Look mom, my very own website!! #TonyTries #WebDev #Episode01
The process of having your own website has never been easier
Today’s post looks at the process of creating your own website with zero coding knowledge. We look at how to buy your own domain, how to utilise CNAME to point your subdomain to a host website, and how to view your own site online.
Welcome to TonyTriesStuff,
We here are keen on trying new hobbies to increase our repertoire of skills. Whether you’ve stumbled across this for the first time or are a regular, thanks for taking the time to look through what I have created. Read on to start your journey towards mastering skills that you are passionate about.
Today we are looking at making your own website from scratch using tools and services available to us. Much like how math can be used for simple calculations like adding two single-digit numbers, and complex calculations like differentiation and integration. Web development is also on a spectrum from easy to (relatively) hard. Today we are looking at an easy way to get your very own website!
You don’t need a complicated-looking setup for this method
I started learning to code back in high school. We were taught how to use C and C++. Although that gives you a solid base for coding, it’s not widely used in web development these days. Popular coding are HTML5, CSS and JavaScript.
Setting up a website has 3 stages:
- Stage 1: code your website
- Stage 2: buy a domain
- Stage 3: host your website.
For our process today, we won’t need to bother with the first stage and skip right to stage 2.
You won’t have a cool looking screen of code by the end of this unfortunately 😞
Investment required: minimal ($10-$30)
Here are some of the steps to take to get to your very own website:
Step 1: Find a service that allows you to set up a custom domain
There are many services out there that allow you to host their website on your domain. Popular examples are Shopify, Substack, Getrevue (which is the service I use to host this very website!), etc. These websites sometimes offer this service for free or for a small fee or subscription. The service I use allows me to connect my domain free of charge. Once you have identified a service that allows you to connect your domain, it’s time for the next step.
Step 2: Buy a domain
There are many ways to go about buying a domain. Most trustworthy ways usually involve paying a sum of money on a recurring basis. Some services such as WordPress claim to give you a free domain if you purchase their basic blog subscription. I have not used their service and therefore cannot comment on its viability. Once you have decided on an available domain and a service that you trust, you could buy the domain. For me, this costs around $10 per year.
Step 3: Connect your subdomain using A, AAA, or CNAME
This step is slightly complicated and requires a little bit of patience which I definitely lacked.
Once you have purchased a domain with a reputable service, head to the DNS configuration page. There you can create a CNAME record. Add a CNAME record with the subdomain (the text that appears before your website, in my case its ‘blog’) pointing to the website that’s shown on the service that you intend to use (in my case it was ‘getrevue.co’).
Now comes the hard part, patience. If the steps are done properly, when you type in your website with the subdomain, you’ll end up on the website you hosted. As far as I know, there is no way to find out if you have done your steps properly except by waiting. During my attempt, for the first 48 hours, I had it set up wrong. Once I set it up properly, it took me about 4 hours to get the website to show.
Once your subdomain works, head to the service which allowed you to host in your name and enter the subdomain which you used. Now if everything is set up right, you would be directed to your page on the host website when you type in your website.
Might sound a bit complicated but the process is fairly simple. Once you do it yourself, it feels much easier.
Having your own website as a source for your online presence is a good feeling!
That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed reading my journey to creating my own website (SK2). I have barely scratched the surface with regards to what is possible with web development but this is a good start. Do leave a comment and subscribe if you want to be inspired to learn new skills on a week-ish basis.
Until next time,
Tony
Additional Resources
- How to set up a custom domain (for Getrevue)
- YouTube tutorials for up custom domain: Michael Pitluk, GoHighLevel Queen
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