How to Build a Website from Scratch

For someone who has never created a website before, the task of actually building a website from scratch and then getting that website on the Internet and listed in the major search engines must seem like a daunting task. In this article, how to build a website from scratch, well look at the essential building blocks of any website and then discuss some of the options that new website developers have when constructing their very first website.

Every website that appears on the World Wide Web consists of three things that make it an actual website. Each website whether it is built from scratch or not consists of a domain name, web hosting, and some web based language that allows the web site to be viewed by visitors in their different web browsers. Each of these essential elements must be understood by any beginning web developer so that they can learn how to build a website from scratch.

Domain Names

Domain names are purchased or regis tered at a domain name registrar. Two popular domain name registrars are GoDaddy and Network Solutions. These webites allow visitors to register domain names and these sites also provide services that can help any novice webmaster turn their domain name into an actual website. One of these services is the ability to assign web hosting to a given domain in the users account at the registrar. This brings us to the second essential building block of any website and that is web hosting.

Web Hosting

Web hosting is the process that allows the website you build from scratch to become a unique, viewable location on the World Wide Web. Without hosting, visitors would never be able to see your website. Beginners need to do two things when it comes to web hosting. The first is to select a web hosting company and the second is to inform your domain which hosting company it is assigned to. Some top website hosting companies are BlueHost and Hostmonster so just sticking with either of these is a good way to begin. This second step may be the most confusing for the novice website builder. This second step is called assigning nameservers or setting your domain nameservers. The process itself is relatively simple. Once you have chosen your web hosting company and told them you would like web hosting for your domain, they provide you their nameserver information. It is then necessary to go back to the domain name registrar and set the nameserver s by typing in the nameserver information provided by your web host when you update your DNS..

Building the Website

This is probably the one area where beginners are most likely to become a little overwhelmed. Websites may be built using any number of web based programming languages. They may be hand coded in HTML or constructed by using a website building editor like FrontPage or Dreamweaver. While learning HTML and building websites from scratch is certainly a good way to learn exactly how HTML works, this is very time consuming for beginners and there is a large learning curve. For most beginners, using a tool such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver is the best way to go, although there is somewhat of a learning curve when learning either of these tools, as well. Another option beginners have now when building their own website from scratch is to use software that will actually guide through the website building process, such as Site-Build-It. This software will help beginners with registering domain names, will provide the hosting, and comes equipped with point and click functionality that allows anyone to quickly create web pages without learning the intricacies of web based programming languages or even tolls, such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver. Thats all there is to it. Building a website is not difficult once you understand what each of the essential building blocks are and how they all work together.

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