To build your own website you will need:

1. A domain name for your website
   

Your website needs a name. It’s called ‘domain name’ and it is the online address of your website like www.yourwebsite.com. All domain names worldwide need to be registered with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) through authorized registrants. You need to buy and register your domain name with a domain name registrant like NameCheap or Godaddy.

But wait! Don’t head out to buy your domain name yet! If you want your website to rank high on Google, you should read first how to select a website name the search engines will love.

2. A web hosting account where your website files will be saved

Why do I need a web hosting company? Can’t I store my website files on my own computer? Unfortunately not. In order to get your website on the internet, you will need a web hosting company, no matter whether you create your website yourself, or have a professional web design company do it for you.

A web hosting company has special web servers running specific web hosting programs that make sure your website is accessible on the world wide web and ideally safe from hackers. Unless your computer has such programs installed, you cannot use it as a web server, and will have to pay one of these companies for ‘website hosting’. There are literally thousands of web hosting company out there. Their prices rank typically from $5 to $10 per month. So which one should you select? When it comes to web hosting, you definitely get what you pay for. As San Diego web designers we are for over 8 years working with all the major web hosts out there and we have learned how valuable a good host with reliable equipment, virtually no down-time, state-of-the-art security and anti-spam software and good customer service is.

The best web host we have found during all these years is Hostgator. We use them for our own websites and recommend them to all of our customers. We are especially pleased with their excellent US based customer service and the security and speed of their servers.

3. To build your website

The great thing about WordPress is that you can download and install it in less than 5 minutes. After it’s set up on your web server, you can then start the fun part: select a theme you like and start adding your content.

Tutorial 'How To Make Your Own Website':

1. Lesson 1 – Overview: What Will You Learn In This Web Design Tutorial?
2. This article: Lesson 2 – What Will I Need To Build My Website?
3. Lesson 3 – Naming Your Website: Find And Buy The Best Domain Name
4. Lesson 4 – Your Website Needs A Home: Getting Your Web Hosting Account
5. Lesson 5 – Connecting Your Domain Name And Hosting Account: Set Your Nameservers
6. Lesson 6 – Installing WordPress: The Famous 3 Minutes Set Up Of Your Website
7. Lesson 7 – Optimizing Your Settings: Update And Get Ready For Google
8. Lesson 8 – Installing Plugins: Add More Functions
9. Lesson 9 – Make It Yours: Selecting Your Website’s Template
10. Lesson 10 – Adding Content: Posts, Pages, Menu, Sidebar

Related posts:

• What Do I Need To Get My Own Website?
• Lesson 1 – Overview: What Will You Learn In This Web Design Tutorial?