How To: Create A Website (2022) Without Coding In Malaysia
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A website is an essential tool to own when you have an online business, as it can build a robust online presence for your brand. Regardless of industry, your business’s online presence can create impactful success for your brand.
At present, many business owners are still unaware that most of their customers will visit their business website before deciding to purchase their products or services. You can further optimise a website with SEO for it and then outrank your competitors on Google search engine results pages.
That being said, the solid online presence you create with a website can be the most valuable ROI, the make or break for generating desirable revenues.
So without further adieu, the purpose of this article is to share the best tips for setting up your simple website using no-code platforms such as WordPress and Shopify.
Five Simple Steps To Create Your Website In Malaysia
When you are ready to create and own a WordPress website for your business or even a long-fulling dream, here are the five steps you need to take:
Step 1: Identify Your Preferred Platform
Back in the day, you would need to know how to code to create a website. But thanks to the Gods of modern technology, we can save ample time and money on building and managing a website!
Most websites today are built on Content Management System, or CMS for short.
CMS is known for its comprehensible, no-code, plug-and-play platforms where you can set up a website with built-in features and templates. So for beginners and even professional web designers and developers, it makes it easy to modify all the content on a website.
The most popular CMS you would find most website owners use is WordPress. And here’s why WordPress is everyone’s favourite CMS platform:
- WordPress is a free open-source platform, so you can’t use it without worrying about breaking the bank.
- You can find plenty of WordPress resources as the community is vast, and any concerns you may stumble upon along the way will have their solution in a matter of a Google search.
- WordPress offers hosting support via 1-click install, so you can easily skip the hassle of setting up WordPress on your preferred hosting.
Based on the statistics shared by BuiltWith, there are over 70,000 sites in Malaysia built on WordPress, including this site, gofuturistic.com.my.
Step 2: Decide a Domain Name and Hosting Provider
Now that you have decided on the platform you want to build your website; it’s time to choose the best domain name and hosting provider.
A domain name will provide an overview of your existing and potential customers of your business and where they can find you online. Think of it as your home address somewhere in Kuala Lumpur; instead, your domain name is your online address.
For example, Facebook’s online address is https://www.facebook.com/ and YouTube’s online address is https://www.youtube.com/.
Bonus Tip: How To Choose A Good Domain Name
Not to add any further pressure but deciding on a domain name is a crucial stage that needs proper time and discussion beforehand. It’s an important decision to make as it represents your brand as a whole and its online presence.
Based on our experience in web design and development, when we help our clients build a website, we advise them to first go for .com as the majority still identify with it. Secondly, choose a domain name with 2-3 syllables.
As for your hosting provider is your bookshelf, a place where you store all your website files online. The best hosting provider will also provide exceptional page speed and are always available online to assist you.
It can sometimes be costly, but we assure you that it will be your best money spent.
Below is the breakdown of where you can get a domain name and hosting provider before setting up your WordPress website.
Where Can You Get A Domain Name?
Purchasing a domain name from domain registrars
These are companies that are authorised to sell a domain name. Depending on the domain extension (for example, “.com”, “.my”, or “.com.my”), the domain registrar will offer the right one to you.
If you are interested in country-specific domain names such as .com.my or .my, we recommend getting it through a local registrar such as Exabytes or BigDomain.
As for non-country-specific domain names, you can visit Cloudflare to purchase your domain.
You can still find non-country-specific domains on Exabytes and BigDomain, but from our experience, it can cost higher than average. We also find it much easier to manage your DNS changes, A record changes and various renewals inside the management panel when you go for international registrars.
So best to ponder what will work best for you in the long run before deciding where you would like to purchase your domain name.
You can purchase it together with your Web Hosting
Another way to acquire a domain name is by buying it with your hosting plan. An advantage of doing so will prevent the trouble of pointing your domain name to your targeted host. It will be a much more straightforward process where you will be asked directly whether you would like to add a domain name with your hosting.
Where Can You Get Hosting?
As mentioned above, hosting acts as a place where you store all your files online, and the hosting company you decide to go for will do precisely that.
