Monika Sofrenovic is the Marketing Specialist at CIRA. She is a recent graduate of Carleton University with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Marketing.
Building a website from scratch? It’s simpler than you think!
So, you want to create yourself a website, eh? The good news is that building a beautiful site has never been easier or more achievable. Seriously.
We’ll share eight simple steps to help you get started on building a simple but slick and professional website from scratch.
Step 1: Think about what kind of website you want to create
Any worthwhile website has a clear purpose and audience in mind! So, before you dive in and start building, ask yourself: Why am I building a website in the first place, and what am I trying to accomplish?
For example:
- Are you a hobbyist photographer who wants to take their passion online?
- An independent travel blogger documenting the most beautiful, far-flung corners of the planet?
- A small business owner who wants to branch into e-commerce?
Once you’ve nailed down what you do (or offer), now you can start planning the type of website you’ll need.
For example, you might want to create a digital portfolio website to showcase your work, or a digital storefront where you can display products and process transactions.
A great first step here is to check out other similar sites. Take note of what you like or don’t like about them to get some ideas. Surveying competitor websites is also great for spotting the design cues and visual elements that appeal most to you.
Step 2: Pick a web building platform
Web builders are what make creating a website quick, affordable and easy. Even better – there are a ton of great options to choose from – each with their own feature sets and price points.
For an in-depth comparison of the major web building platforms – like Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, and Weebly – check out our guide to web builders!
When choosing a web builder, you’ll want to pay attention to factors like:
Customizability and scalability: Pick the web builder that gives you the greatest ability to tweak and fine-tune your site. A platform like , for instance, offers thousands of open-source plugins that can be used to add all sorts of different functionality.
You also want to be sure your web builder allows you to properly grow and scale your site with your business’ evolving needs.
Business capabilities: Following along from our first point…if you’re planning to sell products or services through your website, then the web builder you choose should offer features like e-commerce functionality, inventory management, marketing emails – and more.
Strong customer support: If you run into issues (and you probably will), it’s good to know your web builder can provide 24/7 on-demand customer support and service.
Speed and security: Your chosen website builder should be able to offer you fast page loading speeds. Why is that important? Slow-loading websites can have a negative impact on both SEO visibility and people leaving your site.
On the security front, a good web building platform should offer tools like SSL certificates, data backups and threat monitoring to safeguard your data and protect you from cyber threats.
Step 3: Pick, search and register your .CA domain name
Once you’ve picked a web building platform, your next step is registering a .CA domain!
First – you’ll need to come up with a name for your .CA. You don’t need to make it complicated; your domain name should be:
- Short (between 5-8 characters)
- Memorable
- Easily typable (if people can’t spell it, they can’t visit it)
- Reflect what your business is or does
Need a few more pointers on domain name creation? Check out our in-depth guide on how to choose a good domain name!
Now that you have your domain name, you need to register it! That’s handled by working with a registrar, the people that reserve and register domain names. There’s a whole list of CIRA-approved registrars for you to choose from! What’s more – many registrars will bundle in other services, like web hosting and professional email. So, be sure to do a little shopping around.
Use our domain search tool below to see if your domain name is available as a .CA today!
A .CA domain declares your business is proudly Canadian
Step 4: Sort out your web hosting
Web hosting is what stores all your website’s data and files. No web host, no website. Some registrars will offer hosting as well, and many web builders such as Wix and Squarespace have hosting built-in.
In other words – you don’t need to go searching far and wide for good, reliable and affordable web hosting.
Step 5: Pick and customize your website template
Depending on what you plan to do with your website (portfolio, e-commerce page, etc.), you should have several different customizable templates to choose from. In many cases, you can even filter templates down by things like industry, interests and functionality.
Working with a template (rather than designing from scratch) is by far the least time-consuming way to get your website up and running.
After you’ve picked a template that works, you can start customizing by adding sections and pages, setting up your desired fonts and colour schemes – and more.
The AI factor: If you’re super short on time or aren’t particularly interested in messing about with templates, you could also just have AI build your site! Just be sure to thoroughly check your site before publishing as AI can make mistakes which could harm your brand.
Check this out: Popular web builders like Squarespace and Wix offer the ability to whip up a custom website layout for you with just a few prompts!
Step 6: Map out your site and create pages
This is where you lay out the basic framework and navigation for your site. What you’re aiming for here is a straightforward, user-friendly experience – not a jumbled, frustrating hall-of-mirrors. Unless, you know, you grew up around travelling carnivals and are into that type of thing.
By having your site mapped out, you can determine how many pages you’ll need ahead of time, and what content will go on those pages – along with whatever other tools, plugins and features you might need (i.e., photo galleries, contact forms, store pages, etc.).
A great place to start is with a well-designed homepage that puts your brand front-and-centre while providing easy, obvious navigation to the various other parts of your website.
Other key pages to include:
- An about/us page (great for laying out your story and establishing trust and credibility)
- Contact us page
- A main “shop” or “services” page
- Frequently asked questions (FAQ) or customer testimonials and reviews page
Step 7: Build good, engaging and SEO-friendly content
You might have succeeded in building an aesthetically pleasing site…. but if your content is a dense snoozefest, then people won’t stick around.
To create engaging content that connects with your audience, you need to understand what that audience cares about. For example – what specific needs, challenges and anxieties do they have that only you or your products can solve. Understanding this can help you produce content that’s crisp and focused.
Keep SEO top-of-mind: When you’re creating content for your website, pay special attention to the search queries and keywords your customers are using. That way, you can sprinkle keywords into your headlines, meta descriptions and content. Check out more SEO strategies to improve your website’s customer retention here!
Step 8: Publish your amazing creation!
When everything is ready from a design and content perspective, do a quick test to ensure all is looking and behaving as it should. Then – take a deep breath, hit the “publish” button and release your web creation out into the world.
Final note: The “end” is not the end: When your website is published your journey is not yet over. Far from it! You can (and should) make updates to your website content and structure on an ongoing basis to ensure it stays fresh and up to date. The last thing you’d want is for your site to look and feel dated!
Plus – with web analytics – be it from Google or your chosen web builder – you have constant data and insights into what’s resonating with your visitors and what can be improved.
Good luck and happy building!
