Where to Start
Resources for Building a Free website
I wish someone had told me about these resources when starting out. It would have saved so much time and frustration trying to figure everything out on my own (and even more money!).
What you Need to Know
useful resources for planning & building your free website
I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. There are so many people that have done a better job than I could at creating material, all you need to do is click on the links in these tabs below and voila!
- How to Plan your Website
The first place to start! - The No Fuss Guide to Planning your Website
- What is SEO?
Whilst you may think it's a bit early in the game to start thinking about SEO - it's not. There are quite a few things you should be aware of before you start your website. You will need to refine later, but it's good to have it on your mind when you're thinking about content. - 10 Key Steps to Building a Great Small Business Website
- Beginners Guide to WordPress.org
Everything you need to know about WordPress you will find on this site. - Check if your preferred website domain exists
This site also checks if your domain name is available on social media such as facebook, instagram etc.,
Where to Start:
- How to make a WordPress.org Website in 2021
I followed most of the instructions in this video to create this website. I had already bought my domain and hosting. - SEO for Beginners: Only Video you MUST Watch!
It's never too early to gain an understanding of SEO - this is an easy place to start! - Elementor Monday Masterclass
Great resource for various Elementor widgets & design
Youtubers who are good to follow:
- Elementor Showcase
Real examples of websites built using Elementor - siteInspire - Web Design Inspiration
A CSS gallery and showcase of the best web design inspiration, featuring over 2,500 websites searchable by type, subject, and style. - AWWWARDS
A fantastic place to find inspiration - just don't get too carried away! - The 31 Best Homepage Design Examples and Ideas for Your Website
What I love about this post is that it gives examples and by the end of the article, you should have a clearer idea how you may want your home page laid out. - Website Color Schemes
This is a great place to start. It also gives you the hex colour codes for each website. I found my inspiration for Elementor Free there.
Colours & Logo
Images & Fonts
- Images - resize, compress, change from png to jeg
Optimise your images before adding them to your media library. Unoptimised images will slow your site down. - Remove background
Useful if you want a particular image to stand out. - Type Scale
Find out which font sizes match best. - Font pairs
Do your research. I find this tricky and tend to stick with only one.
- Free stock images
If you don't have the images yourself, you may find something here. Make sure to optimise them before adding them! - Create your policies for free (privacy, cookies, terms & conditions etc.,)
Do note if your website intends to do affiliate marketing, selling or google adsense, these policies may not be enough, however the paid version only costs $20 for each. - Jarvis.ai
Jarvis is an amazing AI robot, a content writing assistant. He can help get your content off the ground. With this link you can have 10,000 words for free. To make the most of the 10,000 words, make sure you want the training videos first. - Grammarly
Don't get it wrong - check it with this app - Element.how
Fantastic resource to bring your elementor build up a level!
- Elementor Community
This is an excellent group to join for all quieries and issues related to Elementor. - Astra WordPress Theme Community
- WordPress explained - help for beginners
This group was my inspiration for creating this website! - WordPress, SEO & internet questions
Everything SEO related - Elementor + Which Plugin
Find out which plugins best compliment Elementor
What you Need to Know
useful resources for planning & building your free website
I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. There are so many people that have done a better job than I could at creating material, all you need to do is click on the links in these tabs below and voila!
- How to Plan your Website
The first place to start! - The No Fuss Guide to Planning your Website
- What is SEO?
Whilst you may think it's a bit early in the game to start thinking about SEO - it's not. There are quite a few things you should be aware of before you start your website. You will need to refine later, but it's good to have it on your mind when you're thinking about content. - 10 Key Steps to Building a Great Small Business Website
- Beginners Guide to WordPress.org
Everything you need to know about WordPress you will find on this site. - Check if your preferred website domain exists
This site also checks if your domain name is available on social media such as facebook, instagram etc.,
Where to Start:
- How to make a WordPress.org Website in 2021
I followed most of the instructions in this video to create this website. I had already bought my domain and hosting. - SEO for Beginners: Only Video you MUST Watch!
