Websites Made Simple: An Easy Way To Build a Professional Website

Wonderful World of Websites | Website Wonder Woman

Websites Made Simple - Is That Possible?

Hosting, domains, SEO, analytics, backups, bandwidth- it’s enough to make your head spin. All you want are websites made simple! An easy yet professional-looking website to get your business online, without it costing the earth. I know, I've been there myself when I was first starting out.

websites made simple a computer with purple images on it set against a purple office wall

So, where do you actually start?

The very first thing you will need is a domain name. This will be the name of your website, usually your business name, followed by a .com or .co.uk (there are also many other options available; it depends on what will work best for your business).

So, which should you buy? If you have a local, mainly product-based business, and you won’t be doing any business outside of the UK, then I would recommend .co.uk as your visitors will be more targeted and generally from the UK. If your business is Worldwide or you offer a service that you could expand worldwide in the future, then go for .com.

My top tip for this 'Websites Made Simple' blog is to buy both. That's what I do! Use the one most relevant to your business, and keep the other one so no one else can use it. I then redirect the one I am not using to my main site. This means that if I had a .com site and someone typed .co.uk by mistake, it would still go to my website.

You can purchase domain names from many different providers, but before purchasing, make sure you check the hosting package that you intend to purchase (see below), because some of them come with a domain name free, which could save you money! Which brings us on to…

Hosting

Hosting can be a minefield, especially if you don’t know what you are looking for or what you need. Many hosting companies offer lots of extras that sound good, but you will probably never use them, and once you are in that contract, you end up wasting money you could have used elsewhere in your business.

For websites made simple, look at hosting as a rental space. This is where your website files are kept for a rental fee on the internet.

When deciding on hosting, any standard hosting package is ideal. I would recommend one with unlimited bandwidth/webspace. This is the amount of memory that is transferred every time a visitor uses your site. So, the more you have, the better, or your site will crash. You also need to be able to have your own email address. For example: lisa@wonderfulworldofwebsites.com or lisa@wesbitewonderwoman.co.uk . Why? Because using a Gmail or Hotmail address is unprofessional in the business world, and often doesn’t even get to your recipient's inbox, as it can be marked as spam. If you are intending to have a shop, then at least one SQL database is also needed, as this will be where all your products are stored.

WordPress

Yay, we are finally getting to grips with websites made simple! We now have a domain name and some basic hosting. The next step is to install WordPress.

Now this is where a lot of people get confused. They think as they are going to be using WordPress to build their site, they need WordPress hosting or need to use WordPress.com.

DONT!!

You can install WordPress.org on any standard hosting package. WordPress hosting just offers extras such as backups, automatic updates, analytics, etc., that you can easily do yourself for free and in no time at all. Basically, it is not needed for a normal WordPress website.

As for WordPress.com, this is a free platform that will create your site hosted on WordPress itself. Your site will become yoursitename/wordpress.com, and anything you pay to them for hosting your site is the same as WordPress hosting, as mentioned above.

What you need to do is go to WordPress.org and install that on your domain name. This is easily done by following their instructions and is totally free. Or you can follow one of my simple WordPress tutorials.

What’s next?

Once installed, your site will have the normal WordPress theme. You can change this to one of the many free themes available, or you can purchase a theme for around £30 upwards, depending on how you want your site to look. Themes can then be installed, and you will get instructions on how to set up your theme and the necessary plugins.

Your theme can also be customised to your branding; you can do this yourself with some basic coding skills, or make use of a few tutorials, or get someone else to do it for a reasonable price.

I use the Divi theme by Elegant Themes for all my websites and training, it really does give meaning to websites made simple!

A laptop with a page graphic jumping out of the screen for websites made simple blog

Pages and Posts

Once you are happy with the way your site looks, you need some content. This will be in the form of static pages, e.g.:

Homepage

About

Work with Me

Shop

Contact

Blog

Then posts, which are non-static and will appear under your blog or news pages.

Analytics

Once your site is up and running, you will want to know if anyone is visiting it. We do this using analytics; a popular analytics site is Google Analytics, and it can be easily installed by following the instructions when you sign up (just search Google Analytics in your browser). I tend to use the Monster Insights plugin, which I find much easier to use and is also free. This links to your Google Analytics account and gives you the need-to-know information straight to your WordPress dashboard.

