By Peach | Sep 30 | 6 min read |
I was never really into coding, I never understood it! However, I wanted to be able to build a beautiful, professional looking website for my blog (mainly to share photos and post articles). That’s where a website builder comes into play. Using one makes it easy to create a website, regardless of your programming know-how.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something I may earn a small commission. All opinions expressed on my site are my own, and I only recommend products I would use myself.
Best Overall Website Builder
Wix has always been my go to for years, and I feel that it is miles ahead of any other website building tool. If you don't believe me, just google “best website builders” and you will get a clear answer. Wix is best used for if you're looking to start an eCommerce, personal, or blogging website. Depending on your needs, Wix could be just the answer for you. I began using Wix for many reason, let me mention just a few:
Immediate set up with no cost at all.
Free Web Hosting.
Easy to use (Create your own website without coding).
Hundreds of design templates to choose from.
Tools and apps to match your needs.
Full online store & shopping cart functionality.
Reliable web hosting & domain services.
Automatic mobile platform setup.
Selling Online
If you're looking to sell physical, digital, or service-based products, Wix does not have a limit on how much you can sell. You can create discount and promotional codes, control your shipping options, and even manage your store on the go through its mobile app.
Personal
It's easy to build a personal website using Wix. You can find templates for events (weddings, fundraisers, etc.), personal portfolios, and even online résumés.
Blogging
Wix provides more than enough features for you to create an amazing blog. Wix allows you to create blog posts, separate them into categories, and even add a comments section and search bar for your users. Perfect if you want a blogging section on your site
How to Build a Blogging Website (4 Steps)
I know everyone's "go to" has been Wordpess.org, but like I said I'm not that great at coding, and Wix is extremely simple! it's literally drag-and-drop for coding illiterates like myself.
Without further ado, let me show you step-by-step how I created this website (Yes, this one!) using Wix.
1. Sign Up With Wix
Step one is easy, sign up with Wix! You’ll be taken to the sign up screen where you can either create a new Wix account or sign up with your Facebook or Google account.
At this point you have the opportunity to play with free templates and features. You also get access to free web hosting as soon as you create an account.
What is Web Hosting? Think of your website as a house, now put that house on a street. That street would be your web host, which would be Wix. This space on the Internet is where you keep your website’s files.
Premium Plans
If you do want to remove any ads or need to create a personalized domain name, I do suggest upgrading to a premium plan. It's worth it in my opinion as plans range from as low as $5 USD. Here some popular plans:
2. Pick a Template
Wix gives you the option to either create your website with their editor or with Wix ADI, It's 100% based on your preferences.
Using the editor gives you a bit more creative freedom than with Wix ADI. However, ADI is great if you want to get a professional looking website up in minutes.
Personally , I love the idea of choosing from a a variety of templates. They categorize their templates based on themes such as “food” or “blog”, and they literally have hundreds!
3. Customize the Design
This is where you get creative! Tailor the design of your website to fit the needs of your brand. To do so, select your blog in the Wix Editor and click Settings.
Here you can change the layout and customize the design, including your font, background color and menu design. Whether it's a product, service, or lifestyle, etc. Your website should convey emotion, it should engage with your audience in a meaningful way. In order to achieve this, be sure to be consistent with your color scheme and fonts.
Add Essential Pages
No two websites are ever the same, however, there are three standard pages that every website should have: Index (homepage), About Page, and Contact Page.
Build a Color Scheme
Colors are everything! They set the tone for your website, so choose colors that work together to represent who you are. You may be asking "how do I do that?". Well, don't worry! That's why there's Canva.
If you need ideas or have a specific color in mind, Canva can help you find the perfect color scheme for your blog.
Canva’s color palette generator is definitely something to note here. With this program, you can create color combinations in seconds. Just upload your favorite image, it will process a color scheme that perfectly matches.
Choose Your Fonts
Choose a maximum of three fonts, try a more distinctive type for headlines and a more straightforward style for body copy and business documents.
Choose Your Images
Images convey emotion. Ideally these are images that you have professionally taken of yourself, your products, and/or your customers/audience. Not everyone has professional pictures lying around, the good news is that there are several free (and affordable) online resources for stock photos such as: Unsplash, iStock, and Shutterstock.
4. Connect Your Domain
First off, what is a domain? Waring, we're going back to the analogies again(sorry, not sorry!).
If your website was a home, your domain name would be its address. Every website has a specific IP address that contains a series of numbers and symbols. It would be extremely hard for the average person to memorize their favorite IP addresses, this is why domain names were created.
A memorable domain name is important, essentially it's the first impression to your website. If you want to make a good first impression, I suggest getting a customized domain name. A customized domain name looks professional and alerts customers that your site is authoritative and credible.
Purchasing a New Domain Name
As I mentioned before upgrading your Wix site to a Premium Plan is necessary before you can connect a new domain. See below for step-by-step instructions on how to do so:
Go to your site dashboard to connect a domain.
Choose 'buy a new domain'.
Search for a domain and select one that’s available.
Pick a registration period and fill out your info.
Choose public or private domain registration.
Add your payment details and redeem your 1 year free domain voucher.
Connect a Domain you Already Own
If you already have a Premium Plan, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Add the Domain name to your Wix account
Go to 'My Domains' in your Wix account.
Click 'Connect a domain you already own'.
Select the site you would like to connect your domain to and click 'Next'.
Enter your domain name and click 'Next'.
(If shown) Where did you buy your domain? Click the drop-down, select your domain host and click 'Next'.
Step 2: Update the Name Servers in your domain host account
Go to your domain host account and go to DNS or name server settings. Replace the current nameservers with the following:
Replace with Wix nameservers into it.
Once done, return to your Wix account settings.
Step 3: Verify your domain connection
Now, go back to your Wix account to verify the connection. In Wix account, go to My Domains and click Verify Connection by these steps:
Go to 'My Domains' in your Wix account.
Select the domain you’re trying to connect.
Click the 'Advanced' tab.
Click 'Check connection'.
Then Restart Connection Wizard.
Scroll down and click 'Verify Connection'.
*Note: It may take up to 48 hours for the nameservers to change.
Last But Not Least – Let's Hear From You!
Congratulations, you’ve just learned how to create a website all on your own! Are you excited? I know was. When I finished creating my blogging website I had about a million topics I wanted to write about!
When you set up your website I would love to hear from you. Don't hesitate to reach out! If you want to just say hello or need a second opinion, feel free to email me or leave a comment below. You can also find me on Instagram, or Pinterest.