In the past, designing and building a website was something of a black art practiced by web dwellers who understood a strange language called HTML. Today, things are a bit different, with an open market for website builders. So there are a number of options when it comes to building and designing your own website, and the choice you make will largely depend on how much control you want with your site's code behind and how you want to be able to customize it. . Many services prevent you from writing a single line of code entirely, while others offer a hybrid approach. Or if you want to and have mastered coding, you can stick with a more hands-on approach. Let's review all of your options in more detail.
Hosted services
One of the most popular ways to create a website is to use web hosting services. To use this method of website design, you only need your favorite browser and a network connection, as all the design work is done online. Some of the most popular services include: All of these services make website development a point-and-click affair with all major site components available through menus or as elements you simply drag and drop into place. You can often set up your site simply by filling out a form with your information, which is then filled out on your site. This means that website design is fast and efficient when you use these services. However, keep in mind that virtually all of these website builders offer various plans at different prices. The cheapest (and sometimes even free) plan will work for people looking for a simple personal website or online portfolio. But if you want something complex, you'll probably have to sign up for the more expensive plans after carefully exploring the features they offer. In general, we recommend that you start with the cheapest plan and then upgrade as necessary.
Content management systems.
If you already have a blog, you are probably using WordPress. This app has become synonymous with blogging, but WordPress is also a great app for building fully functional websites. To use WordPress as a website builder, you just need to choose a theme that reflects the type of website you want to produce. There are literally thousands of themes to choose from. You can download several from the WordPress site and also from third-party theme retailers like Template Monster and Theme Forest.
Things to consider before proceeding with WordPress
One of the most powerful aspects of using WordPress to design your website is the instant feedback you receive. You can change the theme you are using and see how it will look on a test version of your site. Content can also be developed and then scheduled to be published over time to keep your site fresh. It is important to understand that WordPress creates the pages you have created for your website from a database of components. Just like with images, videos, and the like you might have on your blog, when you use WordPress for a website, the same principle applies to all the page elements contained in a database that you'll need to host. When developing a new website using WordPress as a CMS, there are a number of important issues to consider, including: 1. WordPress is constantly being updated by its developers, which can mean that when you update the version of WordPress you are using, some widgets or plugins may stop working. 2. The hosting of the database that feeds the new website must be robust and reliable. Consider a dedicated server if you're building a website for your business to ensure interruptions and downtime are minimized. 3. When your business thinks about your data backup options, don't forget your website. WordPress can also be your blogging platform, but when it's used as your company's main website system, backing up your WordPress files is vital. 4. Always test a new theme on a test version of your site. New themes may not have a placeholder for the content your site currently displays. Some adjustments to the PHP code with which each page is built may be necessary for the new theme to work as expected. 5. Using WordPress as a CMS can mean multiple users can easily update the content on your site. Make sure your company has a clear policy on these updates to avoid security issues. 6. The user interface is a great advantage of the WordPress platform. The ability to change a page simply by clicking a few buttons, or choosing the right option, makes WordPress a great CMS, especially for small businesses. 7. There are other CMS available. Discover our selection of the best content management systems.
WordPress power
The power of using WordPress as a CMS is the ability to extend and extend the system to precisely deliver the website that you or your business needs. And due to its use as a CMS, WordPress has attracted interest from developers who have created plugins to extend the CMS capabilities of WordPress. The number of plugins that are now available can seem confusing. The best way to approach which plugin you choose is to have a clear design goal for each page. Once you know what each page of your website should contain, you can search for the most suitable plugin. Tools like Visual Composer allow you to take a basic page on your website and create unique content without needing to know any programming languages or have design skills. Of course, WordPress is not the only CMS available. You can also use Joomla or Drupal to create your website. Since they are free to install, you can try these services and see first hand if they have the features you are looking for.
Personal Websites
Unlike a business website, a personal site can be an extensive online CV or just a place where friends and colleagues can find you online. Some of the most comprehensive personal website / branding services include:
About MeBrandYourselfVisualCV
If you have not yet claimed your share of the web, you should try to register your name as a domain as soon as possible. Your ISP may offer a domain registration service. This is essential because you will need a domain to link to your website when it goes live.
Ease of use and design
Whichever way you build your website, it ultimately needs to be attractive, attractive and intuitive to use. If you confuse or frustrate your visitors with the superior design, they just click on another site. There are a number of fundamentals that have emerged over the past decade that you can use when designing a website for yourself or your business: 1. Don't overcomplicate your design. Never confuse or frustrate your visitors with unnecessary design elements. 2. Use flashing banners and other entertainment at a minimum, that is, only to draw attention to short specials or a one-time sale. 3. Always have the same navigation on each page and make sure there is a "home" button on each page. 4. Make sure pages load quickly. Research has shown that eight seconds is the most users will wait, but you should aim for even faster downloads as this number decreases every year. 5. Use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and not tables to design your web pages, as CSS will ensure that your pages load faster. 6. Text must be typed before it can be scanned. Most users search for headings and subheadings before reading the rest of the text on a page. 7. Make it easy to navigate any cart and payment system you use. Irritated users will simply abandon their baskets, which is a lost sale. 8. Always include Alt text on every image. This improves the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) of your site and also ensures that visually impaired people can access your site. 9. Your website should be designed so that anyone can see it. The law states that each site must have a high level of accessibility for everyone, including people with disabilities. 10. Make your site responsive so it loads fast and looks great on a variety of devices with different screen sizes. One of the most important aspects of website design today, whether you're designing for yourself or your business, is making sure your site can be viewed on multiple devices. More people are now viewing content online on their smartphones than on their desktop computers, so making sure your site looks good on smaller screens is essential. The good news is that if you use a template for your website design or a theme for WordPress, for example, most of the themes and templates available today will be responsive, which simply means that the site will adapt to the size of your website. the screen on which it is displayed. .
Manual coding
If you're proficient in HTML and CSS, you can, of course, hand-code your website using nothing more than Notepad on PC or TextEdit on Mac. With so many web design software applications available, some developers still like to mess around. the code. There are also apps that allow a level of visual design, but keep in mind that you may need to view and modify the code of the website: 1. Adobe Dreamweaver 2. Coffee Cup HTML Editor 3. Aptana Studio 3 These apps are Ideal if you have training in website design. However, they offer a level of control that can be quite daunting for anyone who hasn't coded before. And if you're experienced enough to hand-code your website, you can host it from your computer, too. In fact, one of the most popular uses for the Raspberry Pi is as a permanent web server, more than capable of hosting small personal websites. You can follow the Raspberry Pi LAMP server tutorial on the official website of the RaspberryPi project to host a fully functional website powered by WordPress on the small computer. Note however that by default your web server will only serve requests from your local network. If you plan to allow access to your personal web server from anywhere on the Internet, you will need to configure your router with a static IP address and set up port forwarding.
No-frills websites
Creating a website can be a simple and effective task once you have chosen the way you are going to design your site. Hosted services are clearly a convenient way to achieve your goals, and most of the services available today offer sophisticated design elements that you can use. Bloggers who have experience using a CMS should explore how they can use their preferred platform as the basis for their website design. Often this will simply involve choosing a theme that you like or that complements your business. But don't forget the code behind every site on the web. Visual tools are great for hiding code when you're building your site, but knowing the underlying code with which your site is built allows you to quickly resolve problems that often arise. No matter what techniques you use to create a website for yourself or your business, remember that every page is geared toward your audience. Think about what they want to see on your website and offer it with compelling content.