How to create a site

Since you can remember it, you have always had a passion for writing and it is no coincidence that all your friends have always advised you to open a website in which to share your thoughts. Unfortunately, however, you have never been a lover of computers and new technologies and, now that you have finally decided to put these tips into practice, you regret never having taken the time to learn, as a self-taught, how to create a website.

How do you say? Are things exactly the way I described them? Don’t worry, you still have time to fix it! Nowadays, in fact, creating a site is the simplest thing in the world and, to do so, it is not necessarily necessary to know a programming language. If your intent is to set up a website, then you will be happy to know that you can do it for free, through the use of preconfigured tools, such as those offered by WordPress.com or Altervista.org, but also for a fee, by purchasing a hosting and a domain and, if necessary, by installing or configuring a CMS, such as the famous WordPress. I know, probably said so, in these few lines, it may seem complicated but, if you read this tutorial dedicated to the subject with the utmost attention, you will discover that there are really many possibilities accessible to anyone.

Given the variety of topics covered, how about getting to work right away? Come on, take a few minutes of free time and give me your full attention. Throughout this guide, I will show you the possibilities at your disposal for creating a website, so that you can easily identify the service that best suits your needs. Are you ready to get started? Yup? Very well! I wish you a good reading and a good job!

Index

• How to create a blog
  • Aruba
  • com
  • Diy site of Italiaonline
  • org
  • Yola
  • Blogger
• How to create a static site
• How to create an e-commerce site

How to create a blog

To create a blog I want to first talk to you about some solutions that can be used even without any experience. I’ll talk about it in detail in the following lines.

Aruba

The Aruba web services company is one of the best known when it comes to building websites and purchasing hosting and domains. This is a company I recommend you rely on, if you want to create a website in a simple way or if you want to consider purchasing a webspace.

If your intention is to create a site quickly and easily without having to get your hands on the code, you can try SuperSite by Aruba which allows you to create professional-looking websites, complete with blogs and e-commerce, perfectly optimized for devices. mobile, search engines and cookie policy.

Aruba SuperSite is based on a graphic editor that allows you to add and edit any type of content (text, image, video, social widget, etc.) with a simple click. It also offers the ability to import posts from WordPress blogs and build stores with customized products and the ability to accept the most diverse payment methods (bank transfer, PayPal, Stripe etc.).

You can try Aruba SuperSite for free for 30 days by getting a third-level domain (e.g. iltuosito.mysupersite.it) and free 24/7 support. Subsequently, you can decide whether to switch to the Professional plan (39 euros + VAT for the first year for those who activate by 30 July 2020 and then 99 euros + VAT/year), which includes a second-level domain (eg. iltuosito.it), 5 email boxes and the SSL DV certificate, or the Easy plan (39 euros + VAT/year), which does not include e-commerce.

To start the trial, connect to the official website of the service and click on the button for the 30-day trial. Then log in (or create an Aruba account on the spot). Then accept the Aruba SuperSite service supply conditions, give specific approval of clauses of the Aruba SuperSite service supply conditions and press the Continue button to go ahead.

Then log in to the service using your account and start creating your site: first of all, you need to specify what type of website you are creating, the name of your website, the style (i.e. the graphic theme) and the home page to be created. use; then you have to click on the Create your website button, at the top right, to access the editor.

Now you can select the page to edit in Aruba SuperSite, using the drop-down menu located at the top center, and edit the contents in it (with a simple click on the same) or add new ones by clicking on the button with the four icon squares located at the bottom right (or on the (+) button, if you want to add a new section).

To manage the blog and e-commerce, however, you must click on the ☰ button located at the top left and select the Blog item or the Shop item from the menu that appears. In the blog management panel you can then create your articles or import existing ones from a WordPress blog, while in the shop management panel you will have to perform the initial configuration procedure of your e-commerce by setting the accepted payment methods, entering the products etc.

For more information, see my tutorial dedicated to Aruba SuperSite and the official SuperSite guide on the Aruba website.

If you are interested in the hosting + domain packages offered by Aruba, know that there are some for all budgets and needs. With prices starting from 11.99 euros + VAT / 1st year (promotion valid until 30 July 2020), they offer Linux or Windows hosting + domain, unlimited space and traffic, Webspace backup, email boxes with IMAP and antivirus / antispam, DV SSL certificate and free 24/7 support.

Linux hosting solutions are among the most flexible: they allow you to have up to 5 MYSQL databases (for a total of 1GB of space) and support free software and CMS such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Prestashop and Magento. Windows hosting solutions, on the other hand, represent the international standard for .ASP and .NET developers. and they support solutions like BlogEngine.NET, SUBTEXT, yaf, and mojoPortal. They allow you to have 1 1GB MSSQL database (SQL Server 2008 R2).