SEO

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or, more simply put, getting your site found in the search engines. This can be as easy or difficult as you make it. Basically, you want to get found in Google when a user types in something relevant to your website. For example, if you are a photographer in Cardiff, you may want to be found when someone types into a search engine ‘photographer in Cardiff’ or ‘Cardiff photographer’.

So, how do you do this?

The simplest way to do this is to choose a main ‘keyword’ (what a user would type to find your site) for your home page and other keywords for each page on your site. Use this keyword in the header, meta description, and throughout your wording on your homepage. What does this mean? Install the Smart Crawl SEO plugin on WordPress and you will be able to easily fill in all this information on each of your pages and posts.

Backups

You will need to back up your site in case anything happens and your site gets deleted, hacked into, or damaged in any way. There are many paid and free plugins that you can use for this, but I would suggest one that backs up to Dropbox or Backup Buddy.

Websites Made Simple - Conclusion

So, there you go, you now have a website for well under £100. Granted, you may need to read a few tutorials and play about with things a bit, but if you are in any doubt, there are people like me who are there to help you every step of the way!

Websites Made Simple - Yes really!

If you do want websites made simple, then the best place to start is with a Website Kickstart! In my free group, I run regular masterclasses, workshops, and Q&As for those of you who want to get started with a website or get one you already have working better for your business.

Help ChatGPT find your website a laptop with a megaphone coming out of the screen

I know that sounds ridiculous, but spend a few minutes browsing small-business websites, and you will see why it matters.

For example: A homepage might say: "Helping you achieve your goals." That's great, but what goals? Who are you helping?

A web visitor might work it out from the logo, photographs and navigation. Machines have less tolerance for ambiguity.

Compare that with: " We provide commercial cleaning services to offices, schools and healthcare businesses across South Wales."

Suddenly, there's much less to decipher. Who are you? A commercial cleaning company. What do you do? Clean commercial premises. Who for? Offices, schools, and healthcare businesses. Where? South Wales.

Clear website copy isn't unsophisticated copy. If you want to help ChatGPT find your website, clarity can be a big advantage.

3. Create Proper Pages for Your Main Services

One mistake I regularly see is businesses trying to squeeze everything they offer onto one service page. Imagine a building company offering extensions, loft conversions, kitchen renovations, and garage conversions. Giving each important service its own useful page creates far more context than mentioning all four in a short bullet list.

A strong page can explain:

what the service involves;
who it is suitable for;
common questions customers ask;
the process;
relevant experience;
examples of completed work;
geographical areas covered.

This is not only useful information for potential customers, but also useful for conventional SEO and will help ChatGPT find your website and understand exactly what your business provides.

However, a word of caution. The important word here is useful. Creating 30 near-identical pages simply to target 30 slightly different phrases isn't the answer. Websites are ultimately for people, so create pages because you have something worthwhile to tell them.

4. Answer the Questions Your Customers Really Ask

3d speech bubbles with Q & A in them for Help ChatGPT find your website blog

This is where good blog content becomes particularly valuable and can help ChatGPT find your website.

People often interact with ChatGPT and other AI bots in a conversational way. Rather than searching for something like: "loft conversion Cardiff", they might ask "Do I need planning permission for a loft conversion in Cardiff?" or "Is my house suitable for a loft conversion?". You get my drift.

Think about the questions customers ask you on the phone, in emails, during quotations, or at meetings. Those questions can become extremely useful website content. And don't limit yourself to just obvious FAQs. Some of the best content comes from the questions that require actual expertise to answer: comparisons, costs, pitfalls, misconceptions, alternatives, and situations where one option is better than another. That is where your knowledge becomes valuable. Put that into blogs, and it will help ChatGPT find your website.

5. Don't Just Say You're an Expert - Demonstrate It

Almost every business website claims some variation of: "We pride ourselves on providing a professional, high-quality service." The problem is that anybody can write it. Evidence is much more persuasive.

If you want to help ChatGPT find your website and understand why your business might be a credible source, then you need to give your website substance.

That could include detailed case studies, named authors with relevant experience, customer reviews, original photographs, accreditations, qualifications, awards, research or data you've produced, and genuinely knowledgeable articles/blogs.

A case study saying: We recently completed this project for a client in Newport", isn't particularly informative. Explain the problem. What did the customer need? What did you recommend? Why? What difficulties arose? How did you solve them? What was the outcome?

