How Much Does It Cost To Create A Website With BlueHost? A Step By Step Guide
In today’s era of digitization, your online presence is more important than ever. Whether it is in the form of a website, social media pages or other channels, you must have a strong online presence. This is even more true for businesses, especially startups.
Gone are the days when having a dedicated website for your business was considered a liberty. Today it is a must have. Even if you are following a physical business model where you are relying on customers to visit your brick and mortar stores to buy your products instead of an online model, your website is the first thing your customers will visit before deciding whether they should purchase your products or sign up for your services or not.
That is why it is important to create a website that can serve as the digital face of your brand. It should provide the best user experience and all the information your prospects are looking for in your business. Thanks to the introduction of website building tools, creating a website is more accessible and convenient today than it ever was.
In this article, you will learn the step by step process of creating a website with BlueHost website builder.
What is BlueHost Website Builder?
BlueHost is famous for its web hosting but very few people know that they also have a great website building tool. BlueHost website builder takes the pain out of website creation and lets you create a fully functional website without breaking a sweat.
It’s easy to use drag and drop interface makes it easy for even a beginner to create a website from scratch. Don’t want to create a website from scratch? BlueHost website builders have you covered with more than 300 design templates. Best of all, all these design templates are fully customizable which means that you can tweak it to suit your needs. Additionally, you can get a free domain for the first year. The website builder plans start at just $2.95 per month.
Why Choose BlueHost Website Builder?
You might be wondering why you should choose BlueHost’s website builder over other website builders such as Wix or Weebly? Good Question. What really makes BlueHost’s website builder stand out from other website building tools out there is that it does not bind you to a proprietary system but instead offers you more freedom as it is built upon open source WordPress software.
You get all the perks of open source software as it offers you the flexibility and simplicity you need to create your website. You can customize every element of your website. The small learning curve coupled with a drag and drop interface can also encourage even the beginners to start building their website using BlueHost website builder. You don’t even have to write a single line of code and your website will be ready.
How Does BlueHost Website Builder Work?
BlueHost website builder gives you two options. You can either start from a clean slate or you could choose one of the templates and customize it. If you choose the former option, you can drag and drop different elements on the website and customize it. On the flipside, you can select one of the design templates and tweak it to suit your business requirements or add different elements on top of it. The drag and top interface makes it a whole lot easier to create a website in no time. You can control everything from a custom dashboard.
How to Get Started With BlueHost Website Builder?
1. Login to your account and then select manage Site tab from the navigation menu on the left.
2. Next, start creating the website by pressing the create new site button.
3. You will be taken to a new screen where you will see multiple options to create a website. Choose WordPress through Bluehost’s website builder if you want to create a Wordpress website.
4. Follow the instruction given by Bluehost Website builder as it guides you through following steps.
How To Create A Website By Using BlueHost Website Builder?
Here are seven steps involved in creating a website with Bluehost website builder.
1. Purchase hosting From BlueHost
The first thing you need to do is to buy web hosting from BlueHost. Remember that BlueHost’s website builder is not a separate add on or standalone service and only works with BlueHost web hosting. This means that if you have not purchased web hosting from BlueHost, the website builder might not work. The good news is that even if you opt for the cheapest hosting plan from BlueHost, you can still use BlueHost’s website builder. The basic plan will suffice especially if you want to host a single website. If you want to host multiple websites, you should consider their pro plans.
Once you have chosen the web hosting plan, the next step would be to select and purchase a domain name for your website. Best thing about Bluehost web hosting plans is that you can get a free domain name so you don’t have to worry about this step. Create a bluehost account to get started.
2. Launch the Bluehost Website Builder To Create a New Website
After creating your Bluehost account, you should login into it and add a website to your account. The setup wizard will guide you on the process so follow the instructions. If you are logging into your account for the first time, Bluehost will launch this setup wizard automatically but if it does not open, you can go to My Sites. Here you will see the option Add Site or Create New Site.
The next screen will give you two different options. You can perform a WordPress install through a traditional method or use a BlueHost website builder to perform the same action. Since we are talking about the BlueHost website builder here, you should select that option. Choose a free domain name that Bluehost has provided you or select a different domain name for your website. You will see the free domain name in the drop down menu.
