How To Create A Website On A Budget!

This post will show you step-by-step, how you can create your own website on a budget – from scratch.

Without sounding too dramatic…  being able to create my own website from scratch, changed my life.

When I came online looking for some way to make some extra money, I had absolutely zero knowledge how to do it.

I had no graphic design skills, no coding ability  – and I presumed it would be difficult and expensive to build a website.

Actually, it is both simple and affordable to get started & I will show you how!

Can You Create A Website On A Budget?

Absolutely.  

You can even start a website for free if you like.  

But, I strongly suggest that you start off on the right foot, by purchasing a domain that you own.

For many reasons, having your own website that you own from the beginning, is a very good idea.

If you intend to ever profit from your website down the road, (and I’m guessing you do!) then you’ll really want to own it.

When you go with a free provider, they own your content.

They have the power to shut you down at any given time and without warning.

Additionally, there are often strict rules when it comes to making money from your site on these platforms.

If you own your own website, you have complete freedom to run it however you wish.

So, while it may be tempting to start for free and that is something you can do – you will absolutely want to switch to your own domain later…

so you may as well just do it now.

It’s cheap to do and it makes total sense.

What Do You Need To Get Started?

You’ll just need a few simple things before we start.

• You’ll want a little time – maybe half an hour to set this up.

• You will need some very basic computer skills – the fact you’re reading this blog post at all means you’re knowledgeable enough!

• A credit or debit card, so you can purchase your domain name and hosting account… this will be a very small investment.

Are you ready?  Let’s go and build a website!

What Is Your Niche?

Before we go ahead and get your site set up, I’m presuming that you already know what your website or blog is going to be about?

You want to be sure that whatever topic you create your website around, there is some demand for.

You also want to be sure that you have a reasonable chance of making a profit in the niche that you’ve chosen.

 If You Haven’t Chosen Your Niche – Some Useful Posts:

•  Choosing a niche, passion vs profit.
• What is a niche website
• Finding your blogging niche
• 101 ideas on what to start a blog about

Once your niche is decided, you need to think about a name for your website.

All you need then is a hosting company and WordPress – I will go over these now, step-by-step.

Affordable Hosting

To have a website at all, you need somewhere that you can host your website.

For hosting, if you’re looking for the absolute budget option you could try Host Gator.

Many people looking to create a website on a tight budget choose them for the following reasons:

• They have affordable prices.

• Monthly pricing available, (so many require you to pay for a year upfront, which can feel really daunting when you’re just starting out).

• Easy to contact them via live chat and you should get a quick response.

• Unlimited options, where you can have unlimited domains and WordPress installs on one plan – very useful.  As well as unlimited brand width, subdomains and FTP accounts.

• Installing WordPress with Host Gator is super easy, just a matter of clicking a couple of buttons!

• You can sign up with them from as little as under $3 a month.

• They have a 45 day money back guarantee.

If you’re just starting out and you’re on a budget, Host Gator is an option for you.

Getting Started With Host Gator:

So, to get the ball running, head over to the Host Gator homepage here.

Right away upon arrival, you should be confronted by a selection of their plans,  which you can see in the photo just below.

Check out the plans and see which one would work for you.

Personally, I’d go with the Baby Plan, because it allows you to purchase unlimited domains, on the single account and the difference in price for this is minimal.

Purchasing Your Domain Name & Hosting.

You may have thought about what you want your website to be called, but first of all you will need to check that it’s available.

After you click “buy now,” on the package you’d like to choose, you will get the option of adding a domain that you already own, or choosing a new domain.

A .com domain name, (such as: lovewebsites.com) will vary in price, but will normally be between $6-$12 for a year.

When you attempt to “register a new domain,” it’s very likely that what you initially choose won’t be available, so you’ll need to tweak it a bit.

I recommend you go for a “.com” or a “.org”  – but don’t go for country specific domains, or obscure ones, (unless your business is specifically country related, then you may want to consider that).

useful post:  should I go for a .com or country code domain?

Once your domain name is sorted – now you need to enter your billing info.

It’s pretty straight-forward, as you can see above.

From here, you can decide on which hosting package is right for you.  The longer you choose your package for, the lower your monthly payment will be.

