How to publish a site

You’ve thought about it for a long time, but you’ve finally made up your mind: you’ll open a website where you can publish reviews of the restaurants you frequent, the books you read, the movies and TV series you watch. In short, it will be a Webspace where you will talk about your passions in the round, setting your creativity in motion.

Well, if things are exactly like this, I can’t help but be happy with your decision: it’s a great idea and I want to help you put it into practice, explaining in detail how to publish a site. If you are reading these lines it is likely that you need some advice to do so. It’s so true? Don’t worry, here I am available. In the course of this tutorial, in fact, I will show you the operation of the main free website creation platforms such as WordPress, Google Sites and Altervista. I’ll also tell you about paid solutions, such as Aruba and Jekyll, suitable for those who want to create a more professional site.

How do you say? Is the topic of interest to you and are you looking forward to learning more? I imagine! Come on, sit comfortably in front of the computer and read carefully the advice I have prepared for you. I am sure you will be absolutely satisfied with it! Let it bet? At this point I would say that I have nothing left but to wish you a good reading; I also give you a big “good luck” for everything!

Index

• Publish a site with WordPress
• Publish a site with Google Sites
• Publish a site with Altervista
• Publish a site with Aruba
• Other solutions to publish a site

Publish a site with WordPress

One of the best-known solutions useful for creating and publishing websites for free is WordPress.com, a platform that makes available the use of its CMS of the same name. You can create a website with 3GB storage and a third-level domain ( chosenname.wordpress.com ). If you want to get a second-level domain, however, you need to purchase a subscription with prices starting from € 4 per month with annual billing.

To create a site with WordPress.com connected to its home page via the link indicated and click on the Start now button, then register, indicating an email address, a username and a password and pressing the Continue button. Once this is done, also fill in subsequent text fields in which you are asked to indicate the name, the topic and the primary objective of your site and press Continue again.

Enter the domain name you want to give it in the text field in the center of the screen and click the Select button next to the free option and then click Start with free if you want to continue using this service at no cost. Alternatively, click on Select, corresponding to a second-level domain and continue purchasing a subscription plan.

Once this is done, the website will be created and you can start working on it, for example making changes on an aesthetic level. To do this, refer to the sections in the left sidebar, corresponding to the Manage item.

Press, then on the Add button, in correspondence with the item Page of the site or Articles of the blog, to add new contents or click on Themes, in correspondence with the item Customize, to apply aesthetic changes to the created site. To write a new article, click on Write, a button located in the top bar. The changes applied to the site are visible in real-time.

In case of problems or doubts regarding the use of this platform, read my guide in which I talk to you in more detail about its operation.

Publish a site with Google Sites

Another easy-to-use resource that allows you to publish a site is Google Sites, a free platform offered by the search engine of the same name.

To use it, connect to its website via the link indicated and log in with your Google account, typing your email address and password and clicking Next.

Once this is done, press the (+) button located in the lower right corner and then type the name you want to give to the page you are creating, using the Page title text field.

To customize the created site in an advanced way, change, for example, the header image by clicking on the Change image button or change its layout by clicking on the Header type item. If you want to add the footer, click on the Add Footer button.

Other possibilities relating to editing are visible in the right sidebar, in correspondence with the Enter, Pages and Themes tabs which are used respectively to insert elements, such as a text box, to add new pages and to change the theme.

Once all the changes have been applied, press the Publish button. Once this is done, enter the domain name you want to give to the site, using the Web Address text field and click on the Publish button to put the created site online which will be visible at the URL https://sites.google.com/view / [chosen name ].

In case of doubts or problems relating to the use of Google Sites, refer to the information I have given you in my guide dedicated to this platform.

Publish a site with Altervista

Another service that I recommend you use to publish an Internet site is Altervista.org. It is a web portal that allows the use of the WordPress CMS and provides storage space and unlimited traffic with the possibility of inserting advertising banners and therefore earning.

To use it connected to its official website via the link provided, click on the Create site button and then on Continue. Once this is done, use the text field at the top to choose the third-level domain name you want to give to your website ( www.nomescelto.altervista.org ). To obtain a second-level domain with  Altervista.org  ( www.miodominio.it ) it is necessary to pay € 19 + VAT/year.

On the next screen, enter the personal data that are required to create an account ( name, surname, year of birth, gender  and email address ), then tick the box I am not a robot to verify the identity also on those relating to the acceptance of the terms and conditions of the service.

Press the Continue button to finish the registration and start customizing the website created, referring for example to the Appearance section, which is used to modify the aesthetic sector also through the use of plugins.

To start writing articles, instead, refer to the Articles section and click on the word Add new, to use the integrated text editor in WordPress.

For more information, I recommend you read my guide on how to create a site with WordPress.

Publish a site with Aruba

If your intent is to publish a site with Aruba, you must consider that it is a paid solution. This Web company allows, in fact, to purchase packages related to the use of a hosting space with CMS, such as WordPress, or allows the purchase of hosting and separate domains.

