Many people have a need for a website but do not know where to start. This article will provide the basics of how to build your own site, from hosting and domain name registration, all the way down to creating web pages. We’ll cover what you need to get started and show you step-by-step how it’s done of basics of building website!
So, you’ve checked on Squarespace pricing and you’re all set to make your own website. Where do you go next for basics on building website? The first decision is to pick a domain name.
You can either buy one or transfer your existing website over to Squarespace. If you already have a domain name but it’s not registered with any hosting provider (letting people access the site), then this is an easy process of changing which company manages your DNS records and web servers. However, if you’re going from no hosted website to SquareSpace there are some extra steps involved as well.
First off, once you’ve selected a place for your new site go ahead and sign up using their free trial period before paying anything! Then jump into cPanel for both providers I’ll list here: Hover vs Dreamhost. In cPanel find where they host their domains names called “Addon Domains”. You will need to add in the appropriate “host” information to connect your domain name with their service. This could be something like:
You can find this either in cPanel or just go back into the website you bought it from and click on ‘Domain Manager’. Once you’ve added that, if there’s any DNS propagation time (time for everyone else who uses a DNS server around the world to see your new site) then wait about an hour before moving onto step two.
The next thing is where most people get confused when setting up Squarespace – what hosting provider should I use? Well, after doing some research, here are some of the top recommendations based upon price and performance ratio comparisons between other established web hosts starting at 20 dollars a month. Keep in mind that ther\se are basing this on pure cost, not features or support. They all offer the basics like SSL and daily backups for their cheapest plans (which you should always use) but here’s a list of providers to consider:
Once your hosting is set up, we’ll need to make sure it can communicate with Squarespace correctly by following these steps: Login into cPanel again and scroll down until you see “Domain Name Forwarders”. Add in either an A record using ‘@’ as hostname or CNAME pointing at squiresite.com. It will look something like this depending on which one you chose above:
You are now ready to jump onto Squarespace once more! This time head over to Webflow and start building your site. You can either import your existing site or start from scratch. If you have any trouble during this process, check out the help guides on their website for more information about specific features and options available in Webflow.
Once you’ve built up all of your pages/posts you are ready to launch!
Congratulations! You now have a brand new website running! As you can see, it isn’t as hard as people make it out to be – but where do you go from here? The next step is up to you; either continue with Squarespace or move on over Dreamhost for more advanced features like SSH access, daily backups, etc. Check the official documentation and their blog for further information depending on which platform/service provider you choose.