How To Create a Website from Scratch in 10 Simple Steps

A good website is essential for building a solid online presence. For small business owners, a well-designed website can be a powerful marketing and selling tool, letting you reach a wide audience, inform visitors about your offerings, convert sales, and establish credibility in your industry. As a creative professional, an online portfolio can help you display your work, show off your skills and style, and attract new prospects and projects.

Without a website, you risk missing out on opportunities to connect with your target audience. Fortunately, with a user-friendly site builder, website building is relatively straightforward. Here’s how to plan, build, and launch a website from scratch. 

How to create a website from scratch

1. Define your purpose and goals
2. Plan your structure and layout
3. Develop your website
4. Select a domain name
5. Choose a web hosting provider (if needed)
6. Create and add engaging content
7. Implement additional features and functionality
8. Test, refine, and optimize
9. Launch your website
10. Plan for ongoing maintenance and updates

Creating a website from scratch may seem daunting, but it’s a manageable task with the right tools and guidance. Here are some simple steps to help you build your own professional website from the ground up:

1. Define your purpose and goals

Whether you’re creating a business website to advertise your pet sitting services or launching an ecommerce store to sell bespoke jewelry, take a moment to clarify your website’s purpose before diving into the technicalities. Identify your target audience and their needs to guide your decisions throughout the development process. 

What are the goals you want your site visitors to achieve? It might be purchasing products, contacting you for more information, or reading your content. Defining objectives early on helps you create a focused, effective website that meets your business needs and your audience’s expectations.

2. Plan your structure and layout

Create a logical site structure by organizing your content into categories and subcategories, then organizing these categories into pages. This helps users navigate your website easily, and it helps search engines understand your site pages’ hierarchy, which can help particular pages of your website rank in search results. 

For example, a website for a wedding photography business might include a homepage, an About Us page, pricing information, galleries to showcase your work, and a Contact Us page. However, a website for an upcoming conference could be a single page with event details, speaker photos, and registration and payment functionality. 

If you want to visualize your website before you start to build it, you might consider sketching out a simple wireframe or more detailed website mockup. This can be particularly useful if you want to show your ideas to design partners.

“Mockups provide a visualization of changes before you spend time implementing the design, which is most valuable working on projects that are more complex, or that are a collaboration between multiple individuals or stakeholders” says Sara Mote, cofounder of web design firm Mote Agency. 

If you’re creating a site by yourself with a website builder like Shopify, a mockup might not be necessary. “If you have the opportunity to prototype by using a theme, that’s usually a better approach,” says Sarah.

Shopify offers professionally designed themes that make it easy to lay out a website without coding. Shopify’s new design foundation, Horizon, features 10 templates with drag-and-drop functionality, meaning you can simply move the site elements you want into place. 

Horizon also features an AI content block generator, so you can dream up unique site elements and place them on your website pages without needing to code. Plus, Shopify’s AI website builder can help you find the perfect theme and get you started in minutes.

Even if you plan on eventually building a custom site, starting with a theme can help clarify your vision. “I’ve seen so many success stories where someone starts with an existing Shopify theme,” says Sara. “They get as far as they can out of the box, and then they have a sense of where they want to go.”

3. Develop your website 

You can either code your website from scratch or use a website builder. When coding your website from scratch, you work on both front-end development, which focuses on the visual elements that visitors see and interact with on your web pages, and back-end development, which handles the behind-the-scenes logic that powers your website. You can hire a web developer or write the code yourself in a text editor, using a framework or content management system (CMS) to simplify the process.

Alternatively, website builders offer an intuitive way to create a professional site without writing a single line of code. Most website builders feature a drag-and-drop editor, letting you customize website templates to suit your needs. 

To choose the right website builder, consider your website’s required features. For example, Shopify is designed for ecommerce and offers a host of integrated ecommerce features, while WordPress is designed for bloggers and includes copy-focused features. 

4. Select a domain name

Your domain name is the URL visitors use to access your site and can be a crucial aspect of your brand identity. (It’s also displayed below your in browser tabs and on the SERP.)

When choosing a custom domain name, opt for a short, memorable, and relevant name that reflects your brand or business. If you haven’t chosen a business name yet, consider using keyword research to find highly searched for terms relevant to your business. 

That’s what worked for Zero Waste Store, originally Earthy Shop. Cofounder JJ Folano decided to rebrand after noticing that the domain name zerowastestore.com was available, despite the term “zero waste store” receiving more than 10,000 searches a month. “We went from initially doing a few hundred orders a month at most to doing over a million dollars in sales within the first year of doing that rebrand,” JJ says on an episode of Shopify Masters.

Once you have a name picked out, you’ll need to register your domain. Many website builders (like Shopify) offer a free domain for the first year, while others require you to pay for domain registration with a separate service. 

Once you’ve registered your domain name, configure your domain name system (DNS) settings to point to your website’s hosting provider. Shopify makes the process easy with simple instructions.

5. Choose a web hosting provider (if needed)

If you use a website builder like Shopify, is typically included in your plan, so you probably don’t need to purchase it separately. 

If you’re coding your site from scratch, choose a web host. Web hosting services store your website’s files on a server, making them accessible to visitors online. When selecting a web hosting provider, consider reliability, uptime, security, customer support, and scalability to ensure your website runs smoothly as it grows.

6. Create and add engaging content

Compelling content engages your website visitors and encourages them to explore your site further. Ensure each web page has a clear purpose. If you’re running an ecommerce store, include high-quality product photography, detailed product descriptions, and customer testimonials and reviews as forms of social proof. 

An AI tool like Shopify Magic can help you draft product descriptions and more. Maintaining a consistent brand voice across all written content can help you solidify your brand identity.

