I Want a Website. Where Should I Start From?

You know that we love sharing frequently asked questions or issues we face and resolving them in the most useful for you way.

This case is exactly of that type:

I Want a Website. Where Should I Start From? What do I need in order to have a website?

Of course, you do not necessarily have to know the answer if your business is in a different field. For this reason, we decided to share with you the steps required for building your web presence.

Before starting, you first need to define the purpose of your website and get familiar with the different available options.

If you have already told yourself “I want to have a website, but I do not know where I should I start from.” you probably know what type of website you want to create. It’s important to have a starting point and an idea what you would like to do online when you are building your web presence.

Here are a few options for the website which can help you define your idea:

• Online store – for everyone who wants to sell online;
• Blog – your personal/business corner where you can express your opinion, ideas, experience or whatever you wish;
• Business card website – introduce everyone to your business activity, portfolio or the services you offer;
• Corporate website – a must for each and every business!

So let’s have a look at the steps you need to go through when you create a website.

1. Domain. Choose the most suitable name for your website!

You first need to think very carefully. If you already have come up with a name for your business/company/activity/brand, the best option for the domain is to have the same name. Choose the most suitable name for your website! It should present who you are in the best possible way, evoke interest and be easy to remember.

In order to register your domain name you need to select a domain extension. SuperHosting.BG offers more than 350 domain extensions. So you can choose between the most popular domain extensions such as .com, .bg, .net, .eu, or entrust an extension with individual character such as .app, .tech, .art, .photography.

Then choose a domain name, go to en.superhosting.bg and check if it is still available.

Investing in a domain is not an expensive activity, but it will bring you long term benefits. At SuperHosting.BG prices for domain names start from €1.75 per year for a domain extension such as .site. Even if your project is just starting, by buying a domain you will secure your online presence and professional emails for which we will tell you more below.

2. How to build your website?

This is the most difficult question. Nowadays, there are hundreds of solutions for building a website and numerous companies offering this service or builders enabling you to do so on your own. You get confused.

That’s why we offer three options for creating your website by sharing three easy solutions for each of them.

Option 1: I am looking for a professional to whom I will entrust my website development.

This is a suitable choice if you do not have much free time or technical skills and you want to entrust a professional in the field to build your online identity. Honestly, this option requires more investments, but it will save you time, technological difficulties and you will get a ready product, developed by experts.

In most cases you will need to provide the content for your website – copy, images, product descriptions, etc. There are also companies which offer complete solutions for your online presence that include:

• Graphic design;
• Web design and interface;
• Web development;
• Search engine optimization;
• Online marketing.

You can entrust the design to one team, your project’s web development to another and so on.

By trusting professionals you will have fewer responsibilities, you will get guidance and advice even if you are not sure about your desires.

Option 2: I will use a Content Management System.

This is a solution suitable for users having basic web skills and the desire to learn. You can easily create your website by using a CMS such as WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal or others.

What is a CMS?

A Content Management System is a tool enabling you to create websites and manage their content. Those systems are intuitive, easy to use and in most of the cases there are “communities” using and developing the specific system as you can always ask them for help or advice.

The most common CMS is WordPress. It is a great choice for many website owners since this platform is very flexible, provides you with various opportunities and it is being constantly developed.

You can also build your online store by using a CMS.

For example, Magento and OpenCart are web applications for developing online stores. They offer specific components and features needed for an online store.

This includes different features which are not offered in other CMS used mainly for developing websites. These features include different components for online payments, pricing, delivery and all the rest which is needed in a store.

Do have in mind that when using a CMS the user, on his own, or with help from someone, needs to update the system, plugins, theme and add new plugins if necessary.

How to get a CMS?

It is very simple! After you have chosen a domain and added a hosting plan, you will get access to the hosting account’s cPanel. Through cPanel you can easily install a CMS and start building your website right away.

Option 3: I am looking for a web-based system which will enable me do everything by myself.

Here there are a few possible options as they depend mainly on the purpose of your website. This is surely one of the fastest and most convenient ways to create a website.

SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms are examples for such systems. Those are comprehensive solutions providing you with everything necessary for building your website, no matter what its purpose is (online store, portfolio, etc.). With this type of services, hosting is included as we will tell you more about it below.

Such types of solutions are suitable for users who lack technical skills, neither they have lots of free time or big budget, but they need to quickly see a ready website on their own. By using web-based applications for creating websites you can easily create a website in less than an hour. There are numerous types of page builders offering various templates and easy to use content editors.

If you prefer an online store, there are e-commerce platforms for this as well.

You only need to have products, images, product descriptions, prices and there you go! SaaS platforms for online stores are a great solution in such cases. They have integrations with different payment methods, marketing tools, very often with supplier platforms, shopping carts and much more. This means everything necessary to facilitate new online stores to the maximum. Just choose the theme you fancy the most and start building your store.

Read more about SaaS platforms and what makes them suitable for your store.

This type of service offers maintenance which includes updates, bugfixes, adding new features and improving the existing ones.

