CREATE A WEBSITE

How To Make Your Own Website from Scratch – Free Course

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As a beginner, follow this  detailed guide on ”“How To Make Your Own Website from Scratch ” without any coding / HTML experience. This free course takes you through each and every-step. (Last Updated :- June – 22nd – 2017)

 

REQUIREMENTS FOR MAKING YOUR OWN WEBSITE:


 

  • 1  Web hosting package and Domain name:- Wordpress makes it easier to build a website from scratch. It is very light, 100% free, easy to use and install. However, you will need a domain name and a reliable WordPress hosting service. I recommend Bluehost  –    They provide you with a Free domain name for 1 year, Unlimited disk space, 1 Click WordPress Installation and 24/7 support. = all at $2.95 per month (limited time offer – so act now and grab your offer). 

 

  • 2  Keyword search tool: Your website needs traffic and this can only be archived if you craft your content basing on what people search for in top search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. I use Semrush.com to search for keywords for my websites and their tool is perfect. You can use a free version of Semrush software though it limits you to 15 keywords per day & a few insights about each keyword. I also use Semrush to spy on my competitors. So if you’re planning to create a money making website – this is something you should consider.

 

  • 3  Grammar & Spelling checker:-  Since your website is made up of content – the possibility of making grammar & spelling mistakes is high. You can install Grammarly to Google Chrome or open up a free account with them and use their built-in online software to check spelling and grammar mistakes. Grammarly instantly fixes over 250 types of errors – most of which Microsoft Word can’t find and fix.

 

 

Free Support: I will provide you with free support via email if you fail to implement instructions listed below.   (email me: sales (at) yosaki.com)  Click Here to Get Your Free WordPress Website Setup!

 

Free WordPress Website Setup

 

 

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN WEBSITE FROM SCRATCH?

”Click on the links below to navigate this post easily”

  1. Requirements for making a Website
  2. Choose a Platform For Building Your Website
  3. Choose a Domain Name For Your Website 
  4. Choose a Reliable WordPress Hosting Service
  5. Change Name Servers for a domain name not registered with Bluehost (***optional)
  6. Setting Up Your 1st WordPress Website On Bluehost
  7. Installing WordPress on your new domain name
  8. Choose a free WordPress Theme for your Website
  9. Upgrade to a premium WordPress Theme
  10. How to upload a premium WordPress theme on your domain
  11. How to add content and creating new Pages / Posts
  12. Adding and editing pages
  13. Adding and editing posts
  14. Adding pages to the menu navigation
  15. Change WordPress General Settings
  16. Change Permalink Settings
  17. Change Discussion Settings – Disabling Comments for Posts & Pages
  18. Change Reading Settings – Setting Up a Static Front Page
  19. Install WordPress Plugins
  20. REMOVE rel=”noopener noreferrer” tag
  21. Protect Your WordPress Website From Hackers

 

How to Make Website from Scratch

In detail, let’s go through each of the above mentioned steps and see How to make your own website from scratch.

 

 

CHOOSE A PLATFORM WHERE YOU WILL BUILD YOUR WEBSITE FROM:


 

According to W3 Techs , almost half of websites and blogs on the internet are made with WordPress softwareBluehost.com – has a built-in WordPress installation application on their server which makes it easy to install WordPress on your domain. When you log into your Bluehost account – you will see a WordPress Icon. Click on that Icon and instantly install WordPress on your domain. I will show you how to install WordPress in detail below.

 

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD USE WORDPRESS NOT DRUPAL / JOOMLA?

  1. 100% FREE, ACCOMPANIED WITH LOTS OF FREE PLUG-INS AND THEMES:- Since you’re just beginner, you don’t have to spend too much money on creating that first website from scratch. 
  2. USER FRIENDLY: – As a beginner, you don’t have to go through very complicated steps to create / develop your first website. 
  3. GOOD FOR BOTH BIG AND SMALL SITES:- Right, I can’t predict how small / big your project will be. But there is one thing that I know of WordPress – it can handle all sorts of projects.
  4. MOBILE FRIENDLY:- By default, your website will be responsive – this means that all people using smartphones and tablets will be in position to view your website without any need of scrolling to the sides. 
  5. FREE SUPPORT & DEVELOPER COMMUNITY:- WordPress has a community of developers and webmasters willing to give you support anytime you need it. 

 

 

 

GET A DOMAIN NAME & RELIABLE WORDPRESS HOSTING COMPANY.


 

#GET A DOMAIN NAME:

Go to ->  Bluehost -> Click on Domains – Fill in your domain name -> Click Next:

”NOTE:- Bluehost can give you a free domain name for 1 year if you pay for WordPress hosting for 12 months. So save that $10 by subscribing for a 12 months hosting plan.”