It's never too early to gain an understanding of SEO - this is an easy place to start! - Elementor Monday Masterclass
Great resource for various Elementor widgets & design
Youtubers who are good to follow:
- Elementor Showcase
Real examples of websites built using Elementor - siteInspire - Web Design Inspiration
A CSS gallery and showcase of the best web design inspiration, featuring over 2,500 websites searchable by type, subject, and style. - AWWWARDS
A fantastic place to find inspiration - just don't get too carried away! - The 31 Best Homepage Design Examples and Ideas for Your Website
What I love about this post is that it gives examples and by the end of the article, you should have a clearer idea how you may want your home page laid out. - Website Color Schemes
This is a great place to start. It also gives you the hex colour codes for each website. I found my inspiration for Elementor Free there.
Colours & Logo
Images & Fonts
- Images - resize, compress, change from png to jeg
Optimise your images before adding them to your media library. Unoptimised images will slow your site down. - Remove background
Useful if you want a particular image to stand out. - Type Scale
Find out which font sizes match best. - Font pairs
Do your research. I find this tricky and tend to stick with only one.
- Free stock images
If you don't have the images yourself, you may find something here. Make sure to optimise them before adding them! - Create your policies for free (privacy, cookies, terms & conditions etc.,)
Do note if your website intends to do affiliate marketing, selling or google adsense, these policies may not be enough, however the paid version only costs $20 for each. - Jarvis.ai
Jarvis is an amazing AI robot, a content writing assistant. He can help get your content off the ground. With this link you can have 10,000 words for free. To make the most of the 10,000 words, make sure you want the training videos first. - Grammarly
Don't get it wrong - check it with this app - Element.how
Fantastic resource to bring your elementor build up a level!
- Elementor Community
This is an excellent group to join for all quieries and issues related to Elementor. - Astra WordPress Theme Community
- WordPress explained - help for beginners
This group was my inspiration for creating this website! - WordPress, SEO & internet questions
Everything SEO related - Elementor + Which Plugin
Find out which plugins best compliment Elementor
What you Need to Know
Testing Your website
It's important to check your website and make sure it looks, feels, and functions correctly. Below I've added a list of some free tools and resources that you can use for testing out websites!
There are many speed tests out there, but I find these two the easiest to read. They should give you a good indication of where you may need to make improvements.
- GT Metrix
My favourite. I love this because of the waterfall section, often this area will show you easy amendments you can make such as images that aren't fully optimised, plugins that are slowing you down. Make sure that you run it from a server which is closest to your location, especially if you are a 'local' website. - Google Page Speed Insights
From May 2021, Google will start to rank websites based on speed. Whilst speed is only one factor and content typically trumps speed, until you have lots of blog pages, it's best to do your best to increase your speed!
- Check how your website looks on different device sizes
Is your website responsive? Do you need to tweak the design so it appears similar across devices? - Check how your website looks on different browsers
This is a fantastic resource - however if you're using the free version, you have to be quick as there's only a short time limit of testing available. Take screen shots as you go. - Track your Google Analytics
This will allow you to see where users are dropping off, what your bounce rate is etc. - Check your Accessibilty for the blind, visually impared etc.,
I've just run this test and it shows that my website has a lot of areas to imrove (17/03/2020)!! Hopefully, I will get to it soon!
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Useful Resources
Read
Inspiration
Watch
Design Tools
Read
How to Plan Your Website
The no Fuss Guide to Planning your Website
What is SEO
Whilst you may think it’s a bit early in the game to start thinking of SEO – it’s not. There are quite a few things you should be aware of before you start your website. You will need to refine later, but it’s good to have it on your mind when you’re thinking about content.
10 Key Steps to Building a Great Website
Beginners Guide to WordPress.org
Everything you need to know about WordPress, you will find on this site.
Check if your preferred domain name exists on all platforms: social such as facebook, instagram, etc.,
Inspiration
- Elementor Showcase
Watch
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Design Tools
How to Plan Your Website
The no Fuss Guide to Planning your Website
What is SEO
Whilst you may think it’s a bit early in the game to start thinking of SEO – it’s not. There are quite a few things you should be aware of before you start your website. You will need to refine later, but it’s good to have it on your mind when you’re thinking about content.
10 Key Steps to Building a Great Website
Beginners Guide to WordPress.org
Everything you need to know about WordPress, you will find on this site.
Check if your preferred domain name exists on all platforms: social such as facebook, instagram, etc.,
