How to build a Website

Building your own website will require three things. You will need a domain name, a web hosting package and web pages or a WordPress Theme. The steps on this page show you how to build a personal or business or corporate website for any type of product or service.

1. Choose a Domain Name:

You can order everything you need at one time, domain, hosting and a website template. Simply browse through our themes selection, choose a theme, click the “order” button and choose your ordering options. This will give you everything you need to build your website including submission to Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and all other major search engines (included free with any WordPress  hosting package). Or, you may want to search for an available domain name first. Once you have found an available domain you can register it from the linked page in this paragraph.

2. Order Web Hosting:

Once you have chosen an available domain name you’ll need to order web hosting space to build your web site. To order a theme, domain and hosting all at once see step #1. You can go to our hosting page and select the hosting package you need. Selecting reliable server space is critical to any business. If your clients cannot open your page you could be losing valuable business. At Ithacaweb you know your website will always be up and running. Your site will be hosted on the same quality web servers that we host our websites.

3. Build Some Webpages:

Once you have a domain name and hosting space, you’ll need some web pages to place online. You can learn HTML coding, purchase software and build your own web pages from scratch, or you can select a pre-built WordPress Theme and build your website by following the included step-by-step instructions. Optionally, your website theme can be set up by any professional web developer. WordPress themes are built using basic HTML and PHP so they will work with any hosting company that supports WordPress (PHP and mySQL) and can be setup by anyone. For more details on building your website using WordPress Themes, check our theme FAQ. section, or see our Theme plugins page to view plugins included with Ithacaweb WordPress Themes.

4. How Do I Build the Website?

Once you order a WordPress website you’ll be directed to an area to select from various FREE WordPress Themes and download/install your theme directly into your website with a few clicks of the mouse.  You will also find extra help and e-mail support in our WordPress Theme support center. All theme source files and images are included in the download. The instructions include help with; page editing, BLOG post administration, meta configurations,  search engine optimization tips and tricks, uploading media, and a bunch more.

5. Choosing Website Theme Options:

View our WordPress Theme plugins page to see what type of plugins are built into Ithacaweb WordPress Themes by default.

What makes WordPress stand out from other content management systems is that they are not just single page websites. WordPress Themes have many built-in features like, drop menus or art and photo galleries, contact forms, quote forms, Mp3 and Podcasting, PDF galleries, Paypal compatible shopping carts, Paypal order forms, Flash animation and more. We are always developing new themes and new plugins in an attempt to allow any user to build and set up their own top quality website. Professional developers and large corporations use WordPresss to represent themselves every day. For some examples, you can view our list of WordPress users.
Theme Options: If you are selling products on-line you’ll need a shopping cart. Most WordPress Themes are compatible with shopping carts and require a simple plugin to activate into the theme. This shopping cart is free to setup and is really about as easy as ecommerce setups get. Here are some other options when building your website.

See our WordPress Theme plugins page for comprehensive details on what is included.

• Shopping Cart: WP-Ecommerce: This cart is free and very easy to set up. You can sell unlimited products from your website. It also allows several  payment credit card processor options of choice.
• Adding Other Plugins: Almost any type of application or script can be added to any WordPress Theme because they are built in basic HTML and PHP. We also have a section in our support area that features free scripts and add-ons.
• About Flash: With WordPress Themes, the theme logo and all text displayed in the Flash animation is controlled by one file. This file can be easily edited with any text editor to add your company name, slogan and phrases. Flash software is not required for editing. Additionally… all themes include a graphic logo option. You can rename one file and then add your graphic logo to the pre-defined logo image. You do not need to use the included Flash header on your website.

6. Search Engine Promotion & Keywords:

All Ithacaweb WordPress hosting packages include submitting your site to search engines for no additional charge. You will also find in our theme support center comprehensive page optimization help as well as meta tag configuring information, XML site map help, robots.txt info, and in-depth search engine submission help to help build your website.