How to create a website from scratch in 11 steps (for beginners)

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25 Mar 2024

No matter what type of site you want to make, your website should represent you or your business in the best light possible. This is often easier said than done; it’s not uncommon to get burn out when building a website from scratch or using a website builder.

Fortunately, this guide will show you how to build a website from scratch while maintaining your sanity. Keep reading for expert tips on getting started, or check out our website launch checklist for additional steps on getting your site publish-ready.

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How to make a website from scratch

01. Decide what type of website you want to make

Any website you create begins with a clear website goal and target audience. By identifying your niche and purpose, you can take steps towards building a site that not only looks pretty but performs as you hope it will.

Everything from your site layout to content should ladder up to your intended impact. For example, a portfolio website will naturally look different from an online store. A portfolio will include pages showcasing your work and a prominent “Contact Me” form—whereas an online store will have product pages, payment pages and maybe even print-on-demand integrations that are intended to monetize your website.

Depending on your goals, there are different types of websites that you may want to consider creating and various elements worth adding to your site:

Note that one site may serve multiple purposes—in which case, you'll want to be very clear about the primary goal of your site. For example, Cleverchefs' catering company uses its site to share its brand story. While the site serves to attract new bookings, its main focus is to educate existing prospects on what sets Cleverchefs apart. Since their website represents the ethos of their company so well, it has become an incredibly helpful tool in closing clients who share similar values and appreciate what they do.

Expert tip from business owner Nick Collins, founder of Cleverchefs

When I ask my clients why they chose us over our competitors, they usually say it's because of our website. I think they can really feel our passion through the way we connect with them and stand out as a creative catering company.

02. Choose your website builder

A website builder is a popular and affordable solution that enables you to setup, design, personalize, publish and manage a website without having to use code. The best platforms help you get a site setup and launched quicker and without fuss—while also offering 24/7 support and built-in features that make scaling easier.

Expert tip from Esin D. Habif, product marketing lead (outbound) at Wix.com

What often gets forgotten when talking about choosing a website builder is the capabilities of the infrastructure that’s promised to you—the reliability of the hosting, the level of security that’s in order to protect your visitor’s data, and of course your site's speed. Even if infrastructure is not the first thought that comes to mind when it comes to making a website, if it’s not robust enough, it can cause large headaches for website owners when trying to scale a website later on.

With the right website builder, you won’t have to deal with the mountains of minutia that other DIY site owners may face (e.g., installing security features by hand, fixing bugs on your own, etc.). Low-code-no-code software takes care of web development for you, so you don't need to know how to code to customize your site. Modern-day website builders will also include AI-powered capabilities, allowing you to work faster and smarter than ever.

That said, while there are several solid players in this website-building industry, you’ll want to make sure that you do your due diligence before investing in one. Making the wrong choice could leave you with serious regrets down the road.
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Here are some key factors to consider so that you end up with a website builder you love:

Customizability: A good website builder should offer the customization you need to start and design your website according to your unique brand and vision. For example, do you envision creating a static website or a dynamic one? Look for builders that offer a range of layout options, as well as the flexibility to tweak the design and functionality to your liking. Wix, for instance, offers hundreds of designer-made templates in addition to AI-powered site creation that can be easily modified for your brand. Furthermore, its WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor lets you preview your changes in real time as you go.
Back-office tools/business capabilities: Beyond just website design, when it comes to starting a website, a website builder should provide the back-office tools that you need. This might include features like eCommerce functionality if you need to create your own eCommerce website, inventory management, appointment scheduling and customer relationship management (CRM) tools. Create your list of must-haves and the tasks that need automating as you evaluate your options.
AI capabilities: AI is all the rage these days—and for good reason. When you’ve got a full-time job or business to run, AI tools can simplify the process of creating and maintaining your website. For example, Wix’s AI site builder can help you produce a fully functional website in minutes. It makes sophisticated decisions on your behalf regarding your web design, site copy and user experience, while setting you up with the right business apps; you can always edit your site as desired, but can save yourself hours of setup time.”
Third-party integrations: Chances are, you already have a favorite platform for emails, advertising or other functions—or perhaps you’re a retailer who wants to expand to new sales channels like Amazon. Seek website builders that integrate with your favorite tools and channels, or that offer sufficient alternatives. Explore your options in marketplaces like Wix’s App Market. (Note that you can also use Wix Headless to access Wix tools from any application.)
Security: Website security is paramount to protect your site and user data. A reliable website builder should offer security features like SSL certificates, regular backups and security monitoring to safeguard against cyber threats and data breaches.
Speed: Website loading speed significantly impacts user experience and SEO rankings. Choose a website builder known for fast-loading websites. Look for built-in capabilities like content delivery networks (CDNs), which speed up content delivery; streamlined code; and image compression.
Reliability: A reliable website builder should provide consistent uptime and minimal downtime. Read reviews and check the builder's uptime statistics to give yourself peace of mind knowing that your website will be accessible to visitors around the clock.
Hosting: Many website builders offer web hosting services as part of their packages. Evaluate the hosting infrastructure, including server locations, scalability and performance, to ensure that it aligns with your website's needs.
Support: Most of us don’t realize how important support is until it’s dire. As you evaluate your options, you’ll want to check that customer care is accessible in your time zone and that you can resolve issues before they snowball. Look for website builders that offer various support channels, including a knowledge base and self-help resources. For example, Wix has a 24/7 support team as well as a robust library of how-to articles, YouTube videos and communities to help you find whatever answers you’re looking for.