The basic offer of Aruba Linux and Windows hosting is called Basic, costs 11.99 euros + VAT / 1st year (promotion valid until 30 July 2020) and includes: unlimited space and traffic, a domain, 5 mailboxes from 1GB, a DV SSL certificate and free 24/7 support. One step up is the Easy plan (19.99 euros + VAT / 1st year, promotion valid until 30 July 2020), which adds unlimited 5GB email accounts, 10 GigaMail accounts of 5GB each, 1 or 5 databases (depending on whether you choose Windows or Linux hosting) for a total of 1GB, backups and Web marketing statistics.

Even further up there are the Advanced package, which for 29.99 euros + VAT / 1st year (promotion valid until 30 July 2020) offers all the features of the Easy package plus 20 5GB GigaMail accounts and 5 1GB PEC accounts on domain, and the Professional one (150 euros + VAT/year), which adds 30 5GB GigaMail accounts and 10 PEC accounts on a 1GB domain. For more information on this, consult the Aruba pages dedicated to Linux hosting services and Windows hosting services.

Alternatively, if you have more advanced needs, you can opt for Aruba Managed WordPress Hosting: a solution that allows you to easily create a professional site based on WordPress, with unlimited online space, second-level domain, DV SSL certificate and MySQL database. . The available plans are as follows.

• Smart Managed WordPress Hosting– costs 79 euros + VAT per year (in promo at 29 euros + VAT / 1st year) and includes pre-installed WordPress, automatic updates, thousands of themes and plugins, staging environment, domain, dedicated MySQL database ( 1GB), unlimited disk space on SSD, traffic volume up to 50,000 visitors per month, advanced support with 1 free credit, up to 2 on-demand backups with one-click restore, daily backups, malware detection, DV SSL certificate, 5 mailboxes 1GB email, free 24/7 support and 3 dedicated instances.
• Premium Managed WordPress Hosting– costs 129 euros + VAT per year (in promo at 39 euros + VAT / 1st year) and includes pre-installed WordPress with automatic updates, thousands of themes and plugins, optimized platform, staging environment, domain, database Dedicated MySQL (2GB), unlimited disk space on SSD, traffic volume up to 500,000 visitors per month, advanced support with 2 free credits, up to 4 on-demand backups with one-click restore, daily backups, malware detection, DV SSL certificate, unlimited 1GB email accounts, free 24/7 assistance, 6 dedicated instances and 5 PEC on a domain.
• Top Managed WordPress Hosting– costs € 229 + VAT per year (in promo at € 119 + VAT / 1st year) and includes pre-installed WordPress with automatic updates, thousands of themes and plugins, optimized platform, staging environment, domain, database Dedicated MySQL (2GB), unlimited disk space on SSD, traffic volume up to 1,000,000 visitors per month, advanced support with 3 free credits, up to 4 on-demand backups with one-click restore, daily backups with data retention up to 30 days (instead of 7), malware detection, SSL DV certificate, unlimited 1GB email accounts, free 24/7 support, 12 dedicated instances and 10 PEC on a domain.

If you want to learn more, I invite you to read my guide to Aruba WordPress Hosting and consult the official Aruba website.

To conclude, I also want to point out my guide on how to create a successful blog, in which I have explained in depth what are the main guidelines to follow for the creation of a website.

WordPress.com

One of the most used platforms for creating websites is the one made available by the WordPress.com website which is known for its integration with its WordPress CMS.

This tool allows you to create a website for free (with 3GB storage space and third-level domain . Wordpress.com ) and, to do so, no technical skills are required.

To start creating a site with WordPress.com, connected to its home page, press the Start now button and enter all the required data, through the text fields on the screen (indicate, among other things, the name of the site, the topic and the goal ). Now click on Continue, type the domain name you want to give to the site, click on Select corresponding to the domain with extension. wordpress.com and finally click Get started with free. In this way you can continue without having to sign up for a subscription (the prices of the latter start from 4 € / month).

On the next screen, create an account, indicating your email address and a password of your choice, then click Continue. To create an account you can also press the Continue with Google button to register with Google.

Now, confirm the email address provided to WordPresss.com: to do so, click on the link in the email received at the email address indicated. To finish, click on the Continue button from the WordPress.com website.

In this way you will be redirected to the login page of the newly created website; to customize it, use the tools in the Customize section. To start writing articles on the site, go to the Articles screen instead.

If you want to learn more about the use of the WordPress CMS, read my guides dedicated to the subject, or my tutorial where I explain how to customize a site with WordPress.com.

Diy site

Are you looking to promote your business online but don’t have the faintest idea how to build a website from scratch? Then I suggest you take a look at DIY site , a service from Italiaonline (the largest Italian Internet company, with its complete ecosystem of solutions for the digitization of businesses) aimed at all companies and professionals who wish to create a complete, effective and professional looking website, without wasting time and without having technical knowledge.

