How to create a blog
create a blog I want to first tell you about some solutions that can be used even without any experience. I'll talk about it in detail in the following lines.
Aruba
The web services company Aruba is one of the best known for the creation of Internet sites and the purchase of hosting and domains. It is a company that I recommend you rely on, if you want to create a site in a simple way or want to evaluate the purchase of a Web space.
If your intention is to create a site quickly and easily without having to get your hands on the code, you can give it a try SuperSite of Aruba which allows you to create professional looking websites, complete with blog ed E-commerce, perfectly optimized for mobile devices, search engines and cookie rules.
Aruba SuperSite is based on a graphic editor that allows you to add and edit any type of content (text, image, video, social widget, etc.) with a simple click. It also offers the ability to import posts from WordPress blogs and build stores with customized products and the ability to accept the most diverse payment methods (bank transfer, PayPal, Stripe etc.).
You can try Aruba SuperSite free for 30 days obtaining a third level domain (e.g. your site.mysupersite.com) and free assistance 24/7. After that, you can decide whether to switch to the plan Professional (39 euros + VAT for the first year for those who activate by 30 July 2020 and then 99 euros + VAT / year), which includes a second level domain (e.g. iltuosito.com), 5 email accounts and DV SSL certificate, or plan Easy (39 euros + VAT / year), which does not include e-commerce.
To start the trial, connect to the official website of the service and click on the button related to 30 day trial. Then log in (or create an Aruba account on the spot). Then accept the Conditions of supply of the Aruba SuperSite servicefrom specific approval of clauses of the conditions of supply of the Aruba SuperSite service and press pulsating Continue, to move forward.
So log in to the service using your account and start creating your site: first of all, you need to specify what kind of website are you creating, name of your website, the style (i.e. the graphic theme) and the pagina iniziale to use; then you have to click on the button Build your website, top right, to access the editor.
Now you can select the page to edit in Aruba SuperSite, using the drop-down menu located at the top center, and modify the contents present in it (with a simple click on them) or add new ones by clicking on the button with the icon of four squares located at the bottom right (or on the button capacitor positive (+) lead, if you want to add a new section).
To manage the blog and e-commerce, however, you have to click on the ☰ button located at the top left and select the item Blog or the voice Shop from the menu that appears. In the blog management panel you can then create your articles or import existing ones from a WordPress blog, while in the shop management panel you will have to perform the initial configuration procedure of your e-commerce by setting the accepted payment methods, entering the products etc.
For more information, see my tutorial dedicated to Aruba SuperSite and the official SuperSite guide on the Aruba website.
If you are interested in the hosting + domain packages offered by Aruba, know that there are some for all budgets and needs. With prices starting from 11,99 euros + VAT / 1st year (promotion valid until 30 July 2020), they offer in fact Linux or Windows hosting + unlimited domain, space and traffic, web space backup, email boxes with IMAP and antivirus / antispam, DV SSL certificate and free 24/7 assistance.
Linux hosting solutions are among the most flexible: they allow you to have up to 5 MYSQL databases (for a total of 1GB of space) and support free software and CMS such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Prestashop and Magento. Windows hosting solutions, on the other hand, represent the international standard for .ASP and .NET developers. and they support solutions like BlogEngine.NET, SUBTEXT, yaf and mojoPortal. They allow you to have 1 1GB MSSQL database (SQL Server 2008 R2).
Aruba's basic Linux and Windows hosting offer is called Basic, costs 11,99 euros + VAT / 1st year (promotion valid until 30 July 2020) and includes: unlimited space and traffic, a domain, 5 1GB mailboxes, an SSL DV certificate and free 24/7 assistance. A step up is the floor Easy (19,99 euros + VAT / 1st year, promotion valid until 30 July 2020), which adds unlimited 5GB mailboxes, 10 GigaMail mailboxes of 5GB each, 1 or 5 databases (depending on whether you choose Windows hosting or Linux) for a total of 1GB, backups and Web marketing statistics.
Even higher is the package Advanced, which for 29,99 euros + VAT / 1st year (promotion valid until 30 July 2020) offers all the features of the Easy package plus 20 5GB GigaMail mailboxes and 5 1GB PEC mailboxes on domain, and that Professional (150 euros + VAT / year), which adds 30 5GB GigaMail accounts and 10 PEC accounts on a 1GB domain. For more information on this, consult the Aruba pages dedicated to Linux hosting services and Windows hosting services.
Alternatively, if you have more advanced needs, you can opt for theAruba Managed WordPress Hosting: a solution that allows you to easily create a professional site based on WordPress, with unlimited online space, second level domain, SSL DV certificate and MySQL database. The plans available are as follows.