3. The hosting – your website’s home.

Hosting is an obligatory element of your online presence. It is your website’s home. This is the place where you upload your website’s content – images, resources, databases, copy, etc. No matter which way to build a website you choose you will need hosting in any case. It is not just server space, but a complete solution tightly related to the flawless operation of your website.

he company which you will trust to provide hosting services for you should be your reliable partner. Make sure there is a professional support 24/7, service monitoring, additional security mechanisms for your website, mailboxes and high speed. If the company focuses on integrating tools to make your life easier while using the hosting service, this is great!

When you are choosing a hosting service you need to first define your website’s needs. There are different types of hosting services.

Here are a few of them:

• Shared Hosting. Your website shares hosting space together with other websites, hosted on the same server. This is one of the most popular and widely used hosting solutions.
• WordPress hosting. This is also shared hosting, but it is optimized to work best with WordPress websites and comes with a preinstalled CMS.
• Managed VPS. Here you get virtual standalone server. We take care of your service 24/7 as you also get a cPanel for managing your hosting account. Managed VPS is the best solution for everyone in need of a standalone, flexible, and reliable hosting service and for everyone who wants to manage their server. With this service system administration knowledge is not required.
• Virtual Servers (VPS). Here you can benefit from a standalone server tailored to your needs as you get full control over the server and the freedom to install whatever apps you wish. This is a suitable solution for projects requiring more server resources, compared to other hosting solutions. Here you might need in-depth knowledge in system administration or a professional who can deal with this.

We offered different solutions for building a website. Each of them, however, needs hosting. So let’s have a look at each solution and the possible hosting benefits you might take advantage of:

• If you decide to trust a professional for creating your website you will need not only the domain name, but also hosting space to upload the website. You can choose the hosting solution before your website is ready or after that. If the developers do not upload your website to your hosting space we can assist with this.

TIP: When you buy domain and hosting for your website, use your personal or company customer profile instead of buying them through your developer’s profile. Do not forget that this is your digital ownership!

• If you prefer to create your website on your own by using a CMS – get the hosting plan you chose. After that you will get access to cPanel. In cPanel you can access tools which enable you to install quickly and easily the CMS on your hosting account and start building your website. With the services offered by SuperHosting.BG you will find the SuperTool WordPress Manager which enables you to install WordPress with just a click. It also offers more features to make your life easier.
• If you choose one of the SaaS platforms for your personal or corporate website or e-store, remember that the hosting space is included in the service which is a great advantage. Site Builders and Shopiko are such services. We already mentioned that they are comprehensive solutions.

4. Set up professional emails.

You are a professional, but you still use free email services?
This is one of the advantages of having your own domain with your business’ name as this is included in your hosting service.

How will your company email look like? If your domain is mysupersite.com you can create emails like myname@mysupersite.com or info@mysupersite.com. Your customers and partners will easily reach you and your mailbox will be well protected so communication will be secure.

Email with your website’s name aspires trust to everyone who writes to you and it shows professional attitude. This will make your business name memorable.

You get professional service, cross-platform access, and full control over the email service. With SuperHosting.BG you will get Intelligent SPAM filter to prevent annoying or malicious email messages.

Which is the easiest way to create an email?

Through your customer profile on our website, if you are using our services. Create your professional emails by logging into your customer profile under Hosting Accounts – Account Details – Add and Manage Email Accounts – Details.

With a few steps you can choose a name for your mailbox, domain to associate it to (if you have more domains), you enter password and size of your mailbox and set up the account. That’s it!

5. Your website is ready? Make it popular!

After building your website and setting up company emails it’s time for another important moment – making your website popular! Your website is the end destination for your target audience. But for everyone to learn for your website it’s not enough for it only to exist.

Make it popular! We will give you a few basic ideas to start from:

• Create a page on social media.
• Generate content and share it.
• Advertise on Facebook and Instagram.
• Partner with other websites.
• Improve your ranking on Google by investing in advertising.
• If you run an online store – submit it to a price comparison platform.
• Monitor your website performance with Google Analytics.
• Integrate Facebook Pixel to your website for better audience targeting and retargeting.

It is not necessary to start with big budgets. It is enough to reach the right audience. This will make your project complete.

The more visited your website is, the more quality content you create, the better infrastructure and loading speed it has – the better ranking it will get on search engines.

Last, but not least…

Together we went through the foundations of your online presence. Very often we meet people who want to build a website, but they get confused from the vast amount of information online, the endless number of notions and offers they see every day. So let’s summarise what you need to have a website:

1. Start by choosing the most suitable name, i.e. an appropriate domain name.
2. You will also need hosting – space where your website will be located.
3. Choose how to build your website – are you going to do it on your own or you are going to trust a professional.
4. Set up professional emails so that customers can reach you easily and securely.
5. Make your website popular so that it can reach the desired audience!

And remember we are available 24/7 to help you choose the right service when it comes to hosting! Having a website is easier than ever so do not wait more, but take care of your presence right now!