Create a Website: 3 Steps to a Professional Online Presence
➞ It’s 2025, and you just googled how to create a website. You’ve landed on my site to read the guide. You probably don’t need a fancy intro about why having a website is important these days—you want to know how to do it and get a simple step-by-step guide, right? Let’s get started. Here’s a roadmap to create your homepage in 3 easy steps.
Create a Website: Do It Yourself or Hire Someone?
Before we dive deeper into the guide, I would like to show you the advantages and disadvantages
of designing your website yourself or working with a professional. In my experience, these are the differences:
Do it yourself:
Costs: low Only hosting, theme, templates, images if necessary
Time required: high, approx. 3-6 months
Learning curve: Extensive, technology-heavy, only applicable once the initial hurdle has been overcome
Potential fuck-ups: Technology incomprehensible and difficult, uncertainty regarding content and image selection, difficulties with structuring and aesthetic design
Result: Can be great, but there is a greater risk that it will look “homemade”
Hire a professional
Cost: higher -> labor costs approx. $2,000–5,000 + hosting, theme, templates, images if necessary.
Time required: significantly less than 8 hours (in my offer).
Learning curve: targeted, application-oriented, useful in the long term.
Possible fuck-ups: In the worst case, the designer is not a good fit for you and the solution is not yet optimal and needs to be corrected by someone else. In the best case, you are happy and the proud owner of a website.
Result: Tailored to your target audience and your brand style.
➞ Guide on how to hire a web designer independently.
Hi, i am Lisa Koch
As an expert in web design for entrepreneurs and freelancers, I have already designed over 100 professional websites. I have a degree in communication design (Bachelor of Arts) with extensive experience and am an IHK-certified management consultant. I live and work in Berlin, but also offer online collaboration. My clients appreciate my clarity, my structured approach, my creative ideas, and my keen sense for tailor-made design.
Step 1: Create a website: Plan your content
Perhaps the topic of creating a website has been on your mind for a while, and you’ve already looked at a few attractive themes or nice templates to use yourself. GREAT! Then let me give you my first professional tip: web design experts don’t start by choosing a nice template and then begin planning the site. They first plan everything the site needs and then look for a suitable template. And I’ll now take you through this process in the guide.
Starten wir mit den Voraussetzungen:
- Du musst deine Zielgruppe kennen. Nein, du musst keine superspitze Nische gefunden haben aber du solltest doch wissen, an wen du dich mit deinem neuen Marketingkanal “Website” wenden möchtest.
- Du solltest dein Angebot kennen. Deine Website soll ein Verkaufstreiber werden, also müssen wir wissen, was du verkaufen willst. Wenn dein Angebot noch nicht klar feststeht, empfehle ich dir diese Anleitung zum Angebotsstruktur erstellen
- You should know what features your website needs: Do you want visitors to fill out a contact form? Do you want to include a newsletter or podcast episode? Plan what you want your site to be able to do technically.
Create a website with structure
And here comes the second pro tip for creating your homepage. I use this exercise with my clients for whom I design websites (by the way, in just 8 hours for a fixed price. Cool, right?). The exercise goes like this: Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. You were recommended to someone over lunch and now this potential customer is visiting your site. What questions might this person have? Usually, it’s questions like these:
These questions are a great way to figure out the content and structure of your website. It could look something like this:
Additional tips for structuring your website
Home page = shop window
Think of your home page as a shop window and use it to showcase everything your website has to offer. This usually includes: a brief introduction to what you offer, a few words about yourself, a short summary of your services, references or reviews if applicable, relevant content such as a blog or podcast, and a contact section. From the home page, you can then link to the respective subpage.
One-pager? Totally doable!
If you want to design a one-pager (a website with just one page), that’s totally fine too. Use anchor links (jump marks) in the menu so that people can still navigate to the desired area on the page and customers can find their way around easily. I would never do without a contact section.