 

WHAT IS A DOMAIN NAME?

It is a network address which shows control of a specific web property. According to Wikipedia – ” it is an identification string that defines authority / control within the internet.”  Domain names are categorized in subordinate levels.

The 1st level is termed as ”Top-Level Domains (TLDs) – such as .com, .info, .net, .edu and .org. The 2nd level of domains is Country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) – such as .us, .uk, .de…….etc….

 

 

#GET A WEB HOSTING PLAN:

Go to – Bluehost -> Hosting -> Shared hosting -> Select a Plan

The Best Web Hosting - Bluehost

[Offer was last updated – June / 21st / 2017]

 

Since you will be using WordPress to build your website from scratch, the best WordPress hosting service is www.Bluehost.com – It is reliable, fast, affordable and secure. Our readers will get a discount for a 12 months subscription, grab your offer now (limited time offer) and start installing WordPress on your domain.

 

All available hosting plans come with a free domain name which you can always renew after that 1 year. WordPress can become heavy if you install lots of plugins that is to why I’m recommending Bluehost. Your website will always load fast no matter how many plugins or images you have uploaded on it.

 

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD HOST YOUR WORDPRESS WEBSITE WITH BLUEHOST:

  •  1-Click WordPress Installation
  • 24/7 in-house support team – ready to help you with anything related to hosting & WordPress. They also have a robust help center which features guides and video tutorials.
  • 30 Days Money-back guarantee
  • $150 in offers – this includes advertising offers from Google, Bing and other top sites. Boost your new website’s traffic with free Google Adwords free credits.

 

Available hosting plans as of June – 20th – 2017 : (these prices / offers are subject to changes with time)

Bluehost pricing

NOTE: *Promotional pricing is for the first term only and regular rates apply upon renewal. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee does not extend to domain names.

  • Basic plan:-  This plan is ideal for small websites of about 5 – 20 pages. It also comes with a free domain name. 
  • Plus plan:- As a website designer who deals with lots of websites, I prefer this plan because of its unmetered storage and bandwidth.
  • Prime plan:- Bluehost recommends this plan because of the extras that come with it at almost no cost. This is what you get when you opt for a Prime Plan: . $80/yr in extras, 1 SpanExpert, 1 Domain privacy , SiteBackup pro, 1 Free domain, Unlimited websites, Unmetered bandwidth, Standard performance, Free SSL Certificate, $200 marketing offers included, Unlimited email storage, and so much more……

 

 

#CHANGING NAME SERVERS FOR A DOMAIN NAME NOT REGISTERED WITH BLUEHOST:

It is possible that you had already registered a domain name with another company which is not Bluehost .

So what you have to do is to change its name servers so that it points to Bluehost. Doing this will enable you install WordPress on your domain through Bluehost.

 

Simply log into your domain registrar’s account and -> go to name servers’’ – replace default name servers with the following:

 

  • Ns1.bluehost (dot) com
  • Ns1.bluehost (dot) com

 

 

Disclosure:- I have included referral codes in Bluehost, Grammarly, & Semrush links. When you purchase a package from any of those three companies, YOSAKI earns a commission and that helps me survive and be in position to publish these free web development courses

 

 

SETTING UP YOUR 1ST WORDPRESS WEBSITE ON BLUEHOST:


 

After registering a domain name and paying for the right hosting package, the next step is to install WordPress on your domain. 

 

# Installing WordPress on Your Domain Name:

 

Bluehost has a ”1-click WordPress installation feature” which enables you to install WordPress on your domain instantly without going through any hassle. But before I go into details and illustrations, here are a few things that you need to do:

  1. Long into your hosting account
  2. Go to the control panel
  3. Find a ”Wordpress Icon” and Click on It
  4. Go to Mojo Marketplace
  5. Select a domain where you want Mojo to install WordPress
  6. Click the ”Install Now Button” and follow instructions.
  7. Once the installation is done, you will be provided with a login link (for example http://www.yourwebsitename.com/wp-login.php ) – go to this link, put in your user name & password and log into your website
  8. Start customizing your website so that it looks beautiful.

 

#1:- Login Into Your Bluehost Account:

login bluehost

‘’This is a screen shoot of Bluehost login page. It is clean and simple; so you won’t have any troubles logging into your account after paying for a desired hosting package for your small business.’’

 

# 2:- Go To Control Panel

#3:- Find a ”Wordpress Icon” and Click on It:

Install WordPress

The icon for WordPress is labeled as ”Wordpress” – now that is what you need to click on to start installing WordPress on your newly registered domain with Bluehost.

