Build Your Own Website: 3-Step Guide (Dec. 2023)

Believe it or not, learning how to build your own website is not all that different from constructing your brick-and-mortar store. Assuming you have the capital or investors, you’ll need to lease or buy a space, fill it with inventory, and customize a marketing plan to build your brand.

Creating an online presence is hardly different — and getting started is actually even easier. These days, you can build your own website in just a few minutes for much less money each month. Customizations can be carried out in a few clicks of your mouse, making your site ready for the masses without any hassle at all.

We’ll walk you through the process of how to build your website from scratch, comparing a couple of options you may want to explore.

Best Site Builders | Build with WordPress | Design | Launch

Like renting office space or buying a warehouse for your offline business, the very first step to building a site is paying for its “home” on the internet. Web hosting counts as your lot, while a domain name is your address. Many hosting providers include that latter part for free, including the ones we list below.

If you’re still worried about making your website, pick a host that provides easy-to-use setup wizards, 24/7 support, or additional materials to help you succeed. Let us act as your real estate agent and show you some charming options for hosting companies with easy, online website builders. We tested the top website builders, and here are three of our favorites:

See other top website builders »

Website builders, like the ones we showed you in the previous section, are undoubtedly the most user-friendly way to get online quickly. However, you may become frustrated over time by certain restraints in terms of what you can accomplish. For instance, you’ll be limited to the interface’s specific abilities, and you likely won’t be able to access your own files directly.

We like to recommend WordPress as a site-building alternative. The path to getting started is a bit more challenging at first, but users tend to catch on pretty quickly — and you’ll be able to set your sights much higher. Oh, and did we mention WordPress is free? Mosts hosts make it available as a one-click installation you can access from your hosting account’s control panel. Take a look at the most helpful providers when it comes to WordPress:

See other top WordPress hosts »

You’ve selected a location for your small business website or blog, and now it’s time to paint the walls, add some art, and hang your curtains. With thousands of pre-made themes and templates to choose from, you can customize the look of your site as much or as little as you’d like.

Some website builders use a drag-and-drop interface, where you can move an icon or placeholder onto the screen to signify where you want an image or text to appear.

A souped-up version of the drag-and-drop platform is called WYSIWYG, which stands for What You See Is What You Get. A WYSIWYG site builder will show exactly what your site will look like before you publish, relieving any potential anxiety. Neither editor requires any coding.

A few site builders, including iPage, enable small business owners to create an online store, integrate with payment methods such as PayPal, and access online marketplaces such as eBay or Amazon.

Once your storefront is all stocked and decorated, it’s time to open the doors! Just like you might advertise your business, you need to make sure people know your website is open and ready for visitors. But rather than holding a cheesy ribbon-cutting event, your online grand opening strategy should be all about SEO.

Most of our top site builders will give you at least $100 toward search engine marketing, and some even provide online marketing guides. Pro tip: Look for analytics and SEO tools, as well as social media integration, to make sure you get the most out of your marketing bucks.

Now that we’ve given you the blueprints to successfully starting your personal or business website, start playing around. The most successful site builder is the one that best fits your specific needs, so invest a few hours toward peering in the windows and gauging what will help you the most.

When you’ve mastered drag-and-drop and WYSIWYG site builders, consider scaling up to WordPress. All the hosts we covered here offer 1-click installations of a variety of platforms that might offer even more features and capabilities. Strap on your digital tool belt and get to work — luckily for you, there won’t be any heavy-lifting.

Whatever type of hosting plan you’re looking for, Wix is a solid choice no matter the scale. Our reviewer Alexandra Anderson recently took Wix for a spin, and rated the popular host a 4.9 in the Website Builder Hosting category out of a perfect score of 5.0. Here’s what Alexandra had to say about Wix:

Wix offers one of the quickest and easiest means of getting a website online — free of charge to start. They’ve got a robust feature set that is growing every day as Wix leads in the browser-based web builder niche. While the support is subpar compared to that of the top hosts’ web builders, the customization and ever-growing list of templates is hard to beat.

Before signing up for Wix, it’s a good idea to read through Alexandra‘s full review to learn about all the features Wix offers. You can also compare it to other web hosts to ensure you’re getting the best deal possible:

• Wix’s Full Review
• Wix: 4.9/5.0 vs. Others
• Wix: $0.00/Mo. vs. Others

If you decide Wix is the right choice, keep in mind that it takes just minutes to deploy your Wix server space. And at $0.00 per month, it’s a bargain considering the many great features that come in any Wix plan.