Expert tip from Esin D. Habif, product marketing lead (outbound) at Wix.com

As a creator or entrepreneur, you're often wearing multiple hats. You're designing the website, you're optimizing for SEO. This means you need a website builder that makes it easy and very learnable for you to do all of those things, on the same platform and still deliver as if working with experts in those fields.

03. Pick your template

The visual layout of your website is its most important element. You’ll want to take your time exploring your options before settling on the visual imagery and design. To get started, take a look at this database of professional website templates to see which one fits your vision best.

Whether you’re looking for portfolio templates, model portfolio examples or templates for an online store, there are dozens of customizable options to choose from. These range from simple website templates to more complex ones.

As you plan out your site, note what your competitor sites look like and check out other visual platforms, like Pinterest and Instagram. All of these examples will provide insight into what fonts, colors and web design styles and trends your audience gravitates towards. However, avoid copying what’s already been done. Rather, gain an understanding of the visual language you want to pursue and check that it resonates with your intended audience.

Expert tip from Anna Suntsov, blog and social team lead at Wix.com

The most important thing before building a website is good research. Know what you want to do and collect strong inspirations that will contribute to your design.

Alternatively, build your website with AI

If the process of choosing and customizing a template feels daunting, or you simply don’t have the time, Wix’s AI website builder can simplify your work even further. Just answer a few simple questions about your goals and Wix will create a custom-made, fully functioning site for you in minutes.

The AI site builder combines our decades' worth of experience in web design with the best tech that AI has to offer. The result: a builder that not only creates a site that's appealing to your customers, but also equips you with all the web pages and widgets you need to run your business.

Try our AI website builder for free.

04. Customize your template to your brand

Your website is the face of your personal or business brand and is often the first touchpoint that people have with you, so you’ll want to make sure that it's uniquely yours. Before you get lost in the details, establish clear branding guidelines to keep your anchored. These guidelines should shape your site design—as well as the nitty-gritty details like the tone of your microcopy, your logo placement and the color of your buttons.

A great way to get started is by creating a simple idea map with a pen and paper. In the center of your map, write down the type of site you plan to make. Think about the words and phrases that describe the vibe you’re going for. Write each phrase in separate circles stemming from your initial idea.

Once you’ve broken down your brand into individual components, it will be much easier to tackle larger tasks. Reflect on this map as you design your first logo or ruminate on the right types of imagery to include on your site.

Remember, a well-designed website is visually appealing, easy to navigate and aligned with your brand identity. Taking the time to get this right can pay dividends in the long run.

From a more tactical perspective, here are several steps you’ll want to take when personalizing your site.

Craft a website color theme

The use of color is not only for making your site look nice. Your color palette should align with your brand identity. Color psychology is important to take into consideration, as colors have the power to affect and evoke specific emotions and behaviors.

For example, blue has become a common color used in branding corporations and businesses, particularly in the tech field—most likely because blue is associated with stability and reliability. However, blue can also reflect sadness, hence the term “feeling blue.” Orange, for example, is generally paired with feelings of freshness and vitality. Keep in mind that the feeling correlated with a color also depends on the shade and what other colors it’s paired with. These are both important points to consider when choosing your website color scheme.

To get started, consider your website goals. Think about the vibe you want to create and the emotions you want to convey, especially if you’re starting a business. The more aligned your web design is with your overall branding, the more people are going to connect with your company and your website. And the stronger the personal connection, the more time they’ll spend on your site. This will have enormous effects on conversion rates and overall interest and engagement with your brand.

Keep in mind, choosing your color theme doesn’t mean you’re stuck with that palette forever, so try out different options and see what speaks to you. With Wix, for example, you can adjust your site’s colors at any point by clicking on the Site Design icon on the left side of your editing screen. From there, you can choose your base colors, accent colors, text colors and more.

Pick the right web fonts

Just like colors, typography can also play a key role in evoking feelings. When choosing the best fonts for your website, there are a number of things to consider.