- Smart Managed WordPress Hosting - costs 79 euros + VAT per year (in promo at 29 euros + VAT / 1st year) and includes pre-installed WordPress, automatic updates, thousands of themes and plugins, staging environment, domain, dedicated MySQL database (1GB), space unlimited disk on SSD, traffic volume up to 50.000 visitors per month, advanced support with 1 free credit, up to 2 on-demand backups with one-click restore, daily backups, malware detection, SSL DV certificate, 5 x 1GB mailboxes, free 24/7 assistance and 3 dedicated instances.
- Premium Managed WordPress Hosting - costs 129 euros + VAT per year (in promo at 39 euros + VAT / 1st year) and includes pre-installed WordPress with automatic updates, thousands of themes and plugins, optimized platform, staging environment, domain, dedicated MySQL database (2GB ), unlimited disk space on SSD, traffic volume up to 500.000 visitors per month, advanced support with 2 free credits, up to 4 on-demand backups with one-click restore, daily backups, malware detection, DV SSL certificate, unlimited mailboxes 1GB, free 24/7 assistance, 6 dedicated instances and 5 PEC on domain.
- Top Managed WordPress Hosting - costs 229 euros + VAT per year (in promo at 119 euros + VAT / 1st year) and includes pre-installed WordPress with automatic updates, thousands of themes and plugins, optimized platform, staging environment, domain, dedicated MySQL database (2GB ), unlimited disk space on SSD, traffic volume up to 1.000.000 visitors per month, advanced support with 3 free credits, up to 4 on-demand backups with one-click restore, daily backups with data retention up to 30 days (instead of 7), malware detection, SSL DV certificate, unlimited 1GB mailboxes, free 24/7 support, 12 dedicated instances and 10 PEC on domain.
If you want to learn more, I invite you to read my guide to Aruba WordPress Hosting and consult the official Aruba website.
To conclude, I also want to point out my guide on how to create a successful blog, in which I have explained in depth what are the main guidelines to follow for the creation of a website.
WordPress.com
One of the most used platforms for creating websites is the one made available by the website WordPress.com which is known for its integration with its CMS WordPress.
This tool allows you to create a website for free (with 3GB storage space and third level domain .wordpress.com) and, to do so, no technical expertise is required.
To start building a site with WordPress.com, connected to its home page, click on the button Sign up now and enter all the required data, using the text fields on the screen (indicates, among other things, the nome of the site,topic and l 'obiettivo). Now click Continue, type the domain name you want to give the site, click Select in correspondence with the domain with extension .wordpress.com and finally click Get started with free. In this way you can continue without having to sign up for a subscription (the prices of the latter start from 4 € / month).
On the next screen, create an account, indicating yours email address it's a Password of your choice, then click Continue. You can also press the button to create an account Continue with Google, to register with the latter.
Now, confirm the email address provided to WordPresss.com: to do so, click on the link in the email received at the email address indicated. To finish, click on the button Continue from the website WordPress.com.
In this way you will be redirected to the login page of the newly created website; to customize it, use the tools in the section Customize. To start writing articles on the site, go to the screen instead Articles.
If you want to learn more about the use of the CMS WordPress read my guides dedicated to the subject, or my tutorial in which I explain how to customize a site with WordPress.com.
DIY site of cittàonline
Are you looking to promote your business online but don't have the faintest idea how to build a website from scratch? Then I recommend you take a look at DIY site, a service of cittônline (the largest your language Internet company, with its complete ecosystem of solutions for the digitalization of businesses) aimed at all companies and professionals who want to create a complete, effective and professional-looking Internet site, without wasting time and without having technical skills.
With Cittàonline's DIY site, you can quickly configure your website by making a short registration and choosing one of the over 50 templates available on the platform, automatically suggested based on your activity. The construction of the site then takes place via a flexible and intuitive visual editor, which allows you to add, move and modify the elements within the pages through a pre-packaged grid, like a kind of puzzle. Among the available elements are: images, video e multimedia content galleries (DIY site also offers space to host your own online content), articles by blog, contact forms, social buttons for platforms such as Facebook e Twitter, maps of Google Maps e click to call buttons for platforms such as WhatsApp e Zoom, in order to facilitate communication with its customers.
The sites created can be updated at any time, to constantly adapt to your needs and those of visitors, and are automatically optimized for viewing on PC and mobile devices. In addition, they are optimized for search engines (SEO), guarantee the maximum loading speed (CDN) of content and offer the possibility of inserting the tracker of Google Analytics.
