Writer: Roberto Sanchez
Editor: Lillian Castro
Reviewer: Cristian Lopez
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.
Get Web Hosting With a Free Website Builder
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:
1. Hostinger.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.69
- Drag-and-drop design from custom tools
- FREE access to hundreds of specialized templates
- Built-in eCommerce and payment processing
- Easily switch among widescreen, desktop, tablet, and mobile previews
- Support for 31 languages and 99.9% uptime
- Get started on Hostinger now.
Laura Bernheim
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 25 GB SSD - 100 GB NVMe SSD | FREE (1 year) | 3 minutes |
2. Wix.com
Monthly Starting Price $17.00
- No coding skills needed with drag-and-drop builder
- 100s of templates with niche-specific designs
- Add features via the App Market and Wix Events
- Easily create ecommerce functionality easily
- Great way to build small sites on a budget
- Get started on Wix now.
Alexandra Anderson
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-day FREE trial | 2 GB - Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
3. BoldGrid.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.49
- Fotolia and Flickr image databases
- Pre-built and customizable content with GridBlocks
- Responsive themes with tablet and mobile editing
- Generates clean, efficient, and compliant HTML
- SEO, gallery, and forms plugins
- Get started on BoldGrid now.
Laura Bernheim
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 days | 90 GB SSD - Unlimited SD | FREE (1 year) | 5 minutes |
See other top website builders »
Or Build Your Site With WordPress
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:
4. Hostinger.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.69
- Officially endorsed by WordPress.org
- Managed WordPress hosting & free site migration
- 1-click WP install, PHP 7+, HTTP/2, and LiteSpeed
- All-in-one security protections from BitNinja
- No price markup for WordPress services
- Daily backups, FREE SSL certificates, and AI Tools
- Get started on Hostinger now.
Laura Bernheim
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 25 GB SSD - 200 GB NVMe | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
5. SiteGround.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.99
- WordPress performance optimizations
- FREE migration plugin or automated installation
- Pre-installed Git, 3 caching levels, and FREE CDN
- FREE WP setup wizard, staging, and auto-updates
- Fast, 24/7 support via custom chat system
- Get started on SiteGround now.
Alexandra Anderson
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD - 40 GB SSD | FREE (1 Year) | 6 minutes |
6. DreamHost.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.59
- WordPress hosting for up to unlimited sites
- FREE WordPress website migration
- Fully managed hosting with DreamPress plan
- NEW WordPress website builder tool
- Built-in traffic analytics and business advisor
- Get started on DreamHost now.
Laura Bernheim
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97 days | Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
See other top WordPress hosts »
Choose a Template & Customize
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.
A leading site builder, iPage offers hundreds of mobile-friendly templates.
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.
3. Launch Your New Site
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.
With Tools In Hand — Begin Building!
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.
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