Structure by relevance
Sort the content by relevance: Which question is most pressing for your customers? Structure the content so that one question after another can be answered and your customers are gradually convinced. You can use the same approach for the subpages on your website to find the right content and define a suitable structure.
Choose domain names
This is where creating a website becomes fun and quite real: you need a domain name (= website address). To do this, go to a domain tester and try out which internet addresses are still available. Here are a few tips:
- Choose a short address, as it will also be part of your email address.
➞ Example:
• lisakoch.de / hi@lisakoch.de
• Not good: Physiotherapie-janine-buchenwald.com
Choose .de if you primarily have German customers, choose .com if you primarily want to operate internationally
Avoid complicated names or spellings – even if “only” these domains are still available. Keep in mind that your internet address must also be understandable when you dictate it or when it is passed on by third parties. The person listening must also know how to spell the domain.
➞ Good: janine-buchenwald.com / Bad janinephy-sio.com
You can book your hosting here. The smallest package is usually sufficient. Make sure they don’t try to sell you anything extra. Cheap providers in particular like to play on your fears and try to sell you security packages, etc. It’s very similar to cheap airlines – you have to stay alert!
Step 2 in creating a website: Selecting the technology
This is where creating a website becomes fun and quite real: you need a domain name (= website address). To do this, go to a domain tester and try out which internet addresses are still available. Here are a few tips:
Now that all the preparatory steps are complete, it’s time to move on to the technical side of things. Yes, creating websites is primarily technical work, I’m afraid. But with these instructions, it will be easier for you. As a layman, I recommend a system that is easy to use and easy to manage. There are a wide variety of website builders available, as they require virtually no programming skills (except for very specific functions or customizations).
Let’s briefly clarify the necessary vocabulary:
CMS
Short for content management system. Software that allows users to manage website content without programming.
WordPress
Free CMS software from WordPress that you can install on your website and then upload a theme.
WordPress.Com
A hosting service offered by WordPress. However, you have already selected a host above (Strato, Ionos, etc.).
Theme / Template
Design template that can be used to design your website without programming. Ideally with a modular system.
Modular system
A modular system consisting of pre-designed website elements (images, text, columns, tiles, buttons, etc.) that can be used to create a customized design.
Editor
This is ultimately another name for the construction kit. Here you can design your website.
Note: If you find the technology too overwhelming at this point (and many people do), you can also look for a suitable designer at this stage. You are well prepared for this because you have already thought through and planned all the important points. Cool, huh? Feel free to check out my web design services!
I always recommend a combination of WordPress (CMS, short for content management system) and a WordPress theme to my clients. Elementor is a great editor, but it only has a few free features.
Website builders from Wix, Squarespace, Jimdo, and others would also be a possible option – but these are relatively expensive in terms of monthly costs. Ultimately, you can save the most money with the combination of “WordPress (CMS)” and a WordPress theme, provided it’s not a theme subscription.
Step 3: Set up and design your website
Now it’s finally time to get started on the design! Yay! How long have you been waiting for this—or maybe not. Not everyone enjoys design (I do), so I’ll just cheer you up a little bit as you get ready to create the visual part of the website!
Writing texts:
Now take another look at the planned structure for your website so that you can create the content. First, you should focus on the texts. Here, it helps to create a “persona,” i.e., a fictional person who exactly matches your desired target group. Pro tip: Those who already have a few customers tend to choose one of these people and write specifically for them. Important mistake: With their idiosyncrasies and preferences, this person is not a reliable representative of your entire target group. Secondly, “existing customers” are often confused with “desired customers” at this point.
So create an independent, fictional persona who can represent your desired target group. Keep them in mind and write the texts in a style that would appeal to this person.
Selecting images:
Selecting images is not always easy either. For personal brands, I recommend that the website show at least one image of the person themselves, even if they do not necessarily want to be in the foreground or only want to promote themselves discreetly. We humans buy from people and gain trust much more quickly when we get to know people with faces and names. As you can see, creating a website is one thing, designing a website is another. Another tip for your images: Try to use photos with the same setting (same location, same outfit, different scenery). If you want to hire a photographer, this is a good basis for the shoot: Take several pictures in one location in the same outfit with different “scenes.”
