Getting started with your first website might seem a little daunting to begin with but much like anything breaking it down into small steps can make the process a lot easier and less overwhelming. These steps can be done in any order you find easiest that may depend whether you've done any them previously.
Step 1 - Content and purpose
Think about what it is you might want to have on your website and how regularly you up date it. Initially you might want to show some simple profile information and your personal background. It's your site so you decide what to publish and share with the world.
Step 2 - Choose your host
Just like choosing a place to live, when you decide where your website should be stored, this presents many choices from self hosting to shared/managed hosting with different costs, included features and different levels of support to help get you started. We've put together a comparison list of some hosts IndieWeb community members use or you might prefer to find and compare your own.
Step 3 - Choose a domain name
Getting your own personal domain name is one of the first steps in giving you a unique address on the web which can represent you and no one else. Just like choosing a host, you should decide on a domain name registrar to buy your domain name from.
Step 4 - Pre-built or self-build?
Whether you want to learn as you go, build something from scratch or begin with a prebuilt choice of templates it's helpful to plan how you'll go about implementing the structure and design of your website. Your website's host may already provide features to setup ready-to-go build using what's known as a CMS (Content Management System). Refer to our guide building your website to decide which path is best for you.