Earlier this year, I decided to turn my newsletter into a full-blown blog, a gaming and internet culture website that’s nice to read and easy to manage. The problem was that when I Googled ‘how to make a website’, I was inundated with sponsored content, advertisements from service providers and AI-generated claptrap.
Even Reddit, that supposed bastion of personal recommendation, ended up being a GPT minefield full of compromised takes. Even with the keenest eye for AI, it’s incredibly difficult to trust a supposedly wholesome experiential perspective on a web hosting service or domain provider when business interests are always lurking just out of view. At one point, I sat through a ten-minute YouTube video about the best web hosts for WordPress, waiting for the presenter to announce their favourite. And guess what? It happened to be the provider with which they could offer an attractive discount via an affiliate link.
You get the picture. Building a website in 2024 was an anxiety-inducing nightmare for a relative beginner such as myself. But, as you can see from this very page, I did eventually make it work. I’m pretty happy with what I came up with but also perturbed that I couldn’t find an uncompromised opinion online or at least one guy’s experience of the process. So, in this guide, I’m going to run you through how I did it.
Disclaimer: I have no working relationships with any web hosting, domain or theme-making businesses. I’m also by no means an expert in this field. My recommendations are based solely on weeks of research and personal experience. I haven’t tried any other providers; this is just what works for me right now. As such, the services I recommend may not be the best ones available, but they get the job done, and I’ve had no issues so far.
How to purchase a domain name
If you want to make a website, you need a domain name. Mine is Postmode.org. This is the URL netizens will type in the search bar to find your new web destination. Pretty important, it turns out. I’m going to assume you’ve already come up with a name for your website, but if not, go away and brainstorm one first.
I purchased my domain on Porkbun.com. The process was simple, and it was pretty cheap, especially if I paid for multiple years at once. There are some good deals on there if you’re not fussy about the TLD. The TLD, or top-level domain, is the suffix that comes after your website name (.com, .uk, .io, etc.). One question you may have at this point is what TLD to choose when purchasing your domain name.
How to choose a TLD
Obviously, .com is the cream of the crop and what most people go for. I’d grab that if you can, but I also don’t think it matters too much unless you’re super-serious about SEO. On the most basic level, you just want it to reflect your website’s selling point, so use your common sense and don’t pick .game for a website where you review lawnmowers, for example. Though, that would be pretty funny…
Just bear in mind that it can get super expensive if you want the most revered TLDs and your site doesn’t have a unique name. Historically, TLDs were meant to indicate the purpose of your site, but it’s kind of a free-for-all nowadays. If you’re reading this article right now, it means you found my site’s take on a competitive search topic, and it’s using a lesser-trodden TLD in .org, so, *shrug*.
With a domain purchased and parked, you can move on to the next part of this exciting adventure…
How to choose a web hosting service
Having a domain is all well and good, but you can’t move forward and create your website without a web hosting service. A WHS is the middleman between your domain and the World Wide Web. It makes your site accessible to others, allows you to host content management systems like WordPress on it, and, hopefully, your WHS will maintain the user experience when traffic comes knocking.
This was the most confounding part of my website-making journey, as Google is flooded with articles ranking and crowning the best web hosting services. Many of them are written by enterprising web hosts themselves, and others leverage affiliate links and discount codes. This is a common practice and does not inherently discount the contents of an article or make mine any more valid by comparison, but it certainly made me confused about my choices, which is why I’m making this guide.
Hands-off vs managed hosting
Web hosts differ based on the level of management they provide. Most people will have heard of Squarespace thanks to the YouTube sponsorships. I haven’t used it myself, but I understand why it’s popular – it handles pretty much everything for you, bundling the domain and a website builder, among other beginner-friendly features, to help you quickly launch a new website without any of the associated hassles. Of course, this comes at a premium cost compared to other web hosts.
In my case, I was on a budget and needed an affordable web host that would handle all the boring back-end stuff for me while allowing me full creative control over the user-facing front end of my website. I also wanted to deploy WordPress, the gold-standard content management system for any small-scale blogging endeavour. Eventually, after much head-scratching, I landed on Cloudways, a managed cloud hosting service which does all of the above. The plan I’m on is the cheapest option at $11/pm, and within that, I get a free SSL certificate, a necessary part of bolstering your site’s security. Cloudways servers are scalable as your website grows, and they use real-time billing instead of flat rates, so sometimes, my monthly bill is under $11.
Alright! Once you’ve bought a domain and committed to a web hosting service, it’s time to launch your website.
Disclaimer: This is where the guide is going to start to vary from reader to reader, depending on the providers you’ve chosen, and your intentions with the website. The good news is that most hosting and domain services offer their own hyper-specific tutorials for this part of the process, which I’d recommend looking into.
