How to create a webpage

There are several ways of creating a website.

- Use a free turn-key solution. It is important to keep in mind that this type of solution is limiting in terms of options for modifying your web pages, and that you would not be the owner of your website.

- Choose a paid platform, which is more comprehensive and offers greater flexibility in terms of how you configure and customise it. You can change your website’s design, and add certain features. However, the website hosted on this solution type is still not yours.

- Create your own website using a content management system (CMS), and host it with OVHcloud. We offer a range of web hosting solutions.
With a CMS, you can organise and edit your webpages without needing any technical knowledge. You will get more detailed management, and a very wide range of customisation options. You also own your website, its associated domain name, and the web hosting plan it is stored on.

Creating a webpage involves ensuring that it is accessible. You can do this with a memorable, effective and relevant domain name. Each domain name comes with a web hosting storage space, which you can use to build your website and publish your content.
 

Choosing a domain name

Choosing the right domain name is an important first step to making your website. It will play a crucial role in your company’s organic SEO, your brand image, and your online visibility.

We recommend choosing a short, relevant domain name that is easy to write and pronounce. This will make it easier for your users to remember.
For more information on this step, you can read our page on how to choose a domain name, which includes 9 tips from us.
 

Hosting and choosing a CMS

A web hosting company provides online storage space to make websites accessible. This way, we can offer you secure, low-cost hosting solutions.
Our solutions can be adapted to suit your business, storage and power requirements, and the traffic you expect.

When you order a web hosting package, OVHcloud recommends automatically installing a CMS to create your website. This option is quick and easy to set up, and you do not require technical skills to manage it. Choose a CMS to fit your needs, and install it in one click.

• WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS for creating a blog or website. It is supported by an active developer community, and offers a wide variety of plugins. We can advise you on creating your WordPress website.
   
• PrestaShop is a CMS dedicated to e-commerce. Create your online store with a catalogue of products, secure online payments and marketing operations. Like WordPress, PrestaShop offers a multitude of plugins.
   
• Joomla! and Drupal are CMS tools designed to showcase your website, boost your brand image and strengthen your online presence.

How do I create a website?
It is vital to establish and follow a graphic charter that fits your company. A graphic charter is a document containing all of the rules and elements relating to your brand’s visual identity in all its communication materials. It will also include the logo, typography and colour code.

You can use a number of pre-designed templates that quickly provide a structure for your page. These templates can be adapted to match your graphic charter, and help harmonise all of your website’s pages. Website builder tools help you create your website without requiring any technical knowledge. With content blocks, you can edit your webpages easily.

These themes are usually responsive, so they adapt to browsing on different platforms. Many people now access the internet from their mobile phones.
For this reason, it is important to ensure that your website offers an optimal user experience across all media — i.e. computer, tablet, and smartphone. Moreover, websites that offer mobile versions have a better natural SEO ranking, and search engines now use these versions for indexing.

Illustrating your website with visuals can improve user experience, and enhance both your business and webpage. It is important to remember, however, that photos are protected by copyright. To get royalty-free images, you can go to image banks or post a photo credit with the photographer’s permission. Limit the weight of images hosted on your webpage. If the images are too heavy, they can reduce your website’s loading speed.

Written content published online follows codified rules. Here are some tips for optimising how you write your content.

Create content that fits your editorial line. The title should be catchy, and give a concise indication of what the rest of the page will cover. It should also include popular keywords, to promote its SEO. In HTML, the heading 1 tag is <h1>. On a CMS, you can simply fill in the heading at the top of the page. In both cases, only one top-level heading must be present per page.

Structuring content with headings makes it easier to read. There are 6 heading levels. However, we recommend only using 3 or 4 at most, and keeping the hierarchy consistent between them.

The first paragraph is decisive in keeping your reader engaged. It should be short, concise and to-the-point, so that viewers continue reading. A clear structure makes it easy for visitors to navigate your webpage, and search engines can easily identify your webpage’s content to list it on search results. The title and meta-description tags are important, as these will determine how your page is displayed in search results.

Finally, internal linking (linking your page to others via links) enables your users to continue browsing.

Once your page is online, you will need to boost your website’s activity. Here are some ways to promote your new page.

• Create your Google My Business profile
  This free tool is perfect for improving your local SEO. It is an online business card that gives your company local visibility. With this page, users can easily find your opening hours, reviews, itinerary, contact details and a link to your site.
   
• Develop your social networks and your online reputation
  Keep in touch with people interested in your business by sharing quality content and sector-specific news with them. If you add share buttons to your webpage, users can also share your content across their own networks in just one click.
   
• Share your webpages through newsletters
  Inform and retain your customers by sending them regular content via email, through a dedicated software program.
   
• Develop your backlinks
  A backlink is a link from an external website that brings you visibility. In addition to generating traffic, backlinks are important for a high SEO score. Creating quality content will increase the likelihood of being mentioned by external websites.
   
• Update your website regularly
  Offer quality content on a regular basis to keep your website online. By doing this, you will also improve your search engine ranking.