That is useful information for humans, and it gives search and AI systems considerably more context about your real-world expertise.

6. Make Your Location Clear

Naturally, this is particularly important for local businesses.

If you are an electrician serving customers across South Wales, make that clear on your website. Your address, service areas, and contact details shouldn't require detective work to find.

Your About and Contact pages can reinforce where you are based, while individual service pages can naturally explain areas you cover. However, avoid creating dozens of thin location pages where the only difference is swapping one town name for another, like "Electrician Newport", "Electrician Cardiff", and "Electrician Cwmbran."

That's not useful content. If a location genuinely warrants its own page, give the reader something specific and worthwhile.

7. Build Your Reputation Beyond Your Own Website

Your website doesn't exist in isolation.

If you claim to be a leading expert in your field but nobody else on the internet appears to know you exist, that's not a particularly convincing signal. Therefore, I want you to think about your wider digital footprint.

Are you listed accurately on relevant professional or industry websites? Have local publications mentioned your business? Do reputable websites link to you? Are there genuine customer reviews? Have you contributed expert comments or guest articles elsewhere?

You see, digital PR, quality guest blogging, and traditional link building still have a place. However, the aim shouldn't be to scatter links across hundreds of low-quality websites to help ChatGPT find your website. On the contrary, it's to build a recognisable business with a credible online presence.

8. Write Content Worth Citing

Graphic woman sat at a computer with pages of content coming out of it

This may be one of the biggest opportunities created by AI search.

If everybody writes a generic article called "10 benefits of X", then there is very little reason for any search or AI system to favour yours above the others. To help ChatGPT find your website, you need to give it something better:

Share your experience.

Explain what customers commonly get wrong.
Compare two approaches and say when you'd choose each one.
Publish original examples.
Answer awkward questions.
Discuss pricing honestly where possible.
Challenge a commonly repeated piece of industry advice if you disagree with it – and explain why.

The internet doesn't desperately need another 800-word blog saying the same thing as the previous 100 ones. What it does need are people who actually know their subject sharing information that isn't available everywhere else. Tricky, yes. Impossible, no.

9. Don't Forget Traditional SEO

As I mentioned right at the beginning of this article, trying to help ChatGPT find your website doesn't mean forgetting Google and other search engines. In fact, as I'm sure you've realised by now, many of the fundamentals overlap.

You still need a technically sound, crawlable website with logical navigation, descriptive page titles, useful headings, strong internal links and well-written pages focused on genuine customer needs. Ultimately, your content should make sense to a person first; I always stress this to my clients. There is little to be gained by contorting every single paragraph into something you imagine AI or search engines want to read.

Cater for your customer. Ensure your website clearly explains who you are, what you do, where you operate, and why you know what you're talking about. That's what they need to know, and by doing that you are already building a much stronger foundation for both traditional and AI-driven searches.

Help ChatGPT Find Your Website - But Write For People

Help ChatGPT find your website a 3d graphic of a person in front of a laptop with books and text

AI is changing how people discover information online, but that doesn't mean websites suddenly need to be written for robots. Quite the opposite. After all, humans, your potential customers, are asking ChatGPT the questions. So, if you want to help ChatGPT find your website, you must make it clear, informative, and more authoritative for the people you're trying to reach.

Follow the guidance listed above. None of it is particularly technical (save point 1); it is simply about making sure you have good website content. The difference is that today, a well-written website isn't only helping a potential customer decide whether to contact you; it may also help ChatGPT find your website and decide whether or not to list it in response to a query, ultimately driving fresh traffic your way.

If you would like help reviewing your website content, or creating quality blogs that appeal to both humans and bots, please do not hesitate to get in touch. My name is Heather, and I'm The Content Creator.

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A bit about the author

Heather founded The Content Creator nearly three years ago, combining her love of writing with a genuine passion for helping small businesses and solopreneurs get seen online. She supports her clients with everything from website copy and SEO to AI search visibility, newsletters and social media, taking the stress out of creating content that not only sounds like them, but helps their business grow.

If you need a helping hand with any of these areas, Heather is your go-to girl! We can speak from experience, too, because she works on our own website, helping us keep up with the ever-changing world of SEO and AI search and making sure our content continues to work hard for our business.

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