There is also everything regarding security and privacy, with the use of the secure protocol HTTPS / SSL, the implementation of systems antispam and antiphishing and full compliance with the regulations of the GDPR Compliance for the processing of personal data.
DIY site you can try for free to build your own site. Payment is then required for publication 149 euros + VAT per year. The price also includes domain, email boxes, hosting it's a company profile on PagineGialle and Virgilio, very useful to give more visibility to your business and site.
When you're ready to get started, you can create your site with cittônline by connecting to the DIY site page and pressing the button for get started for free. At this point, fill out the form with email address e VAT number, accept the Terms of Service and press pulsating Continue.
Then click on confirmation link you receive via email and set the Password to access your cittàonline account (by filling in the appropriate fields on the screen). Once the registration phase is complete, access the Customer Area of cittàonline, select the tab relating to Services and click the button for update your site.
Now follow the guided procedure that is proposed to you, indicating category to which your business belongs, loading a logo for the latter and specifying if you already have photos online; then go ahead and fill in the form with i your business data (name, place and telephone). Once this is done, insert the contact pages of your business (email address, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn), press the button Continue and choose the template you want to use for your site.
Great: now you just have to type title e slogan you want to use for your site and press the button Start building, to access the DIY site editor.
You are now in front of the main page of your site. To modify, move or delete any content in it, just select it with the mouse and use the commands he indicators that appear on the screen.
To add a new item, instead, just click on the button widget present in the left sidebar and drag the element to insert to the point you prefer: text, image, photo gallery, video, divider, button, contact form, list, calendar of Google Calendar, box with reviews of Yelp and so on.
By selecting, instead, the item Design from the left sidebar you can customize the general design of texts, buttons, images, background and layout of the site; in the same way, by pressing on the item Pages you can modify the pages that make up your site, renaming them, deleting them or adding new ones.
Going up Content you can set up content libraries, such as company information, corporate text e corporate images.
Finally, going on the item Settings (still in the left sidebar) you can adjust all site settings, such as icon, SEO, Google Analytics, URL redirect, HTML and header, site backup, site language, privacy settings, 404 page and set a Progressive Web App (PWA) for supported browsers.
In the bar at the top, you will find various useful buttons, such as those to change the site view mode between PC, tablet e smartphone; see a'live preview of the same (the ▶ ︎ button), reset the template the button capacitor positive (+) lead) is publish the site. In this regard, when you are satisfied with the work you have done, press the button Public and follow the procedure that is proposed to you to indicate the domain to use and complete the purchase of the site.
For more information, you can contact cittàonline from this page, via message o chat in real time, or you can call the toll-free number 800 011 411.
Altervista.org
Another frequently used platform for the free creation of Internet sites is that of the site Altervista.org, also dedicated to the creation of a site with already integrated WordPress CMS.
Service Altervista.org It differs from WordPress.com mainly for the possibility of inserting advertising banners even in its free version. As for the operation and use, however, there are no substantial differences: the CMS, or the basic structure of the site, is the same in both cases. Furthermore, with Altervista, storage space and traffic are unlimited even in the free version.
To create a site with a third level domain on Altervista.org, connected to its home page, click on Create site, then click Continue and start by registering an account by filling in all the required data (name, surname, year of birth e sex). If, on the other hand, you want to speed up the registration process, select the button Facebook, in order to connect the account of this social network.
Now, use the text field you see next to the wording http:// to customize the domain name of the site to be created. I remind you that, for free, you will get a third level domain (of the type www.nomescelto.altervista.org); eventually you can take out a subscription at a cost of € 19 + VAT / year to get a second level domain (www.nomescelto.com, eg).
Continue by clicking on the box relating to identity verification (I'm not a robot), then accept the terms of service, the conditions of use and the privacy policy, by placing a check mark on the relevant items. Finally, click on the button Continue.
The last operation to perform is that relating to the verification of the email address provided: click on the link you find in the email received from Altervista, in order to be redirected to the login and personalization page of the website you have created.
As for the personalization of the same, use the section Appearance, while to publish articles, use the WordPress editor that you can see by clicking on the section Articles.
For further information on the customization of the site, I suggest you read one of my tutorials dedicated to the functioning of the WordPress CMS.
Yola
Another easy-to-use tool for creating Internet sites quickly and easily is Yola, a web portal that offers the possibility to set up a site for free through a customizable sitebuilder.
