Today we will be learning how to create your own website or website design using free resources. There are tons of freely available website templates on the internet that you can study and modify according to your own requirement.

I’m assuming that you are someone who is trying to learn about websites rather than quickly build websites using paid tools or free website builders. However, we’re going to talk about them as well but let me begin by listing some of the free resources that you can download, modify and use for both personal and commercial purposes.

Learning to build websites is not as hard as it sounds. Especially now, when there are so many free resources available. We have so many online tutorial websites, discussion forums, free tutorial videos, free web design templates, and free website templates.

Although it is easy, it definitely takes time to learn and master the craft of building websites.

Let’s split creating websites into two different topics.

Web Design

Before we start building the website we will actually be using, we first need to design the website.

In this process, we will choose the layout of the website, what fonts to use, and the colors of the website.

Web designing in simple terms is how you choose to display or present your content/information to your users in the best possible way. Always remember, your website has to be easy to navigate, easy to read and interesting as well. There are different aspects of web designing which you can dig deeper into later.

The popular tools to create website designs are Figma and Adobe Photoshop. Figma is a free and better option for Photoshop in my opinion.

There are thousands of free Figma website templates and free photoshop templates you can freely download. Use them to study how to quickly edit them. Try modifying the layouts, fonts and changing images and texts. You will have a basic idea of the tool.

Instead of building something from the scratch, modifying these free templates will help you learn about the tool quickly. Use these free website templates as a starter template and gradually learn to create your own website design.

Web Development

Now that we have a website design, we need to turn that into something that works in internet browsers. Website design is basically an image but a website is a mix of texts, images, videos, links, etc.

Websites are created using HTML (HyperText Markup Language). It is the most basic building block of the Web. It defines the meaning and structure of web content. Other technologies besides HTML are generally used to describe a web page’s appearance/presentation (CSS) or functionality/behavior (JavaScript).

It will be very overwhelming for a beginner to try and learn everything all at once. Instead, download free HTML website templates as we did to learn web design. Try changing the texts, images in the HTML files. The look and appearance of these HTML elements are defined by a CSS file. Try changing the color, size, and weight of the texts in the CSS file.

Download any of the popular text editors to edit these files. The most popular ones are Sublime Text and Visual Studio Code.

While playing and exploring these HTML and CSS files you will have a basic idea of how it works.

Now you’re ready to dig deeper into these topics. Start a book, join an online course or simply go to W3Schools where you can find thousands of beginning to advanced well-written tutorials. We cannot thank them enough for creating such a useful resource.

As you dive deeper you will find plenty of useful resources which will guide you through your journey to become a successful website designer/developer. Wish you all best.

WordPress, WIX and Other Free website builders

After we design and develop the website, you now need it to be dynamic and easily editable. That’s when we need these CMS(Content management systems). There are many online website builders that will help you instantly create your website. There are hundreds of free themes and templates to choose from.

You must be asking yourself why do I have to learn web design and development if I can simply create free websites using these website builders.

Because you will have more control over these tools if you have a basic idea of web design and development. You can use these advanced website builders and still create an ugly website if you don’t have a basic idea about web design and development.

And after all, these are only quick solutions for your websites. If you really want to build something that you have control over then there is no alternative to learning how to design and code.