First, like all other elements on your site, your font choice should match your branding. Browse different typefaces to find one that reflects your unique personality, whether you’re youthful and contemporary or have a more traditional approach.

The three primary types of fonts include:

Serif: Fonts with a small line attached to the ends of each letter.
Sans serif: More standard, block-like typography without small lines at the ends of each character.
Script: Has a more elegant feel, with each letter connecting fluidly from one to the next.

You can also check out our article on the best fonts for websites for more details on how to choose the best one for your site.

Whatever you go for, make sure that your font is readable on both desktop and mobile devices. Remember to keep in mind Google safe fonts. Pro tip: When it comes to fonts, remember to stay consistent throughout your website. On Wix, you can easily accomplish this by going to the Site Design icon on your side panel and managing text through the Text Theme tab. That way, your content will appear uniformly across the site.

Add other branding elements

When it comes to creating a professional site that wows, the magic is often in the details. As you look to strengthen the branding on your site, don’t overlook these elements:

Logo: Place your logo prominently in your header and as needed across your site. Wix's logo maker simplifies the logo design process, allowing you to create a logo that represents your brand and perfectly matches the aesthetic of your site.
Favicon: A favicon is a small icon that appears in the browser tab to the left of your URL when someone visits your site. Adding a favicon to your Wix website is a simple process that adds another layer of professionalism to your user experience. Just go to your site editor, click on “Settings” in the top left of your screen and scroll down to “Favicon.” Here, you can upload, adjust and save your favicon image. Then, just publish your site and behold—your brand new favicon.

More tips: Learn the ins and outs of building a website using the Wix Editor with this online course.

05. Build your site structure

A pretty site means nothing if it’s clunky and difficult to navigate. Before releasing your site to the world, check that your site makes it easy for visitors to find the exact pages that they’re looking for. There are several main components to bear in mind, as listed below.

Create your sitemap

Your sitemap is the blueprint of your site’s architecture. It includes all the pages and content you plan to create, so web crawlers like Google can better find and understand your pages. A sitemap typically needs updating whenever you add pages or move pages around, but systems like Wix automatically create and update your sitemap for you.

Optimize your navigation menu

Your navigation menu guides your human visitors to the right pages on your site. It’s usually displayed as a horizontal or vertical bar on your site with links to several different pages. As a general rule of thumb, your site should be organized in a way that enables a visitor to move from one page to another in three clicks or less.

But your main menu does not—and should not have to—include all of your site pages. Link to the most important or popular pages from here, and provide an easy way for visitors to get back to where they started. (One of the best ways of achieving this is by adding a clickable logo at the top of your page that leads visitors back to the homepage.)

Check how your favorite sites design their navigation menus for inspiration. You may, for instance, want to include a mega menu that’s more visual in nature and allows users to hover over a main menu category to see subcategories of links.

Alternatively, if you’re creating a simple website with fewer pages, you can have a simple anchor menu at the top of your page that links to specific pages or specific sections on a page.

You’ll also want to spend time optimizing a mobile version of your menu to make sure everything translates clearly to phones and tablets.

To set up a menu in the Wix editor, just head to your side panel on the left side of the editor and click on “+” at the top of the panel to add an element. Then, select "Menu & Anchor" from the drop-down and choose your desired style.

Expert tip from Adi Huri, product manager at WOW for Wix.com

Keep in mind that the menu is the map of your website. By adding the right pages to your menu, in the right order, it can be the heart of your website’s success.

Don’t ignore your footer

While your navigation menu is the primary navigation tool visitors will use to traverse your site, you can use your footer strategically to provide additional links and information. Your footer offers prime real estate to reinforce important content or show other areas of your site that your main menu doesn’t cover (think: contact information and direct links to your social media profiles).

In the Wix editor, you can easily drag and drop widgets and other elements directly into the footer. You can also easily adjust its size by dragging the border up or down.

06. Add your pages

Once you’ve mapped out what pages you want on your site, it’s time to create them. Here’s a quick step-by-step of how to do it in the Wix editor.

Open Page Manager: Click the "Pages & Menu" icon in the left side panel to access the Page Manager.
Add page: Click the blue "+ Add Page" button to create a new page and click on whatever template suits your needs.
Name your page: Once the page is added to your site, the page name will be highlighted in the left side panel for you to edit.
Customize: Customize the newly created page by adding your content, adjusting the layout and refining the design.
Manage pages: Drag and drop pages in the side panel to rearrange them or click on the ellipsis icon to the right of each page title to duplicate, delete, rename, hide and more.
Subpages: Create dropdown menus by adding subpages to your main pages, enhancing site navigation.
Save and publish: Save your work regularly and, when ready, hit the "Publish" button to make your changes live on your website.