With Italiaonline’s DIY site, you can quickly configure your website by making a short registration and choosing one of the more than 50 templates available on the platform, automatically suggested based on your business. The construction of the site then takes place through a flexible and intuitive visual editor, which allows you to add, move and modify the elements within the pages through a pre-packaged grid, like a kind of puzzle. Among the available elements are: images, videos and multimedia content galleries (DIY site also offers the space necessary to host your own online content), blog articles, contact forms, social buttons for platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, Google Maps and click to call buttons for platforms such as WhatsApp and Zoom, in order to facilitate communication with their customers.

The sites created can be updated at any time, to constantly adapt to your needs and those of visitors, and are automatically optimized for viewing on PCs and mobile devices. In addition, they are optimized for search engines (SEO) , guarantee the maximum loading speed (CDN) of the contents and offer the possibility of inserting the Google Analytics tracker.

There is also everything regarding security and privacy, with the use of the secure HTTPS / SSL protocol, the implementation of antispam and antiphishing systems and full compliance with the GDPR rules for the processing of personal data.

DIY site you can try for free to build your own site. The payment of 149 euros + VAT per year is then required for publication. The price also includes domain, email accounts, hosting and a company card on PagineGialle and Virgilio, very useful for giving more visibility to your business and site.

When you are ready to start, you can create your site with Italiaonline by connecting to the DIY site page and pressing the button to start for free. At this point, fill out the form with email address and VAT number, accept the conditions of service and click on the Continue button.

Then, click on the confirmation link you receive via email and set the password to access your Italiaonline account (by filling in the appropriate fields on the screen). Once the registration phase is complete, access the Italiaonline Customer Area, select the Services tab and click on the button to update your site.

Now follow the guided procedure that is proposed to you, indicating the category to which your business belongs, uploading a logo for it and specifying if you already have photos online; then go ahead and fill out the form with your business data (name, location and phone). Once this is done, enter the contact pages of your business (email address, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn ), press the Continue button and choose the template you want to use for your site.

Great: now you just have to type in the title and slogan you want to use for your site and press the Start building button to access the DIY site editor.

You are now in front of the main page of your site. To modify, move or delete any content in it, just select it with the mouse and use the commands and indicators that appear on the screen.

To add a new element, instead, just click on the Widget button in the left sidebar and drag the element to insert to the point you prefer: text, image, photo gallery, video, divider, button, contact form, list, Google Calendar, Yelp review box, and so on.

By selecting, instead, the Design item from the left sidebar you can customize the general design of texts, buttons, images, background and layout of the site; in the same way, by pressing on the item Pages you can modify the pages that make up your site, renaming them, deleting them or adding new ones.

Going on the content you can set up content libraries, such as corporate information, business text and corporate images.

Finally, by going to the Settings item (always in the left sidebar) you can adjust all the site settings, such as icons, SEO, Google Analytics, URL redirection, HTML and header, site backup, site language, privacy settings, page 404 and set up a Progressive Web App (PWA) for supported browsers.

In the bar at the top, instead, you will find various useful buttons, such as those to change the site view mode between PC, tablet and smartphone; see a live preview of the same (the ▶ ︎ button), reset the template the (+) button ) and publish the site. In this regard, when you are satisfied with the work you have done, press the Publish button and follow the procedure that is proposed to you to indicate the domain to use and complete the purchase of the site.

For more information, you can contact Italiaonline from this page, via message or chat in real time, or you can call the toll-free number 800 011 411.

Altervista.org

Another frequently used platform for the free creation of Internet sites is that of the Altervista.org site, also dedicated to the creation of a site with already integrated WordPress CMS.

The Altervista.org service differs from WordPress.com mainly for the possibility of inserting advertising banners even in its free version. As for the operation and use, however, there are no substantial differences: the CMS, or the basic structure of the site, is the same in both cases. Furthermore, with Altervista, storage space and traffic are unlimited even in the free version.

To create a site with a third-level domain on Altervista.org, connected to its home page, click on Create site, then click on Continue and start registering an account by filling in all the required data ( name, surname, year of birth and sex ). If, on the other hand, you want to speed up the registration process, select the Facebook button, in order to connect the account of this social network.

Now, use the text field you see next to http: // to customize the domain name of the site to create. I remind you that, for free, you will get a third-level domain (such as www.nomescelto.altervista.org ) ; eventually, you can subscribe to a subscription at a cost of € 19 + VAT/year to obtain a second-level domain ( www.nomescelto.it , for example).

Continue by clicking on the box relating to identity verification ( I am not a robot ), then accept the terms of service, the conditions of use and the privacy policy, by placing a checkmark on the relevant items. Finally, click on the Continue button.

The last operation to perform is that relating to the verification of the email address provided: click on the link you find in the email received from Altervista, in order to be redirected to the login and personalization page of the website you have created.