There will also be a number of other options, including domain privacy.

Domain privacy is one additional extra that I strongly recommend you do purchase.

It’s not expensive and ensures that all your personal info STAYS personal!

All that you need from here on is to follow the basic instructions to complete set up, including generating your password.

Now, comes the fun part – installing WordPress and getting your website online!

Installing WordPress With Host Gator:

In order to install WordPress, you just need to hop over to your control panel and scroll down until you find the software/services section.

Then click on, “quick install,” and from there you can select, “WordPress.”

Go ahead and click the install button, select your domain name, tap in the basic info it asks you for…

…and hey presto, WordPress will install in a matter of seconds.

You can also see the step-by-step process clearly explained, in the tutorial video below.

Ready to rock & roll?  Click here to sign up and get started.

Creating Content On WordPress.

This is where the fun really starts and you can start to create your own content.

Presumably, your mind is already overflowing with great ideas that you want to write about.

However, trouble coming up with content inspiration down the road, is a big reason why so many people quit their blogs and websites.

Often this is before they’ve seen any success with it!

Here are some helpful posts that may kick start your inspiration:

• How to write fast content for your website.
• How to write your first blog post.
• 50 ideas for blog posts.

The Traffic Game.

Without traffic, a website is a lonely soul.

Without traffic, there are no visitors and without visitors – you have no business.

While there are many ways, (free and paid) to generate traffic – the way I started, was by learning SEO, (search engine optimization).

Don’t panic, it’s really not half as complicated, nor as mysterious as it may sound!

However, learning SEO basics could result in hundreds and thousands of visitors to your website every month – and that’s free traffic.

The difference between using SEO techniques and not, could mean the difference between being found on the 1st page of google – to not being found at all.

I’m now on page 1 of Google for hundreds of search terms and I never would have managed that without SEO.

If you’re interested in learning the basics of SEO, as well as learning how you can start earning money from your website, (hosting included) this is where I got started.  

Some useful SEO related posts:

• 7 SEO content writing tips.
• SEO content writing explained
• SEO basics – 8 essentials for site optimization.

So, as well as getting started with SEO, set yourself up on your favourite social media platforms.

Seek out other people in your niche and start to reach out to others – show you appreciate their content by sharing it and leaving comments.

Show Me The Money!

Once you get a following and some traffic to your website or blog, it’s time to think about making some money.

Now, I don’t want to sugar coat it – many people do not make a penny for months.

I first made my first dollar, (actually I am pretty sure it was $5) after around 3 months on the first website I created.

When you first see a trickle of cash coming in, can depend on many factors including  –

• Whether you already have some experience.

• How often you’re publishing content.

• How much you promote your content.

• How you’re monetizing, (via Ads, your own products or affiliate marketing, for example).

One of the easiest ways to monetize your website is from affiliate marketing – I made my first money online via the amazon affiliate program.

When I first came online, I had never even heard of affiliate marketing, (this is where I learnt) – but it’s straight forward and simple to learn.

In a nutshell, it’s where you promote other peoples products or services – and receive a commission each time a sale is made.

However you do it, learning how to make your first dollar with your website is just the beginning and you’ll want to continue to learn and grow over time.

Some other things you’ll want to think about learning as you go forward are…

• Growing an email list.

• Paid advertising.

• YouTube marketing.

• Social media marketing.

• Guest posting.

To name just a few…

But the most important thing of all, is just to get started and take action.

A majority of people never even get started – and a huge number after that, start and then quit shortly after.

Don’t be that person!

Having a plan of action and a schedule can really help you stay on the right path – and tracking your progress can really help too.

When you’re plodding along day by day, it can be hard to see your progress.

But if you track it and then look back a few months down the line, you can be amazed at how far you’ve come.

So, write a tonne of content, learn some basic SEO skills, share your content and connect with others, who have the benefit of experience.

Also… be prepared to be in this for the long haul!

Very few websites will achieve overnight success.  It can be a very gradual process and requires a long-term, ongoing commitment on your part.

But you’re up for the challenge right?

Great, let me know in the comments how you’re getting on!

All the best,