 

#4:- Go to Mojo Marketplace 

After clicking the ”Wordpress Icon” in your control panel, You will be taken to Mojo Marketplace. Bluehost uses Mojo Marketplace to install WordPress on your domain name.

 

#5:- Select A Domain Where You Want Mojo To Install WordPress

If you fill the directory section (on the right), the installation will go directly to that folder’’ so leave it empty.

 

#6:- Click The ”Install Now Button” And Follow Instructions.

 After selecting your domain name, click the installation button and watch the progress of the installation.

(If you get any complications at this date, Bluehost support team is live 24/hrs a day 7 days a week so you can contact them for free support.) – But still I can help you out for free (email me at: sales (at) yosaki.com)

 

Once the installation is done, you will be provided with a login link which will look like this www.yourwebsitename.com/wp-login.php – go to this link, put in your user name & password and log into your website.

 

#7:- LOG INTO YOUR WORDPRESS WEBSITE:

How To Make Your Own Website from Scratch

 

 

# Choose a WordPress Theme For Your Website:

 

#1:- Go to Appearance -> Themes

 

#2:– Click Add New 

 

#3:- Choose a free theme from ”Theme Directory” embedded within WordPress

 

#4:- Preview newly installed WordPress theme on your domain name:

At this point – you have successfully installed WordPress on your business domain. If not please contact me at (sales (at) yosaki.com) and I help you out. For those who have succeeded, you’re now seeing a FREE WordPress theme on your domain.

 

 

# UPGRADE TO A PREMIUM WORDPRESS THEME:

 

A premium theme makes your website look professional. A well designed website can easily convert visitors into potential customers so don’t take the look of your website for granted. I always get my premium themes from www.themeforest.net . When you get to their website, search for theme suitable for your industry and opt for a theme which is responsive (it has to fit all devices). 

Choose a Responsive theme

‘’A responsive theme can fit on all devices & computer screens. Website responsiveness helps your website rank well in Google’’

 

 

# How To Upload a Premium WordPress Theme on Your Domain?

 

This is a very simple process. All you have to do is to login into your website. Since you’re new at this, you might not know how to log-into your newly installed WordPress site. Simple, use this link www.yourwebsite.com/wp-login.php  (please replace ‘’yourwebsite’’ text with your domain name) – you will see a login page which looks the one in the screen shoot below.

 

#1 Log into your Website -> Enter your ‘’username’’ & ‘’password’’ (these you get them during the installation process in Mojo Marketplace ) – so keep them safe.

 

After logging into your website, you will see a dashboard – look at the left,

#2:- Click on -> Appearance:

 

#3:- Click on -> Themes:

 

#4:- Click -> Add New

 

As you can see in the screen shoot, we have some free themes from which you can choose from, but non of them will make your website look unique and beautiful. So click on ‘’Add New’’ theme….

 

#5:- Upload your premium theme ‘’the one you bought from www.themeforest.net

 

NOTE: If you don’t want to spend money on premium themes, you can build your website with a free theme. All you have to do is to browse through featured themes or search through wordpress theme directory. Premium themes cost $30 – $50 depending on how beautiful the theme is.

 

#6:- Choose theme file (this is the file you downloaded after purchasing a theme from www.themeforest.net )

 

#7:- Upload and install that premium theme

 

After installing a new theme, your website won’t look exactly as it looks in the theme preview on ThemeForest. You need to customize it so that it looks exactly as it is promoted – We tackle this in my next post on ”How to customize WordPress blog / Website?

 

 

# How Do You Add Content And Create New Pages / Posts?

After installing your theme, the next step is to add content on your website. Briefly, let us go through a few basics:

 

a. Adding and editing pages:

 

Some of the pages that you might want to create include ‘‘Home, Blog, Services and About us Page’’ Log into your WordPress and look at the left sidebar – you will see ”Pages”  – see picture below:

 

Click Pages

 

Click Add New Page : Click on ‘’Add New’’ and start creating your first website page. Follow instructions in the image below

 

Create a Page:

‘’Before publishing your page, make sure you have added a Title tag & Meta description. These two attributes are very important because it is what search engines use when indexing your page.’’

  • Step 1:- Add page title – This title explains the content on the page. Make your titles eye catching and Keyword focused.
  • Step 2:- Add content
  • Step 3:- Add Photos to your content so that it looks beautiful. Make sure you use non-copyrighted images. I always get high quality free images from pixabay.com
  • Step 4:- Add title tag – This is a title of your page that search engines will show to their users when searching for your business – Most search engines use up to 70 characters – so keep your title tag in 70 characters.
  • Step 5:- Add meta description – Content which goes into your meta description is crawled and indexed by search engines – Most search engines use up to 140 characters. So keep meta description data between 120 – 140 words.

