio or a landing), the next step is to choose the platform that has the best features to develop the project.
Platforms to create a website
There are various CMS according to their uses and characteristics:
- Web Content Management (WCM),
- Learning Management Systems (LMS),
- Enterprise Content Management (ECM),
- Digital Asset Management (DAM),
- with focus on forums,
- with a focus on e-commerce and
- with focus on Wikis.
But, in general terms, the most used are those to create content sites (such as blogs) and online stores.
In the first case, some prominent platforms to create content websites are:
For online stores, the main ones are:
5. Establish a structure
Although there are single-page websites, most are made up of several that allow you to display different types of content in an organized way.
According to the information you want to share with the visitors of your website, the structure can change. However, some are almost essential regardless of the purpose of the site. We share some of the most common:
- Home Page: with the most relevant information on the site.
- Page of : a space to share the history of the brand.
- Products Page (in virtual stores): it is the display window with the products and their description.
- Contact page: with the data so that visitors can communicate if a problem occurs.
- Frequently Asked Questions Page: a space to answer the most consulted questions from customers.
Here we tell you more:
Article
6. Define the layout
Web design is all the visual elements that allow visitors to connect with what they see on the site, either because it obeys an attractive visual aesthetic or because it reaffirms an existing one.
Among the web elements, colors and typography stand out.
For colors, the ideal is to choose a palette that corresponds to the emotions that are sought to be transmitted according to the objectives of the web page.
If you are interested in this topic, you can read:
Article
The same happens with typographic fonts, they must be legible, consistent with the brand identity and create a visual impact for web visitors. Some useful tools for this task are and .
Another fundamental aspect of design, considering that more and more users access web pages from their cell phones, is that the web be responsive.
This type of design creates adaptable pages for a correct visualization of the contents in all types of devices.
Know more:
Article
7. Create the content
In the digital environment, content is key to capture and maintain the attention of users and even to get new visitors to find you. Succeed in the digital universe with quality, interesting, well-written and optimized texts.
Some tips that can be useful when thinking about the content of your website:
- Think of a strategy. You have to think about what you want to achieve with the contents of your page, who you are targeting and what actions are necessary to achieve your goals.
- Keep the web updated. It is important to establish a publication frequency, especially in the case of blogs.
- Make the text easier to read. Make the content more dynamic with multimedia resources (videos, audios, images), divide the content into sections (subtitles) and present it in different formats (lists, tables, infographics).
I discovered how to write the best content:
Article
8. Add tools
Website creation platforms offer a wide range of tools to integrate with pages.
All this with the aim of maximizing the options and functionalities of the web, so that it is as complete as possible both for its visitors and for those who manage it.
These integrations will depend on the type of website and its objectives. After defining them, you will be able to choose between different widgets to achieve a more personalized website adapted to your project.
There are a wide variety of tools that you can incorporate into web pages:
- apps to integrate social networks,
- reviews,
- chat,
- accountants,
- forms,
- players,
- slider,
- viewers and
- galleries.
There are also many specially designed for e-commerce such as payment and shipping gateways. Look at Tiendanube!
9. Review and publish the site
Before the site is online, it is essential to make a final review to check that everything works correctly.
What to consider before publishing your website?
- That the texts are complete and without spelling errors.
- That the website is functional and easy to navigate.
- That the photos are optimized and do not slow down the .
- That internal and external links do not produce 404 errors.
- That the forms are sent accordingly.
- That the mobile version of the site is read correctly on all devices and browsers.
10. Monitor, analyze and improve
To be successful with your website, the process does not end with its publication. Multiple versions may be required before the site works as expected.
This is why it is so important to have monitoring tools that allow you to analyze the results of the site and think about possible improvements.
These services provide data and statistics on the behavior of users on a website, which help define which aspects can be modified to achieve the objectives.
Here are three tools that can help you collect important information about your website:
- : measures the impact of the site, allows…
Facebook Comments
Disqus