I have been building websites since 2010. The funny thing is: I never went to school to learn how to build websites. I have very little to no knowledge about web design languages like HTML, CSS, and PHP.
And yet I have been able to build complex websites for other people such as e-commerce, job board, membership, community, and corporate. Would you like to know how to do it?
You Ken Do It
Right now I’m going to reveal the way I’m doing it. Everything. And I’m going to make it very simple for you to understand. Let’s not waste time and get into it right away! I promise you’ll not be disappointed.
First, go to Namecheap where you can get a domain name. A domain name is essentially your website’s equivalent of a physical address. It is the address of your website that people type in the browser to visit your website. For example, kenjie.me will bring you to my website.
A domain name takes the form of two main elements. For example, the domain name Facebook.com consists of:
1. the website’s name (Facebook) and
2. the domain name extension (.com).
For more information about domain names, please read this article.
So what makes a good domain name?
Generally speaking, you’ll want something memorable, brandable, and easy for people to type and pronounce. It’s also smart to avoid anything too long or overly specific.
Example:
- facebook.com
- tiktok.com
- twitter.com
- foodpanda.com
Which domain extension is better?
A .com domain name is the most common extension and still generally carries more significant value for companies. When running an online business, .com will do the trick. However, it’s often not that simple with .com’s limited availability. If you can’t secure your domain of choice with the .com extension, alternative domain extension options (.org, .net, .me, .ph) can help put your site on the map.
How to get a domain name
Your domain name is simply your website’s name. To get one, go to Namecheap, sign up, and make sure to set the currency in USD (US Dollars).
Update your profile, your personal info, and most importantly add your debit or credit card by going to Billing then Payment. Your debit card should have Visa or Mastercard logo on it for it to work.
There is another available option where you can use PayPal as a method of payment. Once your card is set up, you are now ready to build your website.
You are now ready to build your website
Go back to Namecheap’s homepage. If you have decided on the name of your site, then type it in the search bar then hit search. For example, I want my website’s name to be:
- www.ilovewebsites.com.
Let’s check if it is available and how much it is.
As you can see www.ilovewebsites.com is already taken. It says it was registered in 2003. But the .net and .org, however, are still there for you to grab. How much is www.ilovewebsites.net? It’s $10.98 for the FIRST year. When you renew, it will be $12.98 per year.
On the other hand, www.ilovewebsites.org is cheaper for the first year at $9.18 and $12.98 when you renew.
If you think ilovewebsites.net is a good choice, click add to cart. When you hit add to cart, the total amount of your purchase appears down below. By the way, why is it now showing $11.16 instead of $10.98? Click on the View Item to see the breakdown.
ICANN, which stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is a non-profit organization that was established in the United States in 1998 to help maintain the security of the Internet, and allow it to be usable by all.
ICANN charges a mandatory annual fee of $0.18 for each year of domain registration, renewal, or transfer. I assume it’s now clear to you. Now, let’s move on.
After clicking add to cart, more options should be showing up. Under FREQUENTLY BOUGHT TOGETHER, I want you to focus on just 2 things:
- SSL
- Managed WordPress Hosting
Secure sockets layer or SSL
Let’s talk about SSL first. SSL is an acronym for “secure sockets layer” which is a type of web security that protects internet sites. They are especially important for websites that store sensitive information like names, contact information, payment details, and more. SSL is mandatory. You should get one. Please add SSL to your cart. It costs $4.98 per year.
For sites with SSL encryption the lock icon and “https” are shown. Again take note, a lock icon appears near the top right corner if the website uses SSL.
Managed WordPress Hosting
Wait. You probably have never heard of WordPress. No worries. Right now I’m gonna tell you what it is: It’s the best tool you can use to build websites.
To know more about it, check out this excellent article (for beginners) that explains what WordPress is and the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com
Now let’s go back to Managed WordPress Hosting.
First things first, what exactly is hosting? Well, simply put, hosting (or web hosting) is a service you need to store data and make your website accessible online (i.e. accessible to people using the internet). Hosting is a service you buy from a company like Namecheap.
Most people choose a hosting provider based on price but when you care about performance and SEO, that’s a bad idea. I’m guessing you’re not looking for the cheapest, you’re looking for the best right?
With managed WordPress hosting, you save a lot of time as you don’t have to mess with the cPanel, FTP, or phpMyAdmin and all that dirty-techie stuff you know nothing about! You can keep your focus on designing and providing content for your website.