When designing web pages for your professional website, consider adding these pages:

An inviting homepage. This is the face of your website, which means that you have to make it beautiful, yet informational. You should strive to present all the crucial elements right from the get-go. This way, clients will instantly understand who you are and what you do.
A shop or gallery. This is the center of your site where visitors can browse through your products or services. Create product listings, manage inventory and process transactions all from one centralized dashboard. Dedicate time to write product descriptions that will grab potential customers’ attention. The same goes for your product photography to ensure that your items are displayed in their very best light.
A personable About page. Use this page as your online business card. It’s the spot where you can present who you are, what you stand for, your strengths, values and any other crucial information you think your visitors should know about your team and your business.
An easy-to-find contact section. Don’t leave your site visitors astray by making them search for your contact information. Dedicate a page to list contact numbers, email, social links and any other way users can get in touch with you. In addition, it’s a good practice to add your essential contact details on your website footer.
An engaging blog. By starting a blog, you’ll be able to continuously add regular and fresh content to your website. You’ll have the chance to establish yourself as an expert in your field while giving your SEO efforts a well-deserved boost. Give our blog maker a go, when you're ready to start.

Expert tip from Allison Lee, editor-in-chief at Wix.com

Blogs don’t get enough credit for their long-term advantages. In the long run, a blog can serve as a huge traffic driver and a way to connect with future customers (case in point: our Wix Blog is the first touchpoint for millions of people who may have never stumbled onto our site otherwise). That said, a blog is a long-term commitment—it requires a well thought-out strategy and consistent maintenance.

An interactive membership area. Creating a membership area on your website serves the dual purpose of monetization and user engagement. Various membership models, like drip-feed, all-in and fixed-term, can be employed to monetize your content. You can also offer premium content, online services or downloadable materials as incentives for users to subscribe.
Easy-to-access online courses. The growing popularity of virtual classes presents an opportunity to generate income by launching a paid online course. This approach allows you to monetize your existing website traffic. Design courses that align with your expertise and cater to your audience's needs. Ensure the content is relevant and unique.
An informative FAQ page. Save yourself and your clients some time (and frustration) by including an FAQ page to provide answers to questions that may naturally come up as visitors browse your site.
An online booking system. Allow customers to schedule and pay for appointments or classes directly from your site. This way, you can spend less time playing phone tag and more time growing your empire.
A testimonials page. This provides you with the perfect place in which previous, satisfied customers can sing your praises. Nothing is more impressive to a potential client or buyer than positive, unbiased reviews.

07. Fill your pages with engaging content

As people interact with your website, you'll want to make sure you're grabbing their attention and keeping it. The best way to do this is by optimizing and diversifying how you relay information.

Start by thinking about the various types of content you can host on your website. There's text, photography, videos, animation and so much more. Once you have a grasp on all of your options, it’s time to decide how to organize it.

Consider your content hierarchy

For your visitors to feel comfortable and at home while browsing, it’s important to keep your site as organized as possible. Think about hierarchy here: you’ll want your most eye-catching and important content to be placed above the fold (in other words, the area that’s visible on your website without visitors having to scroll).

Expert top tip from Amanda Weiner, CRO expert at Wix.com

Site hierarchy and the information you provide your visitors with is more than just how your site looks. This will also directly impact how many visitors ultimately buy your products. You’ll want to be clear about your offerings through your content, your visuals and your buttons right from the get go to ensure visitors recognize your value right away.

Furthermore, take note that some of your readers are only skimming your content. To make their lives easier and to make your content stand out, consider how you can optimize your design so your audience can get the most out of your content.
To do so, consider which written information can be made more digestible and visual with the use of media features (videos, images and animations, infographics for example). Make certain headers and other important bits of information stand out more than others by opting for a larger font or a bright color that contrasts with the background.

Looking to create content for your website? Consider using AI tools to speed up the process for you. Read all about Wix's next steps on AI text generation for websites and AI website creation. Or, get started by understanding more about how to build a website with AI.

Consider SEO

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the practice of optimizing your site so your pages can rank higher on search engine result pages. When launching a new website from scratch, it’s vital to set your site up for success so it can be found by Google. The more exposure you get, the more likely it is for prospective clients to find your site and book your services, buy your products or read your blog.

Expert tip from Mordy Oberstein, head of SEO branding at Wix.com

Leveraging SEO and integrating it into the website creation process is vital. Various studies have shown that organic search is the single greatest provider of traffic to websites - with that being even more pronounced within the B2B context. To that, traffic from organic search, when done correctly is essentially built to last (with proper maintenance over time, of course) and forms a crucial part of a site’s long-term growth.