As for the customization of the same, use the Appearance section, while to publish articles, use the WordPress editor that you can see by clicking on the Articles section.

For further information on the customization of the site, I suggest you read one of my tutorials dedicated to the functioning of the WordPress CMS.

Yola

Another easy-to-use tool to create Internet sites quickly and easily is Yola, a Web portal that offers the possibility of setting up a site for free through a customizable site builder.

The site created for free with Yola will have a third-level domain (for example ww.name.yolasite.com ) with traffic and space limited to 1 GB but, eventually, it is possible to upgrade with plans starting from $ 4.95 / month.

To get started, connected to the Yola home page, click on the Start for free button and create an account, typing your name, your email address and a password, then put the checkmark on the item I accept terms of service and privacy policy and pass the captcha, by clicking the I am not a robot box.

Continue by clicking on the Start building your site button, then select a template from those on the screen by clicking on Use this template. Indicate, in the next text field, the name of the website to be created, click on Next and also fill in all the text fields, in order to provide contact information ( address, city, country, state, region, code postal and telephone number ). To finish, click on Finished Settings.

Wait for the site building tool to load, to configure the site aesthetically in all its parts: you can in fact find a menu bar full of items, such as Widget, Style, Page, Navigation but also the words Text, Photos, Gallery, Columns, which are used to customize each respective element of the website.

You can experiment with the construction of your website without any fear of making mistakes: the changes are visible in real time and when you are ready to publish the site online, press the Publish button that you can see in the upper right corner.

Blogger

If your intent is to create a blog for free, in which to publish articles, you can use the Blogger website, a platform with a more streamlined proprietary CMS than  WordPress.

By creating a free blog through Blogger you can get a third-level domain like www.nomescelto.blogspot.com but possibly in the process of creating the same blog you can buy a domain through Google Domains service (prices start at 12 € per year).

To start setting up a blog through Blogger, connected to the home page of this service, click on the Create your blog button that you see in the center, then log in to the service through a Google account (if you don’t have one, read on my tutorial where I explain how to create it). Then enter the required data ( email address or telephone number and password ) and click on the Next button.

On the next screen, complete the creation of the profile by clicking on one of the two items present: the Create a Google + profile section is used to create a profile through the Google social network, while the one called Create a limited Blogger profile allows you to register a account via the Blogger site.

In both cases, click on Create New Blog to start getting into the practical part of creating it. Using the box you see on the screen, indicate the title to be given to the site and customize the domain name, to obtain a URL with extension. blogspot.com. Then choose the theme to use by clicking on one of those on the screen and then finish the procedure by clicking on Create the blog.

In the event that you are offered to purchase a domain through the Google Domains service, press the No thanks button, if you want to continue using the service for free and be redirected to the login and personalization page of the blog created.

Other options related to the aesthetic customization of the created blog can be performed through the Layout and Theme sections while the publication of the articles passes through the editor present in the Post section.

If you want to learn more about the use of the Blogger service you can read my guide dedicated to this specific topic.

How to create a static site

When it comes to building a static website, there are several options to consider. To set up a website, you must first purchase hosting and a domain. However, there are several hosting services and numerous companies that offer the purchase of a paid domain, so I suggest you refer to some of my guides dedicated to these specific topics.

In particular, in my tutorial on how to buy a web domain I told you about some basic steps to take to purchase a domain name. My tutorial on free domains, on the other hand, is dedicated to the no-cost possibilities for purchasing a domain name.

Also, if you want to know more about hosting services, I recommend that you read my tutorial dedicated to the best ones. In addition, in this other tutorial of mine, I have provided you with some information on which services offer free hosting.

If you are fascinated by the idea of ​​being able to have a Webspace all to yourself and you want to learn, because you want to create a website by yourself, I suggest you use a service like Jekyll, which however is more suitable for users who are experts in the language. programming of websites. To use this service you can also refer to the guides and tutorials that are present on the same website but published in English.

In this regard, if you want to deepen the topic related to the creation of a static website in HTML, I recommend reading my dedicated guide, in which I have explained to you in-depth how to learn the programming language in HTML.

Alternatively, you can also consider purchasing a specific book on the subject, in order to learn on your own. Below I show you some solutions that might be right for you.

I remind you that to view the static website, you must upload the individual files you created on the server, via FTP. In this regard, I suggest you read my guide on FTP programs, to find the tool that best suits your needs.

How to create an e-commerce site

If your intent is to create an e-commerce site, because you want to sell products through your Webspace, you can use free or paid platforms, such as preconfigured Site building services ( One Minute Site or Blooming for example), tools designed for this specific purpose.

If, on the other hand, you have technical knowledge or want to contact an expert in creating websites, to get a more professional result, you can use a CMS such as WordPress or Drupal. I talked to you in more detail about the options dedicated to e-commerce sites in my guide dedicated to the topic or you can refer to this paragraph.