 

Example of Yosaki’s posts ”Title tag & Meta description” in Google Search:

‘’I Googled – What is technology yosaki’’ and that is what Google suggested’’

 

  • Step 6: – Add a featured Image. The purpose of this image is to make your page look awesome. This image can still be indexed by Google Images and it can still drive some little traffic to your website.
  • Step 7: – Publish your page

 

 

b. Adding and editing posts:

 

Follow the same process of adding pages to create posts in WordPress. The only difference this time, you will need to create categories for your posts.

 

Click ‘’Add New’’ posts

‘’I will skip all the other steps because they’re the same as adding a page. So use instructions for ‘’ adding a page’’

 

Create a category for your post:

 

 

c. Adding pages to the menu:

You might need your page to be accessible via the navigation menu – this is what you have to do.

 

’Click Appearance’’

 

’Click Menu’’

 

’Create a Menu’’  since this is a new website, chances are high that it does not have any defined menus, so you can to create them before adding any desired page to that menu

 

Select a page you want to add to menu and click ‘’ Add to Menu’’ button

 

Save and publish your menu

 

 

d. WordPress General Settings:

 

Look at the left sidebar in your account. Click on Settings

 

Wordpress General Settings

  • Site Title:- This should be in your business name. It clearly explains what the name of your business is. In my case, I put ”Private Investigators Near Me” because it is the name if the website I’m working on.

 

  • Tagline: – In a few words, explain what your website is about. For example, I’m creating a directory for private investigators in the USA, so in my tagline, I described my site as a ”Directory for Private Investigators”

 

  • WordPress Address (URL): – Enter the URL of your website in this section. For example http://www.yourwebsitename.com

 

  • Email: – WordPress will always contact you when new comments are posted on your site, when it has updated its software. So put in an email address that you always use so that you don’t miss out on any of these notifications.

 

  • Membership: – Unless when you’re creating a website which requires content contributors – don’t tamper with this section. I once clicked it and scammers started using my site for wrong things.

 

 

e. Permalink Settings

 

Opt for ‘’Post name’’

 

You need to customize your website’s URL structure – this can improve your search engine optimization and at the same time improve the aesthetics, usability, and forward-compatibility of your links.  Common URL settings include; Plain, Day and name, Month and name, Numeric, Post name and Custom Structure URL’s. However, the best setting is ”Post name” URL setting – when you select this option, your URLs will look like this – http://www.yourwebsitename.com/post-name/

 

 

f. Discussion Settings – Disabling Comments for Posts & Pages:

 

When you publish your website using WordPress – it will come with a comment section below posts – this enables readers of your content to engage with you. However, spammers use auto commenting robots which abuse this functionality so the best option is to disable all comments or use Disqus commenting plugin like the one I have on Yosaki.

 

Disabling comments:

Click on ”Settings – > Discussion” and then untick ” Allow people to post comments on new articles ”. But you can as well tick Automatically close comments on articles older than 0 days (this will disable comment functionality on all new posts).

 

”Tick Comments should be held for moderation”. You will always find these comments on your dashboard – delete them if they look spammy – and accept only natural comments.

 

 

g. Reading Settings – Setting Up a Static Front Page:

 

After installing WordPress on your domain, your ”Home Page” will look like a blog post and this is not nice for a business / service based website.

 

Go to ‘’Settings -> Reading’’

Untick latest posts – This will stop latest posts from displaying on your home page inform of a blog.

 

Tick static page:- When you tick this section , 2 drop down tabs will appear below the ”A static page” text. Among these drop-downs you will have a ”Front Page & Posts Page” drop down.

 

In the section for a front page, select a page you want to be your home page and in the section for a ”Posts page” select a page where you want all blog posts should be displayed. In my case, I created an empty page and named it ”Blog” so all my posts appear there.

 

 

# Installing Plugins

 

What is a plugin?

A plugin is a an extension that is built to expand WordPress capabilities through adding features and functions to a website.

 

Most essential plugins are available for free and others are for paid for. I have only paid for a plugin once and its function is to backup my site. On Themegrill, Sunita Rai has created a List of 15 Best WordPress Plugins – I suggest you have a look at that list.

 

How to search and install a plugin?  

