If you want to take action but don’t know where to start, fear not: you can succeed without too many problems in this “mission” by using specific online services that allow you to create a website easily yet professionally.
So, without hesitating any longer, take some time for yourself and read carefully everything I have to explain on this topic: I’m sure that by the end of this guide, you will have acquired the necessary skills to achieve a more than satisfactory result. Try it to believe it!
Table of Contents
- Preliminary Information
- How to Create a Website from Scratch
- Course to Create a Website from Scratch
Preliminary Information
As you might have read, creating a website usually requires some knowledge, either deep or shallow, of certain languages: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and SQL are just a few examples. Additionally, often, knowledge of web graphics is necessary to create websites that are not only functional but also visually appealing.
What do you say? Are you starting to panic because you not only lack knowledge in the world of programming (or have very little) but don’t know whom to approach to bring your project to life?
I can reassure you right away: as I mentioned in the early parts of this guide, there are plenty of platforms, many of them free, preconfigured, and ready-to-use, that allow you to create a website, whether professional or personal, in no time without advanced knowledge.
These platforms usually include everything necessary to create a website from scratch effectively.
- Hosting – this refers to the space needed to host the files that make up the website, along with a preconfigured server that makes them operational.
- Domain – the possibility to create a “literal address” through which to reach the site (e.g., example.com).
- Database – generally, a database is useful for managing the persistent data of the site (login information, posts made, updates, etc.). Many platforms offer ready-to-use databases that require no configuration.
- CMS – or content management system, this is the system dedicated to the actual development of the site. A CMS usually allows you to easily create an entire website using web applications with user-friendly interfaces that can structure, fill, update, and modify the site’s structure and pages on the fly.
If needed, you can obtain these elements separately, purchasing paid hosting (already prepared to host a website), along with a second-level domain, on which to manually install a CMS. However, this solution is more complex and less suited for those who are not very familiar with the topic.
When creating a website, you must also ensure that it complies with all regulations related to cookie policy and data processing. To avoid problems in this regard, you might consider relying on a service such as iubenda.
How to Create a Website from Scratch
Having made the necessary clarifications above, it’s time to get to work and explain to you how to create a website from scratch for free using platforms that offer preconfigured CMS, storage space for website hosting, and third-level domains.
Wix
One of the first services that I recommend you consider is definitely Wix: it is an online service that allows you to create professional websites that are moderately complex, equipped with blogs, photo galleries, and possibly eCommerce sections in just a few clicks.
Among the strengths of Wix are the ability to choose from hundreds of pre-set templates (automatically optimized for mobile) and to create a themed site automatically based on the instructions provided during setup, using an artificial intelligence system.
In its free version, Wix allows you to create sites with the domain username.wixsite.com and offers 500 MB of storage space and 1 GB of bandwidth. Additionally, free Wix sites carry advertisements.
To eliminate these limitations, gain access to Google Analytics, set up a custom domain, and unlock many other features, you need to subscribe to one of Wix’s paid plans, with affordable prices starting at 11 euros per month.
To start creating a free website with Wix, connect to the main page of the service, click on the button designated for creating a new site, and create your profile with email and password or by using a Facebook, Google, or Apple account.
Then, indicate the purpose for which you are creating your site, click Continue, and choose whether to create the site through Wix’s AI-based chatbot or to continue without AI by clicking Set up without Chat.
In the first case, you will need to specify the name you want to assign to the site, the topic it will cover, the services you will offer to users, and so on. The buttons below also allow you to skip a question, ask the bot to repeat one, and end the chat.
If you choose the “classic” route, then you will need to indicate in the menus that will be shown the type of site you intend to create (e.g., blog or online store), the name of the site, the goals to achieve, and you will need to select the apps to integrate (e.g., Instagram feed, forms, etc.).
No matter which path you chose, the Wix dashboard will then open, listing the main steps for creating your site, such as associating a domain, written posts (in the case of a blog), setting a design, and improving your visibility on Google: click on each of the listed items and follow the on-screen instructions to bring your site to life.
In the sidebar, you can find all the links to manage blogs, apps, payments, marketing, analytics, etc. You just need a click to manage everything.
As for content creation, in the Wix editor accessible from the Edit button on the dashboard, you just need to click on the various available elements and reposition, resize, or modify them with a simple click on each; tools and menus will then appear that you can use to edit the selected content. To add media, apps, buttons, and various elements to the page, just use the buttons that appear by pressing the Add button in the sidebar.
Once finished, press the Publish button at the top right to finalize the publication. By using the Blog section in the left bar, you can also create articles.
Google Sites
Google Sites is one of the simplest free platforms dedicated to website creation. Specifically, this service – owned by Google – allows you to create a website in just a couple of clicks, with a third-level domain sites.google.com.
The strength of Google Sites lies in its strong integration with other Google services (e.g., the advertising of AdSense for monetizing content, Analytics statistics, and so on), as well as its user-friendly interface. To use Google Sites, it is essential to have a Google account.
To create a website with this service, go to its main page and log in with your Google account if necessary. If this is your first time logging into the service, wait for the summary page of the sites you own (initially there should be none) to fully load.
When this happens, click on the Blank Site button located at the top left, and using the creation tool that appears on the side, start shaping your site: assign a name to it by indicating it in the Untitled Site field, and specify the page title using the overlay toolbar, formatting it as you prefer.
