In 2025, global e-commerce sales are projected to reach $7.4 trillion, accounting for 24% of total retail sales. This significant growth underscores the growing importance of a robust online presence for entrepreneurs.
Many entrepreneurs are realizing they don’t need to rely on agencies charging high fees for basic websites. With the right tools and guidance, building and promoting your own business website can be a DIY success—cost-effective, professional, and completely in your control.
In these modern times, if you're still wondering, "Can I build a website and do digital marketing myself?"
Know that the founder of Van Dijk Consultants, a seasoned web developer and businesswoman, has led several enterprises and individuals through this procedure.
What is her advice? Rather than hiring an agency, build it yourself. The key is to follow a logical procedure and, preferably, have access to a reliable resource, such as the Marketing Website Blueprint course, which was created specifically to aid beginners in constructing a successful corporate website from the ground up and developing it through digital marketing.
So, what steps can you follow? This is why we are here with everything you need to know about building your own business.
Top Steps to Build Your Business Website from Scratch
Even when you don’t know how to code or what you need for your website, you can still do it. A little help from classes can go a long way.
But let’s prepare you first on how to build a website and grow your business with digital marketing?
Step 1: Determine Your Site’s Goals
When developing a website, you should first define your website's goals. You must determine what you want the site to accomplish.
To identify your SMART goals, you should first answer some basic questions, such as:
- What will be the website's principal function(s)?
- What audience are you hoping to attract with the website?
- What do you hope to achieve with this website for your business?
Once you've answered those questions simply, you'll have a better idea of how to structure your website to help you achieve your objectives.
Don't know how to transform your great dream into a solid plan? Our course shows you how to break it down using SMART goals, transforming your vision into a disciplined, step-by-step road to real success. From idea to action, we provide clear guidance.
Step 2: Choose the Right Platform and Domain
The platform you choose is the foundation of your business. It can save, secure, and in fact boost your growth if you choose the right one. So, how to do it?
Assess Your Needs:
- Selling physical products? → Go with Shopify.
- Offering services or consulting? → Choose WordPress. (First, get a Step-by-step WordPress website guide with Van Dijk consultants).
- Prefer drag-and-drop simplicity? → Consider Wix or Squarespace.
To Register a Domain:
You can register a domain name through platforms like GoDaddy, NameCheap, or Google Domains. All you need is to pick a name. But before you do it, remember that:
- It matches your business name or main product
- It is easy to spell and remember
- It doesn't have hyphens or unusual extensions (stick to .com, .net, .co)
If you're not sure which platform to use or how to secure the correct domain, our course will lead you through it step by step. We teach you the advantages and disadvantages of each platform, how to register a professional domain, and even how to avoid frequent beginner mistakes, so you can create with confidence from the start.
Step 3: Set Up Hosting and Website Infrastructure
Hosting is everything for your website. It affects speed, uptime, and even security. You have to be very careful with the choice of it to avoid any performance issues.
How to Decide on a Host
Each website requires a web host. A host is a corporation that offers or leases storage space on its servers. That place becomes your website's home, storing all of the content for each page you create. If it helps, think of your hosting business as the internet's property manager.
Hosting services offer two different forms of hosting. They are:
- Shared hosting involves numerous websites sharing storage space on a single server. Each site has its own server portion, ensuring that all information is secure.
- Dedicated hosting, where a single website occupies an entire server. This hosting type is frequently used by extremely large websites such as Google and Amazon, which have hundreds of pages and tremendous quantities of traffic.
Not sure which hosting plan will best suit your website's needs? Our course breaks everything down for you, shared vs. dedicated, performance vs. cost, so you can choose the best host from the beginning. No technical language, simply smart, straightforward decisions that position your site for long-term success.
Step 4: Choose a Theme and Design the Site
"Users judge a website's usability within 50 milliseconds." - The Nielsen Norman Group.
This is the time period where people decide whether to trust your business or not. So, make it clean, sharp, and the one that speaks loudly for credibility.
Pick a fast, responsive theme:
Themes like Astra or GeneratePress are great options for WordPress. You can learn more about the WordPress and digital marketing course. Also, with Shopify website creation, you can get amazing FREE themes too.
Customize for Brand Consistency:
- Upload your logo
- Apply brand colours and fonts
- Set your favicon (that small icon in the browser tab)
Design Rules of Thumb:
- Keep the navigation simple (no more than 5–7 links)
- Avoid clutter; each section should have a purpose
- Use high-quality, compressed images
Don’t know how to navigate through WordPress? We provide a comprehensive tutorial, from hosting setup to theme customization, so that by the end, you'll not only understand how to use WordPress but also feel secure maintaining your own site.
