Creating a website in 3 simple steps

Introduction

• Creating a website has never been easier. This article is suitable for those who are just starting out and want an online presence, but do not have advanced IT knowledge. Whether it's a blog, a presentation page for a restaurant, or a news portal, you will have everything you need for a modern and optimized website on all devices.

Requirements

• A Hostico hosting package
• An active domain

Website Installation

• As promised in the article title, in just 3 steps we go from a newly purchased service to an accessible website that can rival many sites created by experienced developers.
• For further configuration, both in terms of content and design, we will address the upcoming paragraphs.

Step 1 - Accessing SiteBuilder (SitePad)

• We will need to access the hosting control panel where we will install the necessary files for our website. This will be done using the email received upon purchasing the hosting services (Hosting administration data)

• One of the four control panel addresses will need to be accessed in a browser of choice (recommended Chrome or Firefox), similar to a normal website. After accessing, a page will open that allows the insertion of a username and a password. These details will be taken from the previously mentioned email, after which we will complete authentication with the Log In button.

• Once connected in cPanel, we will navigate to the bottom of the page and access the SitePad Website Builder icon in the Software category

Step 2 - Choosing the Theme

•  After accessing SitePad from cPanel, we will be redirected to the page where it will be possible to install the website. Here, we will access the text create a new site, and on the very next page, we click on Get Started

                                                                                                                                         

• The "hard" part comes just now! We will be presented with a catalog that has over 535 graphic themes, from a wide range of fields of activity. To finalize the theme selection, nothing simpler, we will go to the green button Select

Step 3 - Completing the installation

• The last part consists of completing the details regarding our website, and they are as follows:
  
  1. Site Address - Here you can choose the domain where we want to install the website, the directory where it will be installed, and the security protocols. Our recommendation is that each site should be installed with the HTTPS option, and the directory field should be left empty (unless a different folder is specifically desired), so each site will be installed in the predefined folder.
  
  2. Admin Email - This email address will be used for authentication in the SitePad panel. You can use either a public email address (gmail, yahoo) or the email address associated with your website.
  
  3. Site Title - The title displayed on the main page of the site. It is irrelevant what we enter, as it can be modified later.
  
  4. Description - The general description of the web page. As with the title, we can insert anything as it can be modified later.
  
  5. Site Language - The language in which our website will be displayed after installation.

 

• On the right side, contact details can be optionally filled in. After ensuring that all the data is entered correctly, we will click on the Proceed with Install button

• If all the steps have been successfully followed, we will receive a confirmation message that the site installation has been completed, and customization can begin by accessing Click here to login into the site start editing

• At this moment, if we access the domain where we installed the site in a browser, we will be greeted by the interface we previously chose.
  

Website Configuration

• If we have reached this step, it means that we have successfully installed our new website. Even though we might think the work is completed, only now begins the drafting and finishing part.
• In the following, we will go over all the aspects that need to be modified to have the final website and to effectively start attracting the established target audience.

Texts

• Each predefined theme presents lorem ipsum texts (standard text used to simulate text boxes and ease the assessment of a website's design), these need to be replaced.
• This can be done with a simple double click on the text box. The size, color, font, and other design elements can be modified from the right side of the page in the Edit Title
  section.

Images

• There is nothing wrong with keeping the original images, as they do not have special copyright rights, but to avoid having the site identical to another 1,000 users, it is advisable (if we have quality images) to replace them.
• To do this, hover the mouse over the image you want to replace, and click on the blue pencil

• From here, on the right side, we ensure we are on Background Style. If we don't necessarily want to add an image, we can always opt for a solid color or gradient option, but it is recommended to use images instead of colors.

The Buttons

• I believe you've already understood the idea, any modification is very easy to perform, and updating buttons is no exception. As with images, buttons are modified by the blue pencil displayed when moving the mouse over the element, or by right-clicking and selecting the option Edit Image Box

• Again, the menu displayed on the right will help us understand the aspects that can be implemented or removed at will. We will not go through each item individually, as the terms are explicit.

 

Pages

• Let's assume we want to add additional pages at the top of the site that lead to different sections. To add a page, simply access Pages and Create New

• From the initial installation, there will be several pages with names that most likely will not be applicable to our project and will need to be either modified or removed. These actions will be carried out from the respective page settings, which can be found at the top next to the SitePad logo.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

• After entering the new name of the page, or deleting an existing page, we must ensure that we have saved the changes, otherwise, when we leave the page, they will not be retained.

 

Widgets

• Over 40 Widgets can be used to customize the page as desired. Whether we are talking about Google Maps, Calendar, Tables, or others, we can easily insert any element with a simple "click and drag". These elements can be found again on the right side of the page under the Widgets section

Hyperlinks

• There will certainly be situations where we want to refer to another page on our website, but not necessarily through a button, rather through text. This is achieved through Hyperlinks.
• To add a Hyperlink to our text, we will need to select the desired text, then right-click on Edit Rich Text

• From the already familiar menu, we will select the Link icon, and we will insert the link to the page where we want the text to lead us. The other two fields, Title and Target, are also recommended to be filled out for SEO reasons (more information in the next paragraph)

SEO

• A familiar concept, yet misunderstood by a large part of website owners. In short, they are a series of identifiers that set our site apart from other sites on the internet, and give us an advantage over the competition. The better the optimization of these identifiers, the higher the positioning in search engines will be, and consequently, the number of visitors will increase.
• For our site, SEO optimization can be achieved through various methods, but the easiest way is through the button provided by Site Builder

• The more general the terms, the greater the competition will be, and the chances of your site being among the top searches just by setting these fields will be reduced.
• If the terms are more unusual, the positioning will be better, however, the number of those searching for these words will be lower. When it comes to SEO optimization, a suitable balance must be found.

• If MetaTags are not inserted, they will be automatically allocated and the chances of them being suitable for your site will be small.
• You must take into consideration that SEO optimization is a varied spectrum that may involve constant work, and most of the time, a deeper understanding of the concept is necessary to achieve significant results.

 

• To view the changes made so far, it will be necessary to access the Update button again, previously presented, and click on Preview. Our site will be loaded with the updates made in the last session.

• There is a possibility that we may have made a mistake at some point, or simply that we do not like the chosen design, what do we do, start the site from the beginning? No. All previous versions can be viewed in the History and Revision section, thus we have the certainty that we always have the option to revert to an "older" version.
  

  

 

• I started the article by saying that creating a website "has never been easier" and I believe you think the same now that your website has been successfully completed.
  There are other aspects to implement before the site can be considered "well-made," however, for an initial presence it is a successful start.
  Along the way, you will become familiar with the site builder, and certain aspects will be better understood and easier to implement.

Note

• This site builder is a third-party program provided through a supplier, and it is not directly developed by the Hostico team.
• The installation of a site can be done on multiple domains, even if they are added by the same hosting package
• SSL security certificates are automatically generated by cPanel when the site is installed on hosting, and no further manual configuration is required
• The SitePad application is primarily intended for people who are looking for a simple website that does not necessarily require the involvement of a developer
• The Site Builder cannot be used for eCommerce type websites. For this, we recommend other CMS platforms such as Prestashop, Magento, Wordpress + Woocommerce  which are specifically designed for this purpose.
• The application does not come predefined with a database administration interface. All records are made directly in PHPMyAdmin, and any new entry or query must be performed directly from cPanel