Next, import an image for the page you are about to create (the Image button appears after hovering over the title) and, if desired, modify its arrangement by working on the Header Type option. Now, if you want to create a footer (that is, a separate section displayed at the bottom of the site pages), click on the Add footer button and, after inserting the text of your interest, format it using the provided tools.
Once this step is complete, you can proceed with fine-tuning your website using the Add, Pages, and Themes tabs: the first allows you to add new content to the page currently being edited; the second allows the creation of new pages on the site; while the third is used to modify the aesthetics of the website. No need to manually save the modifications made, as they are automatically stored on Google Drive (without affecting the available space).
Once you have completed the creation of all the pages of the website, click on the PC and smartphone icon at the top to preview them, and if the work just completed satisfies you, click on the Publish button to initiate the actual publication of the site.
We are almost there: on the next screen, type the third-level domain name you want to assign to the site, remove the checkmark from the Request public search engines not to show my site option, if you want search engines to index it, and when you are ready, hit the Publish button! The site you just created will be visible at the address https://sites.google.com/view/[name].
WordPress.com
Another very famous platform used for creating blogs and entire websites based on constant content updating is WordPress.com: in its free form, it offers a third-level domain and 1 GB of storage space, with limited customization features and the inability to monetize through advertising banners.
If you are interested in adopting this solution, connect to the official website of the platform, click on the Get Started button, and register your account using Google, Apple, GitHub, or your email. After that enter the domain name and click Select next to the field reading WordPress.com to choose a free domain.
Click on Continue and proceed to account creation by entering your email address and password, then click again on Continue, then on Select the free plan and on Continue with the free plan. Confirm your email address by clicking on the link that WordPress.com sent you by email and then click on Launch your site and on X.
At this point, all that remains to do is customize the website using the tools provided in the Customize section of the platform; if, instead, you prefer to start immediately by adding content/articles to the pages of your site, go to the Posts section.
If you feel that WordPress.com suits your needs and you wish to deepen its usage, know that you can also subscribe to one of WordPress.com’s paid plans and remove many of the limitations of the free service, or even download the CMS and install it on a separately purchased space.
Shopify
If what you intend to create is an eCommerce site, I highly recommend trying Shopify: an extremely simple and intuitive service, already used by over 1,000,000 stores worldwide, that allows you to build eCommerce sites with unlimited products in just a few clicks. It includes unlimited secure hosting, free unlimited bandwidth, a free shopify.com domain (replaceable with a custom domain), and everything you need to manage products, customers, payments, orders, shipping, and inventory.
You can try Shopify for free during an initial trial period (with no renewal obligation) and 3 months for €1, after which you can choose from various plans with prices starting at €21/month. To open a store on Shopify, simply connect to the official website of the service and click on the Start Free Trial button. You must then set your email and password, as well as the name of the store, then indicate where you would like to sell, if you have already started selling, and what products you would like to sell.
Once this is done, press the Start button, then Skip. In the setup procedure that opens, enter the settings most suited to your business. Everything else can be found in the menu visible on the left: Orders for managing orders; Products for managing products; Customers for managing the customer list; Analytics for viewing sales data; Marketing to set up marketing campaigns, and so on.
Other Solutions to Create a Website from Scratch
If the services I have outlined above haven’t met your expectations, you can consider using other solutions of this kind that, with different characteristics, can create equally valid sites. Below I list what I believe to be the best.
- Blogger – another platform developed by Google, with an attached CMS, mainly oriented towards blog creation. Blogger facilitates an integration with Google’s services and allows for monetizing your site by interfacing with the Google AdSense program.
- Altervista – a portal that allows you to create websites in just a couple of clicks. The platform provides the full version of WordPress as a CMS for advanced customization, without the limitations of WordPress.com. Monetization is also available through advertisements.
- One Minute Site – an Italian platform that allows you to create, very easily, websites and eCommerce platforms without any programming skills, thanks to a team of specialists capable of meeting numerous requests.
How to Create a Website from Scratch in HTML
Up to now we’ve seen how to create a website using automated platforms that do not require coding. However, if you need a simple site, you can create a website from scratch quickly using the HTML language.
You can do this through a simple text file that, once you finish writing the code, must be saved with the .html extension (call it index.html). After that, just purchase any hosting along with a domain and upload this file to view it online. You can also customize the site’s design using a style sheet called style.css, created using the CSS language. Now, you should know that the following tags must be included in the file.
- <!DOCTYPE html> — This tag indicates that the file is an HTML page.
- <html> — This tag includes the HTML page and can also be followed by parameters that specify the language and other details of the site.
- <head> — This tag encloses the page title, the icon shown in the browser, the font used, and other information regarding the site’s structure.
- <body> — Within the body are all the elements of the page that appear on the screen, including headings, subheadings, images, tables, forms, and text.
Every tag should be closed with a second tag of the same text preceded by a slash (e.g., </body>). Once this basic structure is set up, the page will already be viewable by opening this file with your browser.
Course to Create a Website from Scratch
The best way to learn to build a website from scratch like a true professional as quickly as possible is to attend a training course focused on this topic. Since creating sophisticated websites requires knowledge of programming languages, learning without dedicated lessons can be challenging.