I’m writing this in response to many questions I’ve had from people including my own friends, models and net surfers about building websites.
The questions are:
- “How can I make my own website?
- “Is there a way to do it myself or do I have to hire someone to make it for me?
- “Do I need to know HTML?”
My experience with web designers is that in general they are way overpriced. They can get away with this because they assume you don’t know any better.
BUILDING A WEBSITE IS NO BIG MYSTERY. So my recommendation is to DO IT YOURSELF.
If you follow the simple instructions on this page you can put up your own basic site within one hour and in a very short time have a fully functional site with graphics, photos, video and other great features including a simple admin which allows you to update it as much as you want, anytime you want. In addition it will cost you a FRACTION of the money it would cost if you hired someone. Not to mention it’s fun, interesting and rewarding to create your own website(s).
In a nutshell, you need 3 elements: a domain name, a server where you will host your site and store all your files and some sort of website building/maintenance program (we’ll be using WordPress). Below I am providing easy links to what I think are the best companies to use for building your site because they are either FREE or INEXPENSIVE and they provide EXCELLENT “GOODIES” AND SUPPORT. The entire cost of the following 3 step process is less than $20.00.
1) Grab Your Domain:
Signup with GoDaddy:
Domain Sale! $7.49 .com at GoDaddy
Get your DOT COM. I recommend at least buying both the .com and .net. All you need Godaddy for is buying your domain name and “pointing” it at Dream Host.
2) Grab Your Hosting:
dream host
Dream Host is literally $8.95 per month for UNLIMITED HOSTING. However, even better is how EASY they make it for you to create your own websites. If not for Dream Host I would not have learned to create my own sites! They have “One Click Installs” in their “Goodies” section which remove the need for you to hire a programmer. On top of that they have unbelievable support including LIVE HELP who will take care of any problem you may have in real time!
3) Set Up Your Site
- In Godaddy: Go to “Domains> Domain Name Registration” – Purchase a Domain.
- In Dream Host: Go to “Domains>Manage Domains> Add a New Domain”
Type in the Domain Name as instructed and select the 1st option: “Leave it alone: Both http://www.example.com/ and http://example.com/ will work”
Scroll down to CAPTCHA and fill in the requested letters and select “Fully Host This Domain”
You will be presented some DNS record numbers that look like this:
“ns1.dreamhost.com, ns2.dreamhost.com, ns3.dreamhost.com” – COPY these DNS numbers.
- In Godaddy: Go to “Domain Manager” Select “Set Nameservers” and “I have specific nameservers for my domains”.
PASTE the 3 nameservers (ns1.dreamhost.com, ns2.dreamhost.com, ns3.dreamhost.com) from Dream Host into the blank fields.
You domain name is now “pointing” at Dream Hosts servers which will allow you to control all the content of your site from DreamHost. Give it a few minutes to setup. (Also, always check your email throughout this process for confirmation emails from Godaddy and Dream Host)
Finally, it’s time to put up a basic Website. Luckily Dream Host makes this super easy for you.
- In Dream Host: Go to “Goodies> One Click Installs
Select your domain name and “Simple Installation”. Await for an email from Dream Host which will provide you with a login and directions for using WordPress as your website manager.
That’s the hard and boring part! From here on it’s easy and fun. All it takes is a little bit of time away from the Television learning basic Word Press to create and manage your new website!
This article has shown the basics of putting up a FREE website. My subsequent articles will include How to Effectively use Word Press, How To Make a Members Area, How to Market Your Site etc. In the meantime if you run into any problems with any of this both Godaddy and Dream Host have unbelievable support and will be happy to help you with any of their products.
After you have completed the above steps – Watch my Video Tutorial on WordPress!
HINT:
If you spend a lot of time at home working on the computer I recommend having 2 monitors if possible. its easier to be organized and keep track of everything you’re doing. If you don’t have 2 monitors, I recommend utilizing windows effectively. Have each window open to a different element of your project. For example.
Window 1 – Shows these instructions
Window 2 – Shows the Dream Host admin
Window 3 – Shows the Godaddy admin
Window 4 – Shows the website you are building
(you could have all 4 of these open as a small window on each area of your screen)
..and so on.
