Who is a dummy now?
Let's agree that we call a spade a spade. In the context of this article, a dummy is a person who knows how to use sites but has no idea how they are technically arranged. A competent Internet user, but not at all its creator.
What you need and what you do not need to know and be able to make a website
Over the past twenty years, the skill set required to create websites has changed significantly.
If earlier the protagonists were programmers, then they developed control systems that slightly savvy specialists could install.
Then the requirements for website design grew and web designers became the main specialists. Today, their work is optimized into templates and systems.
Now the most important thing in the site is its content because this is exactly the part that cannot be created without human participation: texts, pictures, and structure.
Now, to make a website, you only need to understand what you want to create, be able to write, and have minimal skills in using computer programs.
Fragment of HTML code
The easiest way to create a website
The site is code. From the inside, it looks something like this:
You can also turn out any website in the same way: right-click and select “View Page Source” (does not work in every browser).
This code contains all the texts, pictures, effects, and other elements of the site. That's how the internet works.
In the early days of the Internet, websites were created by hand. Webmasters drew the site in a graphics program (for example, Photoshop), then cut these pictures into pieces and manually wrote each one in the code.
This method had many disadvantages and therefore professionals abandoned it as soon as an alternative appeared in the form of CMS. A site on pure HTML is now made only by students in computer science classes.
When CMS (content management system) appeared, it became much faster to make websites. These systems automate work, and allow you to manage content through a visual editor similar to Microsoft Word. Ordinary users could correct the text on the site, publish news or add a new product to the product catalog. But to create a website, you still needed knowledge in design and basic knowledge in programming (for installing a CMS on a hosting).
Pure HTML Websites
Sites on CMS
Should a dummy make a website on a CMS?
There are still a lot of tips for dummies on the Internet: choose a hosting and install a CMS on it manually.
If you are a beginner and want to create your first website as easily and quickly as possible, then we do not recommend doing this.
Installing a CMS is a labor-intensive job during which you will need to gain a lot of new knowledge.
Creating a site on a CMS will also take a lot of time and will not be a simple and obvious process.
If you want to understand how the internet works or are considering becoming a developer, then this experience will be useful and useful to you in the future.
Website builder
So what to choose dummies? The best option is website builders.
Website builders are a bit like CMS but go further. It does not require any knowledge of design or programming. All site editing is done visually, click on the text and you can enter your own, on the picture you can replace it.
All elements are easy to edit
The speed of creation is another plus for website builders
The speed of creation is the second plus of website builders.
If an experienced developer needs several hours to create a simple template site on a CMS, then an ordinary office worker who knows how to work with a website builder will need tens of minutes to create the same site from a website builder.
Are there any downsides to website builders?
But website builders also have disadvantages. The main ones are such:
1 - prices,
2 - poor indexing by search engines,
3 - you can’t move to another platform,
4 - the websites are ugly.
1 - The price of website builders can be high, but this is not always the case. For example, in the Prodáct website builder we offer great prices. Check it out.
2 - Most of the designers are poorly indexed by search engines due to the peculiarities of creation. This problem is more common with older systems. Sites on the Prodáct constructor are perfectly indexed and ranked in the search. This site was created by Prodáct and most likely you came to it from a search.
3 - Yes, but the basis of the site is the content you create, not a technical platform. It belongs to you and you are free to carry it anytime and anywhere. In addition, moving a site is always painful, including when you change the CMS.
4 - The appearance of the site depends on the capabilities and policies of the website builder, as well as the desire of the creator to make the site harmonious. At Prodáct, we offer extensive design options with restrictions where needed. Such a policy allows the majority to create beautiful sites that they are happy with.
These downsides are only partly true
Prodáct is perfect for dummies
Feel free ti try to make your own website. It's easy and free.
Easy to make a website
Easy to understand
Low prices
Extensive design customization
What will be on your website?
Now that we have decided where we are making the site, we need to understand what kind of site we are making. To do this, we need to define a list of sections (pages) that will be on the site. The easiest way to do this is by doing a little competitive analysis.
Let's say you offer Spanish lessons. Look for similar services on Google. Choose competitor sites that you find informative. Write down which sections are most often found on such sites. In the case of courses, this can be: About us, Teachers, Cost, Contacts, Courses, Events, Exams.
Think about what you can add to your site, but look at yourself through the eyes of customers. Maybe it makes sense to publish school news, an up-to-date class schedule, or sign up for a trial class?
Write out a final list of sections to use for site structure. Think about whether you can type information for all sections, if anything is superfluous, cross it out.
