Wondering what you need to build a website?
If you are starting a business, running a business, freelancing or side hustling
1. A domain name
A domain name is your ‘virtual address’ on the internet and you need one to serve as your website's internet home.
As an example, our domain name is digi-consultant.com.
Where do I buy a domain name? Plenty of providers are available, just google it or chose one of these: Domain.com, One.com, or namecheap.com.
2. Hosting
After you’ve purchased a domain, you need to connect it to a hosting plan.
If your domain is your ‘virtual address’ on the internet, then hosting is your ‘website storage unit’.
Your hosting plan stores your website and allows it to be served to visitors across the world. As well as providing you with tools for managing the back end of your website.
Again there are a lot of available options, just make sure they have decent support. I use UNOEURO and Powerhosting.
3. A CMS
Once you have a domain and hosting, you need to decide on the content management system for your website.
There are three key players in the CMS space.
WordPress, Joomla & Drupal.
WordPress is the easiest to use, most affordable and most scalable, but not necessarily the best.
For a detailed comparison of the three, take a look at this article from SKTHEMES.
I use Joomla for my website, it's easy to use, comes with a lot of resources and has the possibility of scaling up.
4. A template or theme
You gonna need to chose a template or a theme to give your website an appearance.
For any of the mentioned content management systems, there are plenty of free templates or themes available, just google and get the package you like.
Which one should I choose? It really depends on your CMS, your website content, and of course your personal taste!