As for the solutions with hosting and domain included, I suggest you to consider the Linux hosting and Windows hosting packages, which include unlimited domain, space and traffic, mailboxes with IMAP and antivirus / antispam services, backup of the Webspace, DV SSL certificate and free 24/7 support.

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

With their variety, Aruba hosting packages are able to cover the most diverse needs, practical and economic: now I list them all in detail.

• Basic– is the basic Aruba hosting package. Includes unlimited disk space and traffic plus a domain, 5 x 1GB mailboxes and a DV SSL certificate. It costs 11.99 euros + VAT/year and also includes free 24/7 assistance.
• Easy– for 19.99 euros + VAT/year, includes all the features of the Basic package, plus unlimited 5GB mailboxes, 10 GigaMail mailboxes of 5GB each, 5 databases (Linux) or 1 database (Windows) for a total of 1GB, Web marketing statistics and backups.
• Advanced– includes all the features of the Easy package, plus 20 5GB GigaMail mailboxes and 5 1GB PEC mailboxes on a domain. It costs 29.99 euros + VAT / year.
• Professional– the most complete package. It offers all the advantages of the Advanced plan, plus 30 GigaMail boxes of 5GB each and 10 PEC boxes on a domain of 1GB each. It costs 150 euros + VAT / year.

If you want to know more, consult the pages of the Aruba site dedicated to Linux hosting and Windows hosting services.

If, on the other hand, you are a professional and are looking for more structured solutions, you can evaluate Aruba Cloud Hosting: it is a service that is halfway between VPS hosting and shared Web hosting and that allows you to manage multiple domains at the same time. having the possibility to freely allocate the available resources on the latter. For example, it allows you to choose the RAM to dedicate to a domain and to monitor its use on an hourly basis.

Aruba’s Cloud Hosting solutions include Linux or Windows hosting, access to a management panel of your choice between Plesk and cPanel, a domain, unlimited sites (in the multidomain version), unlimited SSD space and traffic, RAM from 1 to 8GB, unlimited databases on SSD (up to 1GB), DV SSL certificate and support for over 400 applications: WordPress, Joomla, WooCommerce, Prestashop, Drupal, Magento etc. The available plans are as follows.

• Single– domain Cloud Hosting – costs 45 euros + VAT / year and includes a domain, a website, unlimited web space on SSD, 1GB of RAM, unlimited database on SSD (up to 1GB) and 10 2GB mailboxes (1GB Inbox + 1GB Web storage).
• Multidomain Cloud Hosting– has prices starting from 174 euros + VAT/year. It includes one domain, unlimited SSD web space, unlimited websites, 2-8GB RAM, 10 2GB mailboxes for each domain (1GB Inbox + 1GB Web storage) and unlimited SSD databases (up to 1GB).

For more information about it, I invite you to read my tutorial dedicated to Aruba Cloud Hosting and to consult the official Aruba website.

On the other hand, if you are oriented towards the purchase of hosting and separate domain, prices start at € 11.99 plus VAT per year for the purchase of a Linux hosting suitable for the use of a CMS such as WordPress. The purchase of a domain starts at € 0.99 plus VAT per year.

It must also be taken into account that, by purchasing hosting space and domain separately, some higher technical requirements are necessary in order to publish a site, as it will be necessary to install, use and manually configure the chosen CMS through the use of an FTP program. such as FileZilla or Softaculous (choice that varies according to the one supported by the hosting). In this regard, I suggest you read my guide on how to install WordPress to learn more about this topic or the one in which I explain how to install WordPress with Aruba.

Aruba is one of the most famous companies that allow the purchase of hosting and Web domains, but there are also many others such as  GoDaddy. In fact, I advise you to read my tutorial in which I explain how to buy a Web domain or the one dedicated to the best-paid hosting. However, if you want to get hosting and domain at no cost, read my tutorial dedicated to free domains and the one in which I tell you about companies that offer free hosting.

Other solutions to publish a site

The resources mentioned in the previous chapters are not for you, why would you want to create and publish a static website all by yourself? In this case, if you have advanced technical skills, my advice is to contact professional services, such as Jekyll for example. However, the latter requires the knowledge of a programming language in order to be used and also for a better understanding of the instructions for use in its technical guide.

If, on the other hand, you want to know how to create a website in HTML, read my guide in which I will explain in detail how to do it, or learn more about the subject by reading a manual, such as those listed below.

For the creation of e-commerce sites, however, you can refer to the use of the Blooming service (I told you about it in this tutorial of mine ), which can also be used without having to have technical skills. For the more experienced, however, you can use a CMS such as Magento.

Finally, I remind you that, if you need as complete an in-depth study as possible on the creation, publication and optimization of websites, you can buy my book “ The Aranzulla method ”.