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A Quick and Easy Way to Set Up a Website for the Price of a Night Out

We have tons of thoughts that deluge in our mind about degenerate political environment in our country.

One day, you wake up and looking at your disheveled hair in the mirror contemplate to start a blog to pen your thoughts and reach the world – a blog for political badinage and persiflage.

You could be someone who went through flings but nothing seemed to work except the multitude of experiences you gained. And now you perceive yourself as a stereotypical grandma with assertions to all problems even though they are brimming with bromides and platitudes.

Even if you lack lame excuses, hosting a website to promote your business online is a great idea. Whatever be the reason for you to start a website, setting it up is far easier and cheaper than you could imagine.

Follow this step-by-step guide to kick start your website:

• Buy a domain 

This is the first step you need to take. Think of a name of your website say www.abcxyz.com, this is your domain name. Domain name is acquired from a registrar by shelling an annual fee to get copyrights to use that name. If the name you chose is not available, you’ll be asked to choose another name.  Basically, you have to register your website name legally. Let us get down to some nitty-gritty about domain registration.

Choosing a good domain name

• Name your domain after your business. It makes it easier for people to land on your website as they recognize your business name.  If your preferred domain name is not available, it is not a bad idea to first choose a domain name and then name your business after it.

• There is a limit of 67 characters on domain name. Choose your name wisely that reflects your brand. Don’t opt for abbreviated names just to keep it short because customers may not identify with it or are misled. Imagine what would happen if a brand like S & M Bikes calls its domain name just S&M.com instead of SandMbikes.com.

• You can also use hyphenated domain name if you think it helps customers to read your website name clearly. You can use prefix like “The” & “My” to get the domain name you are looking for. For example, if bags.com is not available, you can use thebags.com or mybags.com

• If .com domain is not available, don’t be fretful. Other suffixes like .net/ .org or country specific domains (when you are catering to local population) like .co.jp / .co.uk etc are equally good. Make sure you advertise your website as a full name to avoid losing customers. If your website is called abcxyz.net, advertise it as it is because abcxyz.com is a different domain.

How to register a domain name?

Domain name is registered with ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) through a certified registrar. A domain name may cost around USD10 to USD35 that gives you the right to use it for a year and must be renewed every year. If you fail to register the next year, you may lose your domain name to someone else.

You don’t need to seek your daddy’s help to register a domain name. Simply go to GoDaddy.com, the most popular daddy on earth or else use other registrars like 1&1 Internet, Namecheap, Dotster etc. You can either use a credit card or PayPal account to pay for it.

• Buy a cheap hosting

A web host is a company with various servers (computers) that hosts your web pages. It is only after you host your website that people can connect to it across the world. You need to sign up for an account with a web host.

There are both professional and free web hosts available. Startups and small business owners may be lured by free hosting. However, it is important to understand the difference between paid and free hosting.

• Free hosts treat you like a namby-pamby by adding their company’s name in your domain name. That obviously is a gag, if you are looking forward to some serious business. So, it is better to opt for professional host.

• Professional hosts guarantee you 99% uptime so that your website does not go off the net. Free hosts bombard your site with irrelevant ads and links that shrinks your search engine ranking. For better visibility and ranking, be professional enough to use professional services.

• Professional hosts offer a variety of packages with different bandwidth and storage space unlike free hosts. They also make sure that you get proper support when you face technical glitches.

Professional hosting services are available at a dirt cheap rate. Some of the best web hosting services includes eHost, HostGator, SiteGround, bluehost, iPage etc. With value for money host like eHost.com, you get free domain name registration for life, drag-and-drop site builder with thousands of free templates, $200 advertising credits from Google, Bing and Yahoo.

And to your amazement, a monthly subscription plan just costs $2.75 at eHost. If you are scrimpy, go for iPage.com that is offering similar services at $1.99 per month.

• Install WordPress automatically through cPanel

WordPress is a web-based content management system that allows users to create a website and manage updates through cPanel.  And cPanel is a web hosting control panel with a graphical web-based interface and tools that allows users to manage websites.

Users can easily install WordPress as a cPAddon with cPanel. Users just need to navigate to cPanel’s Site Software interface. Click WordPress once you are notified by hosting provider via email. Enter the requested information and click install.