Technical elements:
Keep these things in mind for your website; I’ll briefly explain them here for you.
Legal notice
Mandatory in Germany, information page with details about the company. Contact details and legal information.
Data protection
Legally required in Germany, informs website users about what happens to their data and which third-party services use it.
Cookie banner
allows website users to decide for themselves which data is tracked and forwarded.
Mobile use
Your website should also look good on your cell phone.
SEO
Short for Search Engine Optimization. Ensures that your customers can find you via Google.
Loading time
The more data your website contains, the longer it takes to load. The longer the page takes to load, the higher the bounce rate. High-resolution images and videos are the main culprits here – it’s best to avoid them.
Design content
Now it’s time to get started. You’ve mastered the technology, created a website structure, worked your way through the texts, presented yourself in front of the camera—and now it’s finally time to bring everything together in a beautiful design. Expert tip: Search for “web design layout” on Pinterest to find some interesting ideas for designing your website. You’re also welcome to take a look at my website examples here to see if anything inspires you.
Frequently asked questions
In this section, you will find questions that I, as a web design expert, am frequently asked when it comes to creating websites. Perhaps you will find yourself here:
How long will it take to create a website yourself?
Honestly, it depends on how tech-savvy you are, how much time you can invest in learning about website topics, and how long your patience will last. I would definitely estimate several days for the technical aspects, about three full days for the text, at least one day for the images (shooting or research), and then another five days or so for designing the site until you have a first draft that you can get feedback on. That's quite a lot, I know. You can use this to calculate your hourly rate and decide whether investing in the “professional” shortcut is worthwhile.
How long does it take a professional?
That depends on the working method and scope of the desired website. As you know, I am a web designer myself and can create websites for my clients in just 8 hours. This includes technical setup, individual design, and advice on structure. You can find out more about my services below:
Can I move my website later?
To another hosting provider/to another system: Yes and no. Moving to a different hosting provider within the same system is easy and can be done at any time. Moving from one website builder to another (for example, Squarespace to Jimdo) is not possible, as these are two different website builders. That's why I always recommend using a combination of WordPress (CMS) and a theme. This combination can be moved to other hosting providers.
Where can I find detailed information about my theme/system?
If you have detailed questions about setup, YouTube can often help. Search queries such as “set up Jimdo pop-up” usually yield good instructions. AI such as Chat GPT or Google Genesis can also help.
How often should I update my website?
Technically, you should check your website every 6 months or so to make sure that all plugins are still up to date and that there is no new system version available. It is also worth going through the website in detail once a year and updating any outdated information. Expert tip: Make a quick backup before each adjustment so that nothing is lost in case of an emergency.
Should I do a photo shoot or are my pictures sufficient?
Good pictures for your website should not be more than three years old and should show you as you look today—this ensures that your customers will actually recognize you. If you have a good set of pictures that you are happy with, you can of course use them. If you secretly feel a little uncomfortable with the photos, it is better to have a new photo shoot done.
Do I have to list prices on my website?
No. You are free to decide what information you share on your website. I always recommend that my clients think about their target audience. Do they already need to know how much it costs to work with you, or are they okay with finding out the prices later on?
Now I would like to shamelessly offer to create your website:
Take Off Day Web Design
Creative Workshop | 8 Hours | Your Professional Website
Together, we’ll create your website in no time!
What You’ll Get
- Your custom web design
- Created in just 8 hours
- Includes: Video tutorials for making your own edits
- Preparation Workbook
- Mini-Positioning (Offer, Target Audience, Brand)
- Introduction to WordPress, no prior knowledge required
What’s Included
- Guidance on which texts and images you should use
- Web design in your colors & style
- Pre-launch checkup by me (1 hour)
- Helpful video tutorials for managing your website
- Optional: Privacy Policy & Legal Notice