Previously, if you wanted to create your own website, you had to hire a professional to get it up and running. If you're a small business with a limited budget for digital marketing, you may end up putting it off until later, resulting in lost customers and revenue. Nowadays, however, even if you lack technical expertise, it is possible to make your own website for free. This is made possible thanks to website builders.
How to Create a Website for Free?
Website builder like Strikingly enables you to create your own website for free and without writing a single line of code. These platforms give you a website template that you can customize and turn into a one-of-a-kind online space. A website builder is an excellent solution for small businesses and startups looking to make a website and individuals interested in learning about website design and development.
1. Sign Up for a Free Account With a Reputable Website Builder
Image is taken from Strikingly.
Many website builders allow you to make a website for free, but they are not all created equal. Because platforms typically use free accounts to introduce their services and encourage users to eventually sign up for a paid account, some free account features may be limited. Many platforms still require you to pay extra to make the most of their services. The goal is to select a website builder that provides good value for money. Even if you make your own website for free, you want to ensure that you have access to as many features as possible to create a fully functional site. Strikingly, for example, allows you to create various types of websites, including an online store, which is considered a premium feature in most other website builders.
2. Choose a Website Template
Image is taken from Strikingly.
Assuming you already know what type of website you want to build, the next step in learning how to make a website for free is to choose a website template that fits your content. Strikingly has a growing collection of free website templates suitable for almost any industry or niche. All templates are also mobile-responsive, so you can be confident that your website will look great on any device or screen size.
3. Make Changes to Your Website Template
By personalizing your chosen template, you can let your personality and brand's identity shine through. Choose custom color schemes based on the image you want to project. Choose fonts that are simple to read. Other design elements, such as website icons and a personalized logo, should be included. These templates were used to create most of the free websites created with Strikingly. When creating a website, there are several template categories to choose from, as shown in the image above. There are categories such as Store, Business, Startup, Creative, Personal, and Blog. When you make a website, make sure to choose a template that corresponds to the concept and content of your website.
4. Select a Distinct Website Name
When you create your own website with Strikingly, you can select a free domain name for your site. Choose an easy-to-remember website name and avoid using special characters. Most business websites use their company name as the domain name, while others use a keyword or key phrase commonly associated with their content.
5. Create Your Content
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
When it comes to building your brand on the internet, content reigns supreme. Users spend an average of 7 seconds on a webpage before moving on to another. Your website copy must be engaging enough to pique their interest in just a few seconds. Make a website content that is brief but powerful, conversational but informative. With a free website that may not be as feature-rich as a professionally-built one, your content must be able to attract and retain visitors.
6. Create New Pages and Customize Your Menu Bar
Before you begin editing your site's content, it's a good idea to make a website page you'll need and link to them from your main menu. Most website builders make this very simple, and many even include templates for pages like contact and service.
7: Make Your Pages Unique
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Once you've created the necessary pages, you can begin the content creation and page design processes. Website builders, like Strikingly, employ a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to position design elements precisely where you want them.
8. Press the Publish Button
Congratulations on making it this far! It's time to hit the publish button when you're satisfied with your overall design and content. Remember that you will be able to continue editing after you have published your site, so don't be concerned if it isn't completely perfect.
Things to Consider When You Make a Website
To make the process easier, here are some of the key things to consider when you make a website; we hope you enjoy our simple refresher guide.
1. Who is it Intended For?
It is critical to determine who you are designing your website for. Assume the website you're about to build is for a clothing company that caters to young people. In this case, you're probably looking to pop culture for inspiration.
2. What is the Size of Your Website?
Once you've determined who your website is for, the next step is to plan its structure. Consider this the blueprint. At this point, you will be creating the site map, and you must start at the top with the homepage. Then you must make a website map of all of the other pages on the site. Every page should link back to the homepage, but think about where they should go next. What about contact pages, about us pages, extra content, and blogs? You should think about the size of your website as well as the information that will be displayed.
3. Content
This brings us nicely to the topic of your website's content. This may not be at the top of your list when considering the overall design, but it should not be overlooked. When given 15 minutes to consume content, 59 percent of users said they would prefer it to be beautifully designed, so combining the two is critical. Consider the website to be a blank piece of paper. Simply writing a few words on this paper will be tedious and unappealing. You need your content to keep visitors on your site. Consumers are most turned off by a lack of a clear message, with 46 percent citing this as the reason for leaving a site. Making a website with good content can engage your audience, help you with SEO, and communicate your key messages to your customers. Every page should link back to the homepage, but think about where they should go next.
4. Illustration.
After you've created your content, you'll need to consider images. You should think about where they will come from in particular. You have several options available to you. You could take the images yourself, the quickest and least expensive way to get imagery for your website. However, you may not be the best photographer, and do you want your site to suffer due to your desire to save money on images? You could also hire a photographer to capture all of your desired images. This is an expensive solution, but if you have a high-quality brand image that must be maintained, this may be the only way to get the right image quality for your needs. The last option is to use stock photos. You can get some images to spruce up your website for a reasonable price, and there is a large library of images available online for this purpose. On the other hand, these images may be generic and thus insufficiently represent your brand.
5. Trademark
This brings us neatly to the subject of branding. Because some brands only exist as a website, this is their only visual representation of their businesses. It is critical to consider a brand's image before designing a website. A website should not be built haphazardly; instead, you should carefully consider any pre-existing branding or, if none exists, create a brand identity from scratch. This is where you can really show off your design skills.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, making a website for free is quite simple. Simply sign up for a free website builder, such as Strikingly, and follow the outlined steps. A free website builder, such as Strikingly, is the best way to create a website. So, what are you holding out for? Go to Strikingly, create a free account, and build your first website today. Remember, you're not done just because you hit the publish button. To achieve online success, you must constantly maintain your website, publish new content, and build a strong audience.