When the WordPress installation finishes, use your web browser to view the location of your website. For more help on manual installation of WordPress, please check this link. Usually, hosting providers directly install WordPress for you.

• Choose a decent free theme

There are thousands of free theme available in WordPress. However, it is important to choose the right theme that goes along with the content on your website.  

• Many themes are loaded with colors, complex layouts, flashy animations and more. Don’t get carried away but choose the one that meets your needs.  Make sure that the theme does not obstruct legibility of the content.

• A significant amount of traffic is generated from mobile devices. Don’t forget to choose a responsive design that adjusts to all screen sizes. Moreover, mobile-friendly theme get higher ranking on Google.

• Check the usability of your theme on different web browsers to make sure users get identical experience across all browsers.
• Themes should be accompanied by plugins. WordPress plugins give you flexibility of playing around with your website. Make sure popular plugins like Gravity Forms, Yoast SEO, W3 Total Cache etc are compatible with your theme.
• Having a multilingual support is another added benefit if you choose to host your website in a language other than English in future.  Look for a translation ready theme in that case.

• Choose a theme with widely used page builder plugins.  Page builders allow you to create page layouts using drag and drop user interface.

• Many free WordPress themes don’t offer guaranteed support. However, some developers do provide excellent support for free themes, make your choice wisely.

• Make sure your theme is SEO-friendly. You can use W3C Markup Validation service to find out if your web page generates proper HTML5 code with the chosen theme.

• Some of the best free WordPress themes for business.

• Fill up content on your own

Now that your website template is ready, you need content to fill it up.  Content is an essential part of your marketing strategy. Whatever be the purpose of your website, you need good content to drive traffic to your website. WordPress template is designed in a user-friendly manner that makes content additions and editing an easygoing task.

Let us see what content you can add.

• Add content to your home page. Home page is the first interface between you and your target audience. Fill it up with business goals, missions, products/ services provided
• Categorize your services on category page. Don’t make it exhaustive on single page to overwhelm customers.
• Create different landing pages for different products if you are a seller.
• “About Us” page is an essential page that highlights what you are and why you are there. Brag about it.
• Add your contact information like postal address, email, phone etc on “Contact Us” page.
• Use Schema Markup to add content and boost your website rankings.

• Get your colleagues/business partners/friends to review the site

“It is easy to see the faults of others, but difficult to see one’s own faults. One sees the faults of others like chaff winnowed in the wind, but one conceals one’s own faults as a cunning gambler conceals his dice.”

Tell all your friends and foes to test your website even if you may sound mean to some of them. Expect your foes to be your best critics. It is recommended to test your web pages in major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer. All can be freely downloaded so no excuse on that front.  Folks with access to Windows 10 can use Microsoft Edge, heir to Internet Explorer. Try it on your smartphone too.  

• Ready to go

Once you are done with knick-knacks, your satellite is ready to launch. Submit it to search engines like Google and Bing through these links. It is not a necessary step especially when your website is already linked through other websites; you can still go ahead with it.

Look to promote your website through Facebook, and other social media websites. You can use Google Adwords or use Word-of-Mouth publicity through existing customers, use your website address in your email signature, visiting cards etc.   Check this link for innovative ways you can promote your website online.

There’s nothing to lose but a night out at the most

Setting up your website could not be easier. Purchase a domain in sync with your business name or name your business after your domain name. Find your host and breed on it.  Install WordPress on your own if your host throws tantrums. Choose a not so good-looking template. Add whatever text you feel is right. Do some testing or get it done. Start promoting it. You’ll notice your website placed in the right orbit.

What if you want more?

However, if you want a website that is more professional, you might want to seek an agency’s help. At Indus Net Technologies, we specialize in building robust responsive websites, which are built to suit the needs of today and tomorrow. As most people have adopted mobile devices as their primary devices to access internet, it makes sense to adopt a responsive approach. Responsive websites help people to view websites correctly, no matter what the screen size is. Responsive websites automatically adjust to the screen size on which they are being viewed.

Of course, professionally built websites may cost a lot more, but if you are truly looking for something far more than a simple WordPress website, you will need the help of a developer. Moreover, even WordPress websites can be customized and made to look as good as professional ones. We specialize in customizing WordPress themes and building unique websites that use WordPress as the primary CMS. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.