How to create a free website in 6 steps

The basic way to create a website has these steps: define the goal, register a domain, rent hosting and design the interface. However, the process of website design is only simple for people who already have experience building websites. For beginners, facing piles of technical terms and complicated configuration is a real barrier. Don't worry, the following article from MONA will simplify everything and show you how to create a professional website from zero as easily as possible.

Step 1: Define the goal of your website

Before you apply any method to create a company website, you need to be clear about what you need from it. Do you intend to sell goods and services directly to customers? Or do you just need a place to provide information where people can learn about your business? Follow this detailed guide to learn how to create a website for yourself or your business.

Choose the type of website based on your business goals  

The first step is to make your goal as specific as possible, because each website has different features and interfaces for different purposes. Some popular types of website you can consider:

• Online store website: Similar to e-commerce websites, these are online business sites by industry, built to serve the online selling needs of many businesses and individuals.
• Personal blog website: Creating your own website lets you design around many themes, but it is usually used to share personal experience and knowledge, build a personal brand or present personal projects as a portfolio.
• Education website design: This type of website is often used by educational institutions, schools and centers, or by individuals who want to sell online courses and skills courses.
• News and online newspaper websites: News sites and online newspapers are a familiar type of website, used to provide information on many topics or one specific topic, usually aimed at certain reader segments.
• Forum websites: This type of website is mainly used for classified ad sites and buying and selling exchanges.
• Landing page websites: A website Landing Page template is usually used for short-term advertising campaigns to introduce one specific service or product, such as a workshop course or event.

Define the core features and technology of your website

Once you have chosen the type of website, the next step is to define the features and technology your site really needs.

For example, if you plan to ecommerce website design then the site must include features like a shopping cart, automatic ordering and online payment. A forum website needs member registration/login and discussion areas clearly divided by topic. Or if you build a free website for an interior design business, consultation forms based on feng shui and an automatic quote feature are good additions to improve user experience.

From our experience working with businesses large and small, MONA sees several key technology factors that any professional website should consider:

• Fast page loading that does not frustrate visitors
• Strong security, especially for sites that take payments or store customer information
• SEO-ready, so it can rank on Google more easily
• A user-friendly, easy-to-use interface (UX/UI)
• A simple, easy-to-use admin system
• Easy to upgrade or add features when needs change

Step 2: Choose the right domain – how to create a proper website for your business

A simple, professional website starts with the domain name, so you need to choose a suitable domains because it is the “signpost” that helps people find you on the Internet. Specifically:

Domain registration process

Registering a domain to build a complete website is quite simple. Just follow these steps:

Step 1: Come up with a domain idea that suits your website topic.

Step 2: Check whether your chosen domain is available.

To find out whether a domain is already registered, visit a provider's website and type in the domain you want. If it is available, you can buy it right away at the price shown on the site. 

Domain prices depend on the extension you choose, such as .com, .vn, .net and so on. .com and .vn usually cost more but are trusted by more people and look more professional to customers.

Step 3: Contact a provider to register the domain and choose the extension (.com, .net, .vn, etc.) you need.

You can REGISTER A DOMAIN and pay directly through MONA.Host

Things to keep in mind when choosing a domain

For a quality, optimized domain, follow this guide to creating an online store website, on choosing a domain below:

• Keep the domain short and avoid hyphens and numbers, so readers can remember and type it easily and are less likely to get it wrong when searching.
• Choose a domain that fits your product, service or brand.
• Consider a .com or .vn extension to make the website more credible.
• You should choosing the domain extension choose one that is easy to pronounce, which improves communication and word of mouth among customers.

Step 3: Choose hosting – buy web hosting

Once you have a domain, the next thing to do when creating a website is to rent web hosting. Put simply, this is where all your website's data is stored, letting users reach your site at any time. Think of it this way: the domain is your home address, and hosting is the plot of land where you build your house (your website).

Once you have picked a suitable hosting plan, the next step in creating a website is to connect your domain to the hosting (point the domain to the hosting). If you are not familiar with this or don't know how to build your own site, you can ask the hosting provider to help. Things to consider when choosing hosting include:

• Does the hosting allow multiple websites?
• Is an SSL certificate (secure access) included?
• Is storage and bandwidth enough?
• Is the RAM (processing memory) good enough?
• Is the admin interface easy to use?
• Is the support team friendly, skilled and ready to help when you run into problems?

If you plan to designing a website with WordPress, WooCommerce or build your website by coding it yourself, you will need to rent hosting and configure everything yourself. That can be quite complicated if you are not technical.