Industry professionals prefer to capture the site structure in the form of a MindMap. This makes it easier to create a site and in case you want to introduce new pages, it will be obvious where to put them. We recommend drawing such a diagram if the site has more than a couple of pages.
Structure of the Spanish lessons website
How to create a website from a template?
There are two ways to create websites in Prodáct: a website from scratch or a website from a template. The site from the template is more suitable for dummies.
A template is a website that was created for some imaginary or real company, and now anyone can use it. Templates are created for some industry, for example, cafes, schools, designer's website, a nail salon, and so on.
Templates in Prodáct are created on the basis of industry analysis, that is, the site contains exactly what it should contain. Here the necessary pages have already been created and filled, photos have been uploaded and texts have been written, the design of the site has been selected.
To make a good site from a template, it is enough to replace the name with your own and rewrite the texts.
But nothing limits your freedom, you can completely change the template, hide/delete or add sections, and pages, change photos, colors, texts, and fonts.
It is not necessary to use a template strictly in your theme, for example, a nail salon template can be easily transformed into a barbershop, and a law firm template into repair work.
Website from scratch
But standard solutions are not suitable for everyone, if not a single template conveys what should happen, create a site from scratch.
The basic principle is this: sites are made up of pages, and pages are made up of sections. We recommend creating all the pages that you have defined, and then fill each with sections.
The sections are in the gallery, from where you can insert them into the page and build your site like bricks. Sections can be with text, photos, video, or interactive. All of them are combined with each other and in almost any order make up a good-looking website.
When creating a site from scratch, it is better to have a ready-made example of what exactly you want to achieve in front of you, for example, a competitor's site or your own sketches. Otherwise, working with a clean face can quickly become confusing.
Designing site of a site from scratch is as simple as designing a template one. In the design settings, you can choose colors, fonts, the appearance of buttons and forms. There are both ready-made kits that can be applied to the site with one click, and the “free flight” mode, where you can design the site completely on your own.
THE BASIC PRINCIPLE
Websites are made up of pages,
pages are made up of sections
What is a domain?
A domain is a unique address for a website. For example product.io, google.com.
Domains are divided into levels: first, second, third, and so on. The division is simple — .com is a first (top) level domain, also known as a domain zone.
Next comes the second level — it contains a unique name and a domain zone separated by a dot, like facebook.com. A second-level domain can be bought, you can buy it from Prodáct.
Then there are third-level domains. Such as es.prodact.io, azovsky.prodact.site. Third-level domains can be obtained for free, including in the Prodáct website builder.
Domain zones are national, for example .us for USA, .it for Italy, .cn for China.
Domain zones also can be thematic. The most famous are .com for commercial websites (very popular in the US), .online for web services, .org for public organizations, .cafe for restaurants, etc.
In total, there are about 1,500 domain zones in the world. Domains in many of them are not subject to sale.
How to choose a domain?
You can keep a free domain in the .prodact.site zone, but for a serious business, it is advisable to purchase a second-level domain.
The easiest option to choose a domain is to use your name. For example, if your name is Sonrisa, then your domain would be sonrisa.com.
But in the .com zone, most of the domains are already taken. You can try using the national zone, for example, sonrisa.us for the US, and sonrisa.fr for France.
If the name consists of several words, you can write them together or through a dash.
You can also make your industry the second part of the domain, for example, sonrisa-dental.com, this domain may be free.
But it is not necessary to purchase a domain in the .com zone or the national zone, use other thematic zones. So for a restaurant called “Kimchi”, not only restaurant-kimchi.com is suitable, but also kimchi.cafe, kimchi.kitchen, kimchi.restaurant.
If you are not sure about the company name or all domains with it are taken, then try using the service name. Domains like dental.com are usually occupied, but you can add geographic location - dental-california.com, city name - dental-pasadena.com, area name - dental-fair-park.com.
Choose the perfect domain name using your name or industry. Or all at once.
So for a restaurant called “Kimchi”, not only restaurant-kimchi.com is suitable, but also kimchi.cafe, kimchi.kitchen, kimchi.restaurant.
How to buy a domain?
You can check the availability of a domain name in Prodáct after registration.
Enter the name you like (part of the domain up to the dot), and automatic selection will suggest domains in different zones.
You can buy a domain at any time: both before the creation of the site and after. But be careful, the domain you have chosen may be occupied by someone else before you buy it.
How to get a domain for free?
You can get a domain for free. To do this, choose and pay any Prodáct plan for one or two years.
A domain is not the only benefit of a long-term payment: by paying Prodáct for a year, you will receive a 50% discount, and for two years - 60%.
Start building a website, even if you're a complete dummy.