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Option 1:

Choose an All-in-One Platform to Build Your Website

This might be the most straightforward option, yet with stunning results. You choose an ‘all-in-one’ platform such as Squarespace that offers everything – a domain, hosting, and beautiful, easy-to-custom templates.

First, you choose from the library of templates to find a template that resonates with your vision of your future website, then you can customize it with colors, fonts, images, and content. 

The pricing at Squarespace is very affordable – starting from only £12 a month.

Even if you have absolutely zero experience with building websites and would like to have a top-class website up and running soon, I would definitely recommend this platform. Squarespace has made the process of building a website very straightforward, using a ‘drag-and-drop’ technique – something you will not get with free WordPress templates.

You also have the option of a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, so there is nothing to lose. Once you start building your website, I recommend using the free customer support chat, because this will help you speed up the process.

PROS:

• Great for total beginners – it should be quite easy to build a beautiful website within a short time. You also have the great option to build with AI, which, if you want, will generate a text for you, which you can then edit to your liking.

CONS:

• The only thing I can think of is that it is not a completely free platform (there are others like Wix or SiteRubix which are completely free – see Option 2 in this article). However, with the free platforms, you have to keep their brand name as a part of of website address, which I wouldn’t recommend.

SUMMARY:

This might be your option if you are willing to invest in a great-looking, professional website and want the process to be as straightforward as possible. I would recommend it especially to people who are not experienced with building websites and want as little technical hassle as possible. My opinion is that it’s well worth the 14 days free trial, while checking out the free options (such as Wix or SitreRubix) and comparing what would suit you best.

Option 2:

Free Website with Free Hosting

This is the cheapest option – i.e. everything is free – your templates and hosting.

If you’d like to create a website with completely free hosting and domain name, you may want to try platforms such as Wix.com, or SiteRubix which I can recommend based on my own experience.

You will get hundreds of free WordPress themes to choose from and don’t have to pay for either hosting or a domain name.

However, as with all free options, there is one thing to consider:

Similarly to wix.com, if you are hosting on a completely free account, your website name will have its name in it – for example aromatherapy.wix.com, or aromatherapy.siterubix.com. 

If you would like to remove the company name, you would have to upgrade to a paid option.

In my opinion, it is still a good way to get started with your website. You can create a simple ‘mock’ website, and during this process, it will become clearer to you how you would like your website to look eventually.

I started this very website through SiteRubix, tried a number of free WordPress themes that they provided, and only a few months later I upgraded my hosting membership and purchased a paid theme (DIVI) because I wanted to have more freedom in designing multiple websites.

You can try building your free website within the following article:

Option 3:

Choose a Paid Hosting Platform with Free WordPress Templates

This is another common way to set up a website: You will choose a hosting platform and a domain name. 

I’ve written a blog post about several reliable hosting platforms. You can compare their price plans, and once you have decided on your preferred hosting platform, you’ll register your domain name with them. (Or if you already have a domain name, their customer services will help you transfer it onto their platform.)

All of the platforms listed in my post offer free WordPress templates, that you can customise to your needs.

If you are not experienced in customising a WordPress template, you can reach out to customer services for guidance.

You can choose from seven web hosting platforms in the following post:

Option 4:

Choose a Paid Hosting Platform and Buy a Premium WordPress Theme

This is almost the same procedure as in Option 3, with the exception that after purchasing your hosting plan and a domain, you also purchase a premium WordPress theme. (Premium themes are paid. Standard themes are free.)

You may be wondering why bother paying for a theme when WordPress offers hundreds of free templates?

Because the free WordPress templates are not always easy to customise. Often they have quite ‘busy’, complicated designs and that can be a bit daunting when you try to adjust that.

I am not a professional web designer nor a WordPress expert, so I was struggling with customising the free templates.

Eventually, I learned about a paid theme called The DIVI Theme, tried it, and found it so user-friendly that I invested in it, and have built several websites with this theme.

I have used the Divi theme for this very website, as well as my other EEM practitioner’s website called Equilibrium Energies. It made sp many things easier, for example uploading a video on the Home page.

You can have a look here:

Final Tip:

If you are a complete beginner with no web-building (or WordPress) experience whatsoever, my advice would be to go either for Option 1 or Option 2. 

If you have some experience with web building or WordPress, or if you have someone who could help you, then I would suggest following Option 2 or Option 3.

My overall recommendation, based on the ease of creating a website, its affordability, and the beautiful results, would be Squarespace (Option 1).