There are many types of hosting on the market with different features, suited to the needs and budgets of many businesses and individuals. For example:

• Business Hosting – Hosting dedicated to businesses.
• WordPress Hosting – Hosting made for building WordPress websites.
• VPS Linux – VPS for websites coded in PHP or NodeJS.
• Premium CLoud Hosting – Premium hosting for any website.
• Premium Cloud VPS – Premium VPS for any website.

Step 4: Choose a website building platform

Once you have a domain and hosting, the next important step is choosing the right tool to build a standard website with your brand's style. Many platforms help you build quality websites; MONA has pulled together the 4 most popular methods below:

Build a website with a free CMS

Using a content management system (CMS – Content Management System) is one of the most popular ways to build a free website. The 3 best-known CMS brands are WordPress, Drupal and Joomla, which let you manage website content easily and flexibly. They also let you build the site the way you want and add useful features when budget is limited. In MONA's survey, WordPress is the strongest and most widely used CMS today.

Create a free website with a Web Builder

If you are looking for a quick, easy way to build a website without special technical knowledge, free website-building software can be a good choice. These tools offer templates and drag-and-drop features that make it easy to put together a basic site.

Example: Some popular website builders include Wix (an easy way to build a site for beginners), Squarespace, Divi, Mozello,…

You can look at: Top 10 Page Builder the most widely used

Build a website by hand-coding from scratch

If you are a professional web developer or want a completely unique site, you can choose to write the code from scratch. It takes deep web programming knowledge, but gives you the most flexibility to build the site the way you want.

To apply this free method of building a website most effectively, MONA suggests you refer to reputable learning sources such as GitHub, Codewars, The Odin Project,…

Create a simple website on a Cloud Platform

Using a Cloud Platform is a professional way to build a website without worrying about hosting, SSL or complicated programming. You only focus on choosing a design, setting up features and adding content, while the platform handles everything technical behind the scenes from A to Z.

Of course, one thing to weigh with a Cloud Platform is that you may depend somewhat on the provider. But for beginners who don't yet know how to build a simple site, it is the most efficient and easiest way to build a company website.

To give you an objective view, MONA walks you through how to build a free website on a Cloud Platform in detail: 

Stage 1: Choose a suitable design and customize it as you like

To build your own website on a Cloud Platform, first pick a ready-made theme from the platform's template library based on your business goals and target customers (review Step 1 – Define the goal of your website). Each design has its own style that suits different industries, and choosing one that is “close enough” to your original purpose saves you a lot of editing time later.

You can change colors, layout, logo, effects and more, but make sure they stay consistent with your brand identity to keep the website professional and coherent.

Not sure which website design to choose? Take a look at the website templates by industry made by MONA below:

• 299+ E-commerce templates beautiful, SEO-ready website templates
• Company introduction website design templates editing techniques
• Import business website template for import-export companies

Stage 2: Install utility apps on your website

Once you have a design you like, the next step is installing utility apps (similar to Plugin SEO WordPress). These apps give your website extra features for your business and user experience.

Based on MONA's latest survey, these are the apps commonly added when building a website:

• SEO optimization
• Contact forms and live chat
• Smart search
• Multi-language support
• Product reviews
• Installment purchases and promotions
• Data backup, Google Feed integration and more

Depending on your purpose, just choose and install the tools that suit you. This is a critical step in building a website, keeping your site flexible and giving customers a good experience.

Stage 3: Provide content for your website

If you want a professional website, don't skip investing in content from the start. A website with useful information keeps users effectively, so spend time building content that fits your field, products or services.

Website content appears in many places: the menu, home page banner, about page, services, products, blog posts and more. The blog deserves your best content, because it is not only a place to share knowledge but a tool to grow your brand and run effective SEO strategies.

Stage 4: Publish and test after creating the website

To build a complete website, once design and content are done you can publish it and test everything. Try it on both computer and phone, and check features like the menu, cart, contact form and page speed, so the site runs smoothly before it goes live.

If you run a business and want a professional, easy-to-use website that truly impresses customers, investing in proper web design is well worth it compared with free website builders. Understanding that, MONA Media offers a solution for reputable website design company, and has worked with hundreds of partners for more than 10 years across many different fields. 

And you can rest easy, because MONA provides web design in 2 forms: To create template-based websites and Fully custom websites, coded 100% to your requirements. This meets the needs of every individual and business.

Template-based website design

With a limited budget but still wanting a website that is distinctive and personalized, you can use MONA's template-based website service. MONA currently has 2,000+ beautiful, SEO-ready website templates suited to many kinds of business.

This lets businesses choose the site that fits their needs and change it freely to reflect their own brand and style.