One thing to note about your hosting provider is that it is pretty much like purchasing a mobile phone, where you get what you pay for. Similarly, the more expensive the hosting, the better quality hosting you will receive.
But don’t feel disheartened just yet if you are on a budget. There are still reputable and affordable hosting providers such as GreenGeeks, where it starts from just $2.95/month!
And if you have a larger budget, you can opt for WPX Hosting, which starts as low as $20.83/month. It all depends on your budget, so strategise from there, and your website will be on its way in no time.
Step 3: Set Up WordPress On Your Preferred Host
Once you have decided on your preferred host, it’s time to set up your WordPress. Based on our recommendations above, here are the guides for setting up your WordPress site as it differs based on the hosting provider.
Step 4: Decide a Theme and Get Creative with Customisations
Once you have completed the process of setting up a WordPress site, it is time to get your creative juices flowing!
Every website, when first installed, will end up with the default Twenty Twenty-One theme:
Although it is a decent-looking theme, it is merely WordPress’s default theme. Best to stand out from the thousands of others who are using it. To obtain web design flexibility, you can opt to swap your theme to a free or premium one.
Install Free Website Theme
If you want to try out a free theme, go to the sidebar and click ‘Appearance’. A menu will slide out where you must then click ‘Themes’.
It will bring you to a page offering various themes for you to choose from. Once you have decided on one theme, click the ‘Add New’ button.
Be sure to use the ‘Feature Filter’ to narrow your search to specific desired specs. And remember, just because it is a free theme, it doesn’t mean it won’t offer just as good quality. Skim through the range before deciding to opt for premium themes.
If you found an acceptable free theme, simply click the install and then Activate button before seeing the theme on your website.
Install Premium Website Theme
You can find many premium or paid themes on Astra, which is what we use for our website. We would recommend Astra as it is hugely WordPress friendly, where customisations are quickly done and configured fast-loading websites.
This is our current page speed insight score on desktop with Astra theme:
If you are wondering what page speed is and why it’s important to note it, you can read about why your website may need more than just a web guy here.
WordPress Theme Customisation
Whether a free or premium theme, you can still customise it to your heart’s content. To do so, hover to ‘Appearance’ and click ‘Customise’. Inside, you will find a variety of features that you can get creative with depending on the theme you are using.
And if this part of designing your website seems out of reach, you can contact us to help get your website design looking the most professional!
With decade-long experience, our web design services will align your vision and incorporate digital marketing — ensuring your website theme captures the essence of your brand.
Step 5: Install Plugins and Create Pages, Posts, and Menus
Install Plugins
Plugins are the fun part. It is an extension you can easily add to your WordPress website that adds a new function or feature, especially when it is not included in your chosen theme. You can install a plugin by going to the sidebar again and hovering over ‘Plugin’ before clicking ‘Add New:
Once you have selected the plugin, simple install and activate it. We would recommend downloading Yoast SEO plugin and Header Footer Code Manager for you to improve your website further, allowing it to grow organically in search visibility. You can also find out more from our Google SEO services.
Add Pages and Posts
On your dashboard, you will see a menu with multiple options. Hover over the ‘+New’ button and click ‘Page’. It will lead you to a page where you can create your ‘About’, ‘Services’ and ‘Contact’ pages, among others, to your website.
Creating a Blog section is also a good SEO tip for your website. You can go to the ‘+New’ button and click ‘Post’. A post editor page will appear, where you can create blog posts like the one you are currently reading!
Create Menus
You can find the ‘Menu’ button when you hover over the ‘Appearance’ on the left sidebar. You can follow the video below for a more comprehensive approach on how to add a navigation menu in WordPress:
Conclusion
When you know how to build a website all on your own, it will make a massive difference in your life as it can not only save you a ton of money, but you can make the changes faster as and when needed.
Back in the day, you would require hours, if not days, to code just to set up a basic website. But with the advantages CMSs like WordPress offer today, you can upskill easily and know how to set up a website in about an hour!
So have courage and try it out for yourself. But hey, if the going gets tough, The Futuristic Group is always here for you. Get in touch, and we will ease your worries right away.