3. Add Quick Start Details to Create The Base Design of Your Website
Bluehost’s website builder will ask you to enter information about your website. Bluehost will use all that information to form the basic design of your website which includes the layout as well as the design and content of your website. Users will be asked to enter a primary keyword or choose from the predefined list.
After entering your keyword, Bluehost website builder will generate a preview of your website based on the keyword. Click continue and the next screen will prompt you to enter even more details such as:
Category and Name:
You will be asked to select a category that best describes yur website. Next, you will be asked to choose a name for your website. Once you have done both, click continue.
Cover Image:
On the next screen, you will be prompted to either upload a photo or select from a stock photo library. The image you choose will become a cover image for your website.
Logo:
After the cover image, you will have to upload the logo of your business and hit continue.
Font:
Next, you will be asked to select a font for your website and click on continue.
Colors:
Once the font is selected, you will be taken to a color screen where you will have to choose colors for your website.
Navigation:
Next, the wizard will ask you to select navigation styles for your navigational menus. Select the navigational style you want and press continue.
Contact Details:
Lastly, you will be prompted to enter your contact details. Remember this is optional so it is up to you whether you want to enter the contact information or not.
It is highly recommended that you do enter these contact details because it gives your website visitors a way to contact your business from your website. The last thing you want is a user visiting your website to find contact details but could not find it there.
4. Use the Website Builder Interface To Customize Your Website
Now you have laid the foundation of your website, it is time to build upon it. You will get access to a more granular level of control so you can customize minute details of your website. The BlueHost web builder works on the section model, which means that every piece of content is treated as a separate section. The layout of your website comprises multiple sections. Users can customize every section and even sub-sections to tailor your website according to your business needs.
Want to add more sections to your website? Click the “+” icon to add new sections. You can also choose from a wide range of pre-defined sections that let you drag and drop sections on your website without having to create your own sections. This can come in handy when you have to create a website quickly.
5. Adding Pages To Your Website
When you reach this step, you might have already created a single page website for your business. The good news is that Bluehost will automatically create basics pages of your website based on your niche. For those who want to add more pages, they should click Menus & Pages sections and hit New Page.
You can choose from a pre-built template or create a new page from the beginning. If you want more control, you should start creating a page from the beginning but if you want quick results, you should pick a template and customize it. This will allow you to create pages quickly. There is also an option to create a Blog for your website.
6. Take Full Advantage of BlueHost Website Builder Options
The BlueHost’s website builders come packed with tons of options. Make sure you explore all the options Go in the additional settings and you can unearth a wide range of options that you might have ignored. There is also an option that shows you the real time preview of your website, which makes it easy for users to track what impact the changes they make have on their website. Even if something goes wrong, you can undo changes immediately after seeing the preview. This way, your website is not negatively impacted by any changes you make by mistake.
7. WordPress Dashboard
For those customization and flexibility freaks out there who want control over every pixel of their website, WordPress dashboard is an ideal choice. Go to the WP-Admin option in the Bluehost website builder to open the WordPress dashboard. If you have ever used WordPress before, you will feel right at home by looking at the interface.
Want to go back to the full website builder? You can also do that by clicking on the WordPress builder link present in the WordPress dashboard.
How Much Does It Cost To Create a Website With BlueHost?
Your website cost will usually depend on a number of factors and one of them is the hosting plan. Let’s say, you choose a shared WordPress hosting plan: $3-$5 per month but can go upto $20 per month. Similarly, if you opt for a managed WordPress plan, it will cost you anywhere from $20-$60 per month. If you have selected an eCommerce hosting plan, the cost can hover between the ranges of $7-$32 per month. When you add the costs of website building to website hosting cost, which stands at $2.95 per month to all that, you can get a website for less than $63 per month.
Remember we are not factoring the cost of WordPress templates or plugins here and assuming that you are using a free design template and plugins. If you are using a pad design theme or plugins, you can add the costs of these items into the total cost of the website as well. Secondly, you should also remember that this is just a basic version of a website so if you want to bake advanced functionality into your website, you might need the services of website developers or website development services, which can also increase the overall cost of your website.
Did this guide help you in creating your own website with BlueHost? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