You might also consider incorporating visually compelling elements like images, videos, and infographics into your website pages. Make your website interactive by adding elements like quizzes and polls. These types of interactive content can keep visitors engaged and encourage them to take action.

Here’s an example from the makeup brand Kosas, which includes a quiz to help customers find their perfect complexion shade. Kosas uses Octane AI (available in the Shopify App Store) to create its quiz.

As you add content to your site, keep your brand’s visual identity in mind, and apply your branding elements across all pages of your site. These elements include your logo, website color scheme, and typography. Doing so can help you differentiate your business from others, and it can help you convey a certain mood to your site visitors.

Josh McJannett, co-founder of the beer company Dominion City Brewing, placed a significant focus on design when he and his partner decided to launch a seltzer brand with an entirely new brand identity. He extended the design across every touch point—from the new City Seltzer website built on Shopify to the eye-catching cans. 

“City Seltzer feels more like a New York deli. It’s light, it’s bright, it’s fun. I think that was a real deliberate choice to differentiate those things,” Josh says on the Shopify Masters podcast.

7. Implement additional features and functionality

To ensure your website is user-friendly and functional across desktop and mobile devices, 

make sure your site has responsive web design. Shopify Horizon has responsive design built into its templates, so you won’t need to worry about configuring this yourself. 

This can be vital, since a little over 62% of all website traffic came from mobile devices in the second quarter of 2025, according to Statista. Mote cofounder Rembrant Van der Mijnsbrugge points out that this percentage can be even higher for some businesses: “For some of our clients, we’re even looking at 80%,” Rembrant says, noting that a site’s number of mobile users often depends on where its traffic comes from. “We have some clients that are very popular on Instagram, and if a lot of your traffic is coming from Instagram, that Instagram in-browser experience is actually something that a lot of people end up using.”

Beyond ensuring your site works well for mobile users, you’ll also want to ensure your site has accessibility features for users with disabilities. Website builders like Shopify Horizon makes ensuring accessibility easy by letting you add accessibility elements like alt text without coding. Make sure your text is legible by using a contrast checker like the one from WebAIM.

Additionally, be sure to optimize your site’s loading speed by paying careful attention to image size and video format. To make browsing your site a breeze, implement intuitive navigation menus, search functionality, and filtering options. 

To help ensure customer satisfaction, consider adding live chat or AI chatbot support for instant assistance, and add contact forms or your business’s contact information for less immediate issues. 

For online stores, integrate ecommerce functionality like shopping carts, payment gateways, customer accounts, wish lists, and product reviews. Prioritize security with SSL certificates and regular backups to protect your website and user data.

While these essential features might sound like a lot to set up, incorporating each into your site doesn’t have to be difficult. An ecommerce website builder like Shopify lets you quickly add vital selling functionality without technical expertise through a host of integrated functionalities.

Here’s what Shopify’s integrated checkout features look like on Epic Gardening’s website:

8. Test, refine, and optimize

Before launching your website, test its functionality, usability, and compatibility across browsers and devices. Remember to test your site speed and mobile layout to ensure a smooth user experience. 

Optimize your site for search engines by implementing SEO (search engine optimization) best practices. These include link building, adding the right meta tags, and incorporating relevant keywords into copy like product descriptions. 

You can also start a blog to boost your SEO and generate organic traffic by posting information that’s relevant to common search queries. Ecommerce blog post templates from a platform like Shopify make setting up a blog easy. 

Keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process, so iterate and adjust once your site is live to continually improve your rankings on search engine result pages (SERPs).

9. Launch your website

Once your newly created website is ready, share it with the world. Promote your website with social media marketing across your various social platforms, email newsletter, brick-and-mortar store, and relevant online communities to attract your target audience. Consider running Google Ads or investing in local SEO to boost visibility and drive more traffic to your site.

10. Plan for ongoing maintenance and updates

Regularly updating your website with fresh, high-quality content can help ensure your site stays relevant to readers and maintains strong rankings on SERPs. 

Set up Google Analytics to track website traffic, and use a native tool like Shopify Analytics to better understand how people interact with your site. Monitor your website’s performance and user customer feedback to identify areas for improvement, and keep your site’s software and security features up to date to ensure a safe and smooth user experience.

Tips for learning how to create a website

• Pursue independent learning
• Register for a web development boot camp
• Enroll in a degree program

Learning how to create a professional website from scratch can be a valuable skill. Here’s how you might go about it:

Pursue independent learning

Independent learning options might be the way to go if you prefer a self-paced, flexible approach to learning how to build your own website. There are countless resources available online, such as blogs, YouTube tutorials, and web design courses, that can teach you the necessary web development skills. 

While this option allows you to learn at your own pace and can be cost-effective, it requires strong self-motivation and discipline, as you won’t have the guidance of an instructor or immediate support when you encounter challenges. Popular learning platforms include Udemy, Coursera, Codecademy, and FreeCodeCamp.

Register for a web development boot camp

Web development boot camps are intensive, short-term programs specializing in various development aspects such as websites, apps, or front-end and back-end technologies. Each program focuses on different programming languages and skill sets based on your interests and goals. These programs often focus on practical, real-world projects and can be completed in weeks or months. 

While boot camps can be a faster and more affordable option than a degree, they may not provide the same depth of knowledge. Popular boot camps include General Assembly, Flatiron School, and BrainStation.

Enroll in a degree program

Pursuing a degree in computer science, web development, or a related field can give you a comprehensive understanding of the website creation process. These programs teach you how to build a website but also cover topics such as programming languages, database management, software development, and the underlying theoretical foundations of computing.

This option offers a structured learning environment, expert guidance, and hands-on experience, but it can be time-consuming and expensive.