Here’s the good news! Namecheap’s EasyWP Managed WordPress Hosting is one of the best and the most affordable! And I have been using and loving it for years! Here’s what Namecheap says about their managed WordPress hosting:
Optimized and Super-Fast Hosting
Imagine your WordPress website going live in minutes, with everything ready to go. No need to worry about navigating old cPanel interfaces or figuring out how to install services. We do it all for you in one click. With EasyWP WordPress hosting plans you save time and money.
EasyWP also takes care of the security of your WordPress site so that it’s safe from hackers and malware. Read this to know how cool EasyWP managed WordPress hosting is.
Which plan is best for you
If you are a newbie to blogging, I suggest you take the EasyWP Starter, then upgrade to either Turbo or Supersonic depending on how successful you have become.
So, choose EasyWP Starter. If you choose to get billed monthly for 3.88USD then you can take advantage of the 1 month FREE hosting offered by EasyWP. But I don’t recommend this.
I suggest you choose the yearly plan which is $22.88 for the first year and $29.88 afterwards. This is the plan I always use myself until today. 10GB of SSD storage and 50k visitors per month.
If for some reason, you’re seeing either the Turbo or Supersonic price in the Under Frequently Bought section, don’t worry, you can change it during checkout.
Just click click on WordPress Hosting to get it added to your cart. By the way, pricing changes all the time. The price you are seeing now may be different later on.
Professional Personal Email
You probably have Gmail or some other free email account already. While that email is perfectly fine, it might not look very good when used for any sort of professional purpose. A much better alternative is to set up a custom email address under your own domain name like hello@kenjie.me instead of hello@gmail.com.
What I like about it is you get a fast, secure, and reliable email system FREE for the first 2 months. It means you get an email account right now without paying.
Yes, get it now. Pay later after two months. Now DO NOT click on Professional Email you are seeing in the frequently bought together section. Instead scroll up and click on where it says: Email.
With the Starter plan, you can have one professional business mailbox FREE for two months. If you’re starting out, the Starter Plan (one mailbox) is perfectly fine. Make sure to toggle on FREE TRIAL option to take advantage of the FREE-for-two-months email account.
Down below, if you don’t want to take advantage of the FREE email for two months, and instead you just want to pay upfront for the good-for-one-year plan, then select Bill Yearly. Instead of paying the regular price of $11.88, you get a discount and pay only $10.10. In the second year, take note, you pay $11.88.
After you have decided either you go for the two-month trial or the bill yearly plan, go ahead and click on: Get Email.
You’ll then be taken to the Select Domain page where I need you to click on I want to use a domain in my cart option.
You’ll be presented with a dropdown option where you can see your website domain name you chose earlier. In my case, it’s ilovewebsites.net.
Go ahead select it. Then, press continue.
You’ll be now taken to the Personal Email page. Make sure to set the mailbox quantity to just 1. If you have chosen the two-month trial, you should see your cart’s subtotal being: 0 or FREE.
Now, click add to cart.
Item Breakdown
Your page should now be showing exactly the same as below. Make sure the following are correct :
- Domain Registration should be set to 1 year with autorenew toggle enabled.
- Domain Privacy enabled. It’s FREE forever! No worries.
- EasyWP should be set to STARTER YEARLY.
- Starter Email can be changed (dropdown option) either to 2 months FREE or pay upfront: $10.10 for the first year. You decide which is convenient for you.
- Postive SSL should be set to 1 year.
There’s something important I need you to remember. If your website is growing successful, you need to take advantage of PremiumDNS. Your website is all the more secure when you enable it.
If you are starting from scratch, there’s no need for it yet. So just skip it and then click Confirm Order.
Debit/Credit Card or PayPal
If you opt to pay using your debit or credit card, this is how the page should look like.
If you however decide to use your PayPal account, then the image below is how it should look like. Make sure to check the Terms & Agreements before making your payment. The total amount as of yet is $39.02. When you click on Pay Now or Check Out with PayPal you’ll see bank processing fees being added. Don’t worry, not much.
Payment Done
After successful payment, check your email. You should get a receipt from Namecheap that looks like this:
Website Now Ready To Set Up
Go back to your dashboard and click on Apps.
Choose and click EasyWP.
Now follow these 5 important steps:
- You should now be seeing an interface which is pretty clean. All you have to do is click “Set up WordPress.” (There is 1 website available to set up).
- Once done, you will see the option to write the name of your website.
- Now, choose a domain name for your website. Since you have a domain name registered with Namecheap, choose the second option.
- In the next step, you can choose several plugins to install. This is totally optional. I want you to skip this step and continue.
- Lastly, you’ll be asked to review the installation details. To proceed with the installation, check the details and click Continue.
Your WordPress website will be ready in a few seconds. Once the installation is completed, you will receive an email with the access details to your contact email address. That’s it!