Tap the button below to browse 2,000+ SEO-ready web templates 

Custom website design

This website service suits businesses with a larger budget that want an exclusive website for their brand. In particular, with custom website design services clients can customize, expand and upgrade features as the business grows, and the site is coded 100% by MONA's IT specialists to keep it secure.

Whichever MONA website service you choose, you will get these benefits:

• Quality websites across many fields, from retail and education websites to online course website design,…
• An exclusive, beautiful and distinctive website design.
• Optimized page load speed (3 to 5 seconds).
• SEO-friendly website design.
• Brand identity is preserved.
• Updated with the latest design trends.
• Modern technology used in every web project.
• Thorough website security.
• Multiple website design pricing plans to fit your budget, whether personal or business.
• We also provide the website management service complete support so your website can keep growing.

Tap the button below for a detailed consultation on our website creation services.

Step 5: Plan how the website will develop after it is built 

If you stop at building a website and leave it there, almost nothing changes. A website only has real value when it is run properly and has a structured development strategy to make full use of its potential in reaching and convincing target customers:

Build content with direction: how to create an engaging website

Depending on the type of website, the industry and the goal, the way you build the site and its content will differ considerably. The business needs a specific development plan that fits what it ultimately expects from the website.

If you run an online store, invest in content focused on your products, including:

• Product images: Use real, high-resolution product photos, not unrelated illustrations. Also optimize image sizes to improve page load speed.
• Product descriptions: Present key product information clearly and specifically, such as model, category, size, color, origin, function and material. This helps customers picture the product and decide faster.
• Guide content: Includes how to use, clean and store the product, or notes for use.
• Policy content: Clearly state rules on returns, warranty, shipping, payment, promotions or special offers for loyal customers.
• Contact information: Show your address, phone number, email, fanpage and so on, so customers can easily reach you.
• Blog posts: Develop topics related to your products or business field. For example, if you sell furniture, blog posts can cover home decor trends, tips for choosing materials, how to care for wooden furniture and popular design styles...

If you are building a website for a company or a service provider, the content should introduce the organization and its expertise:

• About page: Cover the basics of the business: company name, address, tax code, history, fields of activity, mission, vision and core values.
• Projects page: Show the work, products and brands you have delivered, to prove your capability and reliability.
• Organization / team page: Show the management structure, the leadership team and the key specialists.
• Contact page: Give clients and partners everything they need to send a request or get in touch quickly.

Use the right supporting tools

To run and grow your website more effectively, get familiar with the tools that industry professionals recommend, including:

• Keyword research tools: Spineditor, Google Keyword Planner
• Website analytics tools: Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Tag Manager
• Duplicate content checkers: Copyscape, Duplichecker, Small SEO Tool
• On-page SEO tools: SEOquake, Screaming Frog, WebSite Auditor
• Competitor research tools: Ahrefs
• Keyword rank tracking tools: Spineditor, Serprobot
• Website speed testing tools: Google PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse

Put the right marketing strategy in place

Even a perfectly built website creates no value if nobody knows it exists. Once your content foundation is ready, a valuable and easy-to-find website needs marketing activity like the following to bring it closer to your audience:

• Share on social media: Introduce your website on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and similar platforms to reach people interested in your field.
• Join forums: Take part in respected industry communities and share your website there.
• SEO: Optimize your website to rank higher on Google. It takes time, but SEO is a long-term, effective way to earn steady free traffic.
• Paid advertising: Depending on your business goals, you can run Google Ads or social media ads. Decide clearly whether you want more traffic, customer contact details or direct sales, then split your budget and ad content accordingly.
• Traditional marketing: Don't forget older methods that still work: print your website address on packaging, posters, banners, catalogues, staff name badges, company profiles or event gifts.

Step 6: Maintain, upgrade and look after the website after it is built

If all you wanted to know was how to create a website, you are nearly done at this point. But building a website and then leaving it without maintenance or care is a mistake.

Technology keeps changing, so a website needs regular maintenance: measuring and testing features and user experience, and fixing any bugs that appear. Also remember to update your site with the latest features.

All in all, the process of create a website is fairly simple. You just need to follow the steps MONA has laid out above, while paying attention to each stage so the site comes out complete and effective. We hope what MONA has shared helps you get a professional website for yourself or your business.

And if you want a website with solid SEO, a clean UI/UX, fast loading and more, get in touch CONTACT US with MONA Media for a detailed consultation.

Contact details are below:

• Hotline: 1900 636 648
• Email: info@themona.global
• Address: 1073/23 Cach Mang Thang Tam, Tan Son Nhat Ward, Ho Chi Minh City

If the website you plan to build is for selling products, we have a separate guide: how to build an online store website — a free walkthrough from preparation and installing WooCommerce to running a test order.