To search and Install new Plugins

Go to your dashboard, Look at the left side bar in ”Black” – Click ”Plugins” -> Add new

Search for a plugin of your choice and click ‘’Install’’. Once the plugin is installed – click ‘’Activate’’

 

 

List of most essential plugins that I use:

 

  • Yoast SEO This is my favorite SEO plugin – it helps me put Title Tags & Meta descriptions in my posts & pages
  • Akismet Anti-Spam:- Protect your blog from spam. (I have a paid version)
  • Category Tag Pages:- Helps me put categories on pages)
  • Share Buttons by AddThis:- Enable users share your content on social media – it helps in boosting traffic & sales)
  • Disqus Comment System:- The Disqus comment system replaces your WordPress comment system with your comments hosted and powered by Disqus.
  • Google Font Manager: – Adds a library of selected Google Fonts to your WordPress site with a backend font selection and preview system.
  • Google XML Sitemaps: – his plugin will generate a special XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Ask.com to better index your blog.
  • Post Type Switcher:- Easily switch posts to pages or pages to posts)
  • WP Super Cache: – Very fast caching plugin for WordPress) – this is a must have plugin.
  • VaultPress:- Protect your content, themes, plugins, and settings with realtime backup and automated security scanning (this is a premium plugin – not free)
  • Yet Another Related Posts Plugin:- Adds related posts to your site and in RSS feeds, based on a powerful, customizable algorithm.
  • Rel Nofollow Checkbox: – Every time you link to another website, use this plugin because all external links need to have a ”rel nofollow” tag. Read more about this tag on Google’s blog here….
  • WordPress Menufication: – Generates a responsive menu from WordPress menu system or from a custom element. Dependencies: jQuery.

 

 

# REMOVING rel=”noopener noreferrer” tag FROM WORDPRESS?

 

Up to this point, I don’t know what your wordpress site will be about. But those who want to start affiliate marketing, I highly recommend you to remove rel=’’noopener norefferrer’’ tag from your source code because it will make you lose money after going through the hassle of creating a website and monetizing it. The ‘’norefferrer’’ tag discredits your affiliate links . As a beginner – you have to know about this code because all latest WordPress installations come with this code.

 

STEPS ON HOW TO REMOVE rel=”noopener noreferrer” tag

 

Step 1:

Go to your theme’s ‘‘function.php” file and back up content in that file before making any updates. All you have to do is to copy the code and paste in a note pad.  Once that is done; put the code below at the the bottom of your ”functions.php” code.  See illutsrations below:

 

Code:

 

// Note that this intentionally disables a tinyMCE security feature.

// Use of this code is NOT recommended.

add_filter(‘tiny_mce_before_init’,’tinymce_allow_unsafe_link_target’);

function tinymce_allow_unsafe_link_target( $mceInit ) {

$mceInit[‘allow_unsafe_link_target’]=true;

return $mceInit;

}

 

Locating Functions.php of your theme:

Go to Appearance -> Editor

 

Click ‘’Theme function’’

Now that you have opened your Theme Functions (functions.php) – Scroll to the bottom and paste the code below the last code.

 

Click ‘’Update file’’

Please note – My theme Functions.php code might differ from yours because we all use different themes. But copy and paste the code at the end of the code. (Don’t forget to backup your Functions.php code in a note pad – because if things fail to work out, you can easily paste it back.)

 

After updating your file, all external links that go out of your site with a ”rel-nofollow target=”_blank ” attribute won’t have rel=”noopener noreferrer” code – so all your affiliate earnings will be credited.

 

 

 #PROTECTING YOUR WORDPRESS WEBSITE FROM HACKERS:

 

I use Jetpack to automatically backup content on Yosaki and it is very effective. When it comes to online business, no one is safe so protecting and backing up your website is a must. It hurts not to take action when you knew what to do from day 1; I don’t know when your website will be hacked but chances are high that it will be hacked so don’t play innocent – back-it up automatically and protect it from hackers with Jetpack.

Get protection from

  • Hackers
  • Host failure
  • Viruses
  • User error
  • Malware
  • Exploits

This service is provided by WordPress.com – so they know what they’re doing.

 

CONCLUSION:

Hope this guide has helped you, if yes, please forward it to a friend and help them make their own websites from scratch without wasting too much money. I’m not an experienced website designer but I have created and sold lots of websites online.

Philip Yiga

 

QUESTIONS / HELP:

For any questions on ”How to make your own website from scratch” using WordPress, email me at ‘’sales (at) yosaki.com’’ – I will be glad to help you out through the whole process for free….

 

FURTHER READING:

Vanilla Farmer, Amazon Retailer & Tech Researcher. Yosaki is my personal blog but I'm working on some big tech project back doors. I will keep on posting various topics on things I have knowledge about.

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