Step 5: Build Core Website Pages with Strategic Content
Content isn’t just filling pages. It persuades your customers, convinces them to invest in your service/products, and ensures the consumer comes back.
Core pages to include:
- Homepage: What you provide, who you assist, and a clear call-to-action (CTA).
- About us: Tell your story, develop trust, emphasize values and accomplishments.
- Products/Services: Explain what you're selling, how it works, and the benefits.
- Contact page: Include a form, phone, map, email, and even WhatsApp if applicable.
- Blog: Share insights, increase authority, and boost SEO.
Good writing is more than simply what you say; it's also how you frame it. We show you how to format information for real readers using approaches such as the F-pattern and Layer-Cake approach, ensuring that your message is read rather than merely scanned.
Step 6: Add Key Tools and Automations
You need your tools with you to keep the process going and have less on your plate. You are a business owner, you already have a lot to deal with. So, get the tools to make your website smarter and secure.
Must-have integrations:
- Google Analytics: Monitor visitors' identities, origins, and activities.
- Google Search Console: Track site health and SEO performance.
- Email marketing: To capture leads, integrate Brevo, ConvertKit, or Mailchimp.
- SEO plugin: To optimize your content, use Yoast or Rank Math.
- Form builder options include embedded Typeform links, WPForms, and Gravity Forms.
Don't waste time juggling jobs manually; let your website perform the heavy lifting. Our course demonstrates how to combine critical tools such as Google Analytics, email marketing platforms, and SEO plugins, allowing you to automate, optimize, and focus on expanding your business rather than your to-do lists.
Step 7: Define Your Audience and Craft a Marketing Strategy
If someone asks you who your target audience is and you answer “everyone”, it translates to “No one.” so, make sure you know your audience and have clear demographics. This will help you plan better and more effective marketing plans. We can help you with it if you need.
Steps to take:
- Outline goals, challenges, demographics, and purchasing patterns.
- What issue do you resolve? What makes you superior?
- Are you making direct sales, creating leads, or increasing awareness?
Feeling overwhelmed about where to begin with marketing? You are not alone, which is why our course teaches you how to develop a marketing strategy that actually works. We lead you through every step of the process, from goal setting to channel selection, so there is no guesswork.
Step 8: Optimize for Search Engines (SEO)
Marketing is no longer a one-step process. It must be constant and an ongoing process. So, what is better than SEO? It ranks on Google and, if done correctly, your clients will find your website when they search for related terms.
Pro tip: Optimize each page for one main keyword to avoid dilution.
SEO is more than simply keywords; it's about visibility, trust, and long-term success. In this course, we break down technical and creative SEO into simple steps that can help you rank higher, get discovered faster, and develop organically.
Step 9: Build an Email List and Use Social Media
Email marketing is one of the most effective methods for nurturing leads and increasing conversions over time. While SEO takes time, advertisements and social media offer immediate exposure. But strategy is more important than budget.
Steps to Implement Email:
- Provide a lead magnet (free checklist, discount code, guide, or webinar).
- Create opt-in forms for the homepage, blog posts, and popups.
- Create a welcome email series that educates, establishes trust, and makes subtle pitches.
How to use social media effectively:
- Pick one or two social media sites that your target audience frequents, such as YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.
- Post regularly with valuable captions and branded images.
- To establish a connection, use narratives and behind-the-scenes material.
Getting started with ads:
- Start with a $5–$10/day test on Google Ads or Meta (Facebook/Instagram).
- Promote more than just your product. Offer a free consultation or lead magnets.
- Test the image, headline, call to action, or audience one at a time.
If you are asking, Is there a course for WordPress and digital marketing beginners? Yes. Reach out now to discover more while you enroll in the Best WordPress course for beginners.
Additionally, this course breaks down digital marketing, including PPC ads, into manageable lessons, guiding you through each technology and how to use it strategically to grow your business.
Step 10: Monitor, Analyze, and Improve
After going live, you must keep improving your website based on performance metrics and user behavior.
Steps to take:
- Set a monthly review schedule.
- Experiment with different form lengths, button colors, and headlines.
- Turn popular blog entries into email series or social media content.
Conclusion
Today's entrepreneurs can confidently create and promote their websites rather than spending thousands of dollars on agencies that provide vague deliverables. The correct system is all that is required.
The Marketing Website Blueprint is that system.
- Create a professional website gradually.
- Use tried-and-true Affordable digital marketing training to increase traffic.
- Increase sales, expand your email list, and scale with ease.
- Steer clear of agency fees and tech headaches.
Need more to get started? Contact today!
