From freelance writers to major conglomerates, everybody has their own website. In this online century marketing can reach the most obscure places with the touch of a button. Can you imagine how places like the Vermont Country Store would have managed to advertise to a worldwide audience twenty years ago? Yet now they can receive orders from anywhere in our global village.
So here are some tips to get your own website up and running with the minimum of effort:
1. Web space. You need a web host to store your website on its server. There are many affordable hosts, and you can usually get plenty of storage for just a few dollars a month. A search for web hosting will bring up lots of options. Look for a price within your budget, with a host that is big enough to cope if you get floods of traffic (which is what we all hope for). When you sign up, you can choose a domain name (many hosts include one free for the first year), and then you have your web space.
2. Create the website. Today the easiest options are a website builder, which many hosts include for free, or WordPress, which most hosts can install with one click. Both let you choose a professional design and add your own content without any coding. If you prefer to build pages yourself, you can use a code editor such as Visual Studio Code. Just be aware that less is more. An overcrowded web page can send traffic elsewhere quicker than the blink of an eye.
3. Uploading your website. If you use a website builder or WordPress, your pages are already on the server. If you built your pages yourself, once you have your web space and your finished pages, it’s time to upload them to the server. Typically, this involves logging into your hosting account (you will have been given the details when you signed up). This can be trickier than it sounds. Your web space has a folder structure, and you need to put your content in the right place for it to show. Your host’s control panel should tell you which folder to use. This is your root folder. Place your homepage (the first page you want the public to see) in this folder, and make sure it’s named correctly so the server knows it is the homepage (usually index.html; your host will give instructions). When someone enters your website address in a browser, the homepage is the page the server sends. If the homepage is in the wrong folder, the server won’t find it, and your website won’t load.
4. Images and Data. If your pages include images or other files, they need to be uploaded to the server separately. Your pages only contain links to where those images or files should appear, so the files must be on the server for them to show. It’s common practice to put images and other files in their own folders within your web space, but you must make sure every link points to the correct folder and file. If a link is wrong, visitors will just see a broken image icon. So make sure to preview your pages before you go live.
5. FTP Programs. To upload your content, you can use the file manager in your hosting control panel, but it’s often easier to use an FTP program. There are free ones, such as FileZilla. Use SFTP, the secure version of FTP, if your host supports it. In the program, set the destination folder to the root folder mentioned earlier, and then choose the files you want to upload. If you have image or data files that belong in other folders, change the destination folder for those.
Once all your files are in place, test your domain name by typing it into your browser’s address bar, as you would for any other website, and check that your pages show up correctly. If not, check that your homepage is set up properly. This can be a frustrating process, so if all else fails, most hosts offer live chat support. They can easily guide you through setting up your website correctly. Once your domain name shows the right page, you’re away.
This is just a basic outline of the process, but it will help any budding webmaster get started. Of course, nobody will find your site without a bit of help. Submit your site to the search engines through Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools so they know it exists, and maybe do a bit of advertising if your budget allows. However, these are big subjects that deserve an article of their own.