

Trying to build a website - Disruptx

I&#x27;m trying to build my first website from scratch, where I will create a online business. I have all the basic ideas of what I want on there etc: However I&#x27;ve never created a website before..Should I use a website hosting company and pay yearly? If so which one..? Do I learn to code? I also aim to add adsense, what are your opinions?
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lsiunsuex
Those are some really broad questions there bud.

I've been building websites professionally for the last 10 years and learning
for the last 14. I never build a website from "scratch" anymore. I start with
Twitter Bootstrap, a previous website, etc...

Step 1: learn HTML. You can open any text editor of your choice, start writing
some HTML, save it as index.html and open it in a web browser. Done. Add a few
more pages and you have a "website"

Step 2: get a host. I like 1and1.com - their basic Linux server is super
cheap. Based on customer needs now a-days it's a toss between digitalocean.com
or rackspace.com based on their needs.

Step 3: if you want your website to do more then just present some images and
text, you'll need to learn some programming. Javascript is a scripting
language - that'll get you some pretty stuff like form submission without page
reloading, fading elements in and out, drop down menus (doable in pure css
also), etc...

For an actual programming language, PHP is widely used; a lot of people like
Ruby, Perl, etc... It's a matter of what your needs are and what you get
comfortable with.

Adding AdSense will be done using Javascript. If you've never built a website,
I'd say thats the least of your concerns right now.

Good luck. I've been "practicing" web development for 14 years now; it's a
constant learning experience.

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Disruptx
I've seen websites promoting sites where you can just edit templates without
ever actually doing the coding yourself, are they worth it if I'm just looking
for a simple website presenting a few images and text, and thanks for the
quick reply, really appreciate it.

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lsiunsuex
Those are for sure an option that's available to you. When a customer asks me
about sites like those I tell them, if they feel that will accomplish their
needs, then by all means, go a head and use them, but those are not the kinds
of websites I build.

[http://beta.p22.com](http://beta.p22.com) will be going live in a week or 2.
This was over 10 months in development for me. You could not build this site
with one of those services.

I kinda gleaned over one of your points - you said "an online business" \- if
you intend to take people's credit card information, you must be experienced
in how to protect that data.

Maybe you should start with wordpress.org - as much as i despise wordpress
websites, there are many plugins available that will probably accomplish what
you need to do.

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Disruptx
Yeah I've seen a few wordpress websites, I'd just like a proper .com that
looks professional. I'm thinking I should use those templated websites. Also,
i'm going to use a Paypal account as it will be more secure. I've just browsed
your site, its brilliant!

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CyberFonic
There's a more basic question to ask yourself.

What is your motivation? (1) to build a business; or (2) to build websites?

If it's (1), then you'd get there faster and with a higher quality result by
contracting out the work. If it's (2) then go down the learning path. You
might not get a viable business up for a while. Building a quality website,
which will capture customers' interest and money is a lot harder than people
claim. That's why good web designers / programmers are able to earn good
money. They get paid for the value and results they create.

Re-read lsiunsuex's answer ... 4 years of learning before going pro. That
confirms Galdwell's observation that it takes 10,000 hours to become competent
at anything worthwhile.

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Disruptx
I'm hoping to create multiple websites as I doubt one will be enough in the
long run. One thing I really don't understand is where will the majority of
traffic come from - if I have zero marketing? Search Engines?

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adnanfasih
Use WordPress pre-designed Theme It will same a lots of your time. Get a
hosting and Use WordPress Plugins (Here are some famous WordPress plugins
might be useful for you: [http://www.cloudways.com/blog/9-wordpress-plugins-
favored-by...](http://www.cloudways.com/blog/9-wordpress-plugins-favored-by-
developers-and-agencies/) )

You will learn the codes when you start working on it. If you're using Adsense
make sure you're targeting a niche market it will help you in long run!

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djrconcepts
Start Here.

Step 1) open a text editor.

Step 2) paste in the following code.

<!doctype html>

<html>

    
    
      <head>
    
        <title>my first website</title>
    
      </head>
    
      <body>
    
        <p>hello world</p>
    
      </body>
    

</html>

Step 3) save the file as index.html

Step 4) open the file in your internet browser.

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troymc
If you're curious about HTML, CSS, etc. then by all means, go ahead and learn
the basics and build a simple site. (The other comments give some pointers.)

If you just want a simple business website, then you don't need to learn any
of that; just sign up with one of the hosting + CMS all-in-one services like
Squarespace, Weebly, or Drupal Gardens.

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djrconcepts
I recommend starting with a text editor and a browser. May I recommend Sublime
Text and Google Chrome. Then, you will want to learn HTML + CSS. After you are
comfortable with html and css, move on to Javascript... Before using a website
hosting company, test your site locally with an AMP local development server.

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a3voices
I'd download xampp and run the website first on your computer. When it's ready
to release, then start paying for hosting somewhere.

First code the HTML, then do the Javascript and backend.

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asselinpaul
you can host a basic site on [https://neocities.org/](https://neocities.org/)
for free!

Learn HTML, CSS and Javascript (in that order), perhaps using
[http://www.codecademy.com/](http://www.codecademy.com/)

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Disruptx
Thanks! I'll check it out, and will follow that order too hopefully.

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xauronx
Codeacademy is great if you actually want to learn to code. You should be
aware (and I'm sure you are) that you'll probably have at least a year of
learning before you create something from scratch that's good enough to be
visible to others. I'm all for learning for the sake of learning, but if you
want to get something quick and professional up, you'd be better using
drupal/wordpress with a theme and ecommerce plugin, finding a service that
will create an online store for you, or hiring someone/finding a partner.