The site created for free with Yola will have a third-level domain (for example ww.name.yolasite.com) with traffic and space limited to 1 GB but, eventually, it is possible to upgrade with plans starting at $ 4,95 / month.
To start, connected to the Yola home page, click on the button Get started for free and create an account by typing yours name, your email address it's a Password, then put the check mark on the item I accept terms of service e privacy policy and pass the captcha by clicking on the box I'm not a robot.
Continue by pressing the button Start building your site, then select a model from those on the screen by clicking on Use this template. Indicate, in the next text field, the nome of the site Web to build, click NEXT and also fill in all the text fields present, in order to provide contact information (address, city, country, state, region, zip code e telephone number). Finally, click on the item Finished settings.
Wait for the sitebuiling tool to load, to configure the site aesthetically in all its parts: you can in fact find a menu bar full of items, such as for example Widget, Style, Page, Navigation but also the words Text, Photo, Gallery, Columns, which are used to customize each respective element of the website.
You can experiment with the construction of your website without any fear of making a mistake: the changes are visible in real time and, when you are ready to publish the site online, press the button Public which you can see in the upper right corner.
Blogger
If your intent is to create a blog for free, in which to publish articles, you can use the website Blogger, a platform with a leaner proprietary CMS than WordPress.
By creating a blog for free through Blogger you can get a third level domain of the type www.nomescelto.blogspot.com but, eventually, during the creation of the blog itself, it is possible to purchase a domain through the Google Domains service (prices start at € 12 per year).
To start setting up a blog via Blogger, connected to the home page of this service, click on the button Create your blog you see in the center, then log in to the service through an account Google (if you don't have one, read my tutorial where I explain how to create it). Then enter the required data (email address o telephone number and Password) and fai clic sul bottone NEXT.
On the next screen, complete the creation of the profile by clicking on one of the two items present: the section Create a Google + profile it is used to create a profile through the Google social network, while the one named Create a limited Blogger profile allows you to register an account through the Blogger site.
Either way, click on the entry Create new Blog to start getting into the practical part of creating it. Using the box you see on the screen, indicate the title to be given to the site and customize the domain name, to obtain a URL with the extension .blogspot.com. Then choose the theme to use by clicking on one of those on the screen and then finish the procedure by clicking on Create the blog.
In case you are offered to purchase a domain through the Google Domains service, click on the button No thanks, if you want to continue using the service for free and be redirected to the login and personalization page of the blog created.
Other options related to the aesthetic customization of the created blog can be performed through the sections layout e Subject while the publication of the articles passes through the editor present in the section Post.
If you want to learn more about the use of the Blogger service you can read my guide dedicated to this specific topic.
How to create a static site
With regard to the creating a static website, there are several options to consider. To set up a website, you must first purchase a hosting it's a domain. However, there are several hosting services and numerous companies that offer the purchase of a paid domain, so I suggest you refer to some of my guides dedicated to these specific topics.
In particular, in my tutorial on how to buy a web domain I told you about some basic steps to take to purchase a domain name. My tutorial on free domains, on the other hand, is dedicated to the no-cost possibilities for purchasing a domain name.
Also, if you want to know more about hosting services, I recommend that you read my tutorial dedicated to the best ones. In addition, in this other tutorial of mine, I have provided you with some information on which services offer free hosting.
If you are fascinated by the idea of being able to have a web space all to yourself and you want to learn, because you want to create a website by yourself, I recommend that you use a service such as Jekyll, which, however, is more suitable for users experienced in the programming language of websites. To use this service you can also refer to the guides and tutorials that are present on the same website, but published in English.
In this regard, if you want to learn more about the topic of creating a static website in HTML, I recommend reading my dedicated guide, in which I explained to you in depth how to learn the programming language in HTML.
Alternatively, you can also consider purchasing a specific book on the subject, in order to learn on your own. Below I show you some solutions that might be right for you.
See offer on Amazon See offer on AmazonI remind you that to view the static website, you must upload the individual files you created on the server, via FTP. In this regard, I suggest you read my guide on FTP programs, to find the tool that best suits your needs.
How to create an e-commerce site
If your intent is to make a e-commerce site, because you want to sell products through your web space, you can use free or paid platforms, such as preconfigured Site building services (One Minute Site o Blooming for example), tools designed for this specific objective.
If, on the other hand, you have technical knowledge or want to contact an expert in creating websites, to obtain a more professional result, you can use a CMS like WordPress o Drupal. I talked to you in more detail about the options dedicated to e-commerce sites in my guide dedicated to the topic or you can refer to this paragraph.
Article created in collaboration with Aruba and cittàonline.
How to create a site