How to link your web hosting service to your domain
To make your website live and accessible, you need to link your domain to your web hosting service. Every provider will have their own specific instructions – if you go with Cloudways, you can follow this guide from the company website. To begin, you select the application you want to deploy (in my case, WordPress), select a server provider, and then select the size of your server, which will determine the amount of traffic your site can handle and, in turn, determine the cost of your monthly plan. You’ll also be asked to choose the location of your server. I just picked the location that was closest to me, which seems to be the consensus online.
With your server awake and your application launched, you’ll be able to map your domain to it. The aforementioned guide covers this if you’re using Cloudways. To sum up, you need to click on your application within the Cloudways interface, head to Domain Management, select ‘Add Domain’, and then type it in. Once you’ve done that, click the three vertical dots next to your domain and select ‘Make Primary’. Now your web host knows where your site is going to live, but your domain is none the wiser.
Before you move on to the next section, click ‘Applications’ within the Cloudways interface and select the application you just launched. You’ll be taken to the Application Management screen, specifically the Access Details page. Make a note of the ‘Public IP’ in the Application Credentials section on the right. You’ll need it.
How to link your domain to your web hosting service
For this next step, you need to grab the Public IP from your web host and head to the website where you registered your domain. Porkbun and Cloudways have their own guides for this process, but I’m going to try to simplify it here, as this part can be confusing. On the Porkbun website, click the ‘Account’ button, then ‘Domain Management’. Hit ‘Details’ next to your domain and then the little button next to DNS Records. Delete any existing records, and input the following:
- Type: A – Address Record
- Host: @
- Answer: [Your.WebHostIP.Here]
Then click ‘Add’ in the bottom right corner. Now for another one:
- Type: CNAME – Canonical name record
- Host: www
- Answer: [yourdomain.here]
Again, click ‘Add’ in the bottom right corner.
It may take some time for your domain and your web host to introduce themselves and become friends, but keep checking. After a little while, you should be able to input your domain and see a webpage. Unfortunately, your browser will probably give you a warning that your website is ‘Not Secure’. Let’s fix that.
How to install an SSL Certificate
Head back to your web hosting provider. Depending on who you’ve opted for, you may or may not have access to a free SSL Certificate, which is going to fix the ‘Not Secure’ issue your website is facing. With Cloudways, you get one free, and it’s easy to set up. There’s an official guide for this, but put simply, just select ‘Applications’ and click on your deployed application. Under Application Management, on the left, you should see ‘SSL Certificate’. Click this tab, choose ‘Let’s Encrypt’, and enter your email address and domain name. Then click ‘Install Certificate’.
With that, you should be able to enter your domain name and see the homepage for your application without any errors appearing. If you deployed WordPress, it’ll be a theme template – but don’t fret, we’re about to change this.
How to setup WordPress on your website
Now that you’ve got a website with WordPress activated, it’s time to customise it and make it yours. This process will vary between providers, but if you’re using Cloudways, you need to click on ‘Applications’ and then your WordPress application. You should be shown the Access Details page, which will contain your Admin Panel login. This should be the email address you used to sign up for Cloudways and a randomly generated password. Copy the password to your clipboard, and then type [yourdomain.here]/wp-admin into your browser’s search bar.
You’ll be prompted to log in to the WordPress backend, a dashboard where you can build pages, write posts, install themes and plugins, and generally customise the website to your heart’s content. The first port of call should be the Appearance tab and the Themes submenu. Click ‘Add New Theme’, and you’ll be brought to the built-in theme browser, where there are tons of free themes available for you to tinker with. You can also purchase a theme from a third-party marketplace and install it, which is what I did. Postmode.org is currently running on a heavily-modified version of the Authentic theme by codesupplyco.
That just about covers it, I think. You should have a fully functioning website now, which you can mould to your own vision. I don’t want to complicate this guide any more by explaining the ins and outs of WordPress. However, it’s a relatively user-friendly CMS, and there’s a wealth of knowledge and documentation online if you want to figure out its sharper edges. I’ll leave you with some of my favourite plugins that will make your WordPress experience easier. If you’re using Cloudways and the Authentic theme, you should have a bunch of helpful plugins pre-installed, which I’ve left out of this list. I keep it quite light, plugins-wise, as I know too many can make your site slow.
The best WordPress plugins for your website
Congrats, you just made your own website!
Well, there you have it. It was a hell of a journey, but you made it through and hopefully haven’t run into any issues. Thanks for sticking around this long, and best of luck with whatever you’re building.
You’ll notice that there are no ads on this page. So, if you enjoyed this guide, please consider tipping me via Kofi or supporting Patreon on Postmode so I can justify making more comprehensive, no-bullshit explainers like this one.
