Posted May 2, 2025  |   Updated April 29, 2025  |   

Header Text - Learn how to code a website from scratch

Learning how to code a website from the ground up often seems like something only professional web developers can do. However, that’s not the case. It can be rewarding and a great new skill that gives you complete control over your site. In this comprehensive guide to web development for beginners, we explain the basic concepts and the essential coding languages. We’ll also show you the tools and processes, plus how WordPress Hosting can help you build your own fully functional, professional-looking website as a beginner.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Coding a website lets you learn valuable technical skills that save money and give you complete control over your site’s design and functionality.
  • The three core languages of web development are HTML, which provides the structure and content; CSS, which handles the styling and presentation; and JavaScript, which adds interactivity and functionality.
  • Coding a website involves setting up a development environment, creating an HTML structure, styling with CSS, and adding interactivity with JavaScript.
  • Deploying your website involves choosing a hosting provider, setting up a domain name, and uploading your website files to the server to make it accessible online.

Why Learn How to Code a  Website?

Knowing how to code a website in WordPress for beginners can open a world of possibilities, whether a personal blog or a business website. When you code your website, you can design exactly what you want without being limited to standard web design templates or themes.

Building your site can save money because you don’t have to pay for certain website builder subscriptions, which get expensive depending on the one you choose. It’s like receiving a free website. As you get more comfortable, you can add custom features without needing premium (paid) plugins and without a computer science degree.

Getting hands-on with coding lets you understand how webpages work and the software they run on, giving you a new perspective on the pros and cons of different platforms and tools. You can customize tools, automate tasks, and create features you require, rather than relying entirely on off-the-shelf plugins or hiring a software engineer.

Also, like video games, learning to code a custom website helps improve real-world soft skills like logical thinking and problem-solving, which this author can confirm.

Strip Banner Text - Coding gives you complete control but has a steeper learning curve.

Website Coding Languages Explained

As you may have gathered from this blog’s title, any site’s foundation is its underlying code. The three most common languages, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, work together to create pages and determine how content is displayed and interacted with. Understanding them and how they interact with each other is the first step in learning how to build your first website.

HTML

The first language we cover is HTML (HyperText Markup Language), the backbone of every webpage. It’s not technically a programming language; it’s a markup language that provides the structural framework for website content.

HTML code uses tags to define webpage elements, like headings, paragraphs, images, and links. These tags tell web browsers how to display content.

Some examples of these HTML tags include the <html>, <head>, <title>, and <body> tags. You’ll also use various others to create headings (<h1> to <h6>), paragraphs (<p>), lists (<ul>, <ol>, <li>), images (<img>), links (<a>), and more.

CSS

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is the language used to style the content of your HTML files and control your website’s design. You use CSS to define how visual elements, including layout, colors, fonts, and spacing, should be displayed in a web browser. 

CSS uses selectors, patterns that identify the specific HTML elements you want to style. It then applies properties (the aspect you want to change) and their values (settings) for each property to style them.

You can link CSS code to your HTML using the following:

  1. Inline Styles: These styles are applied directly to HTML elements using the style attribute. They are generally used sparingly for specific, one-off styles.
  2. External Stylesheets: Separate .css files linked in the <head> using the <link> tag. This is the most common method and is recommended for larger projects.
  3. Internal Stylesheets: Embedding CSS directly in HTML docs using the <style> tags in the <head> section. Suitable for simple websites, personal projects or specific, localized styles.

JavaScript

JavaScript is the programming language that makes your pages interactive instead of having a static website. JavaScript creates an engaging user experience for your visitors, handles user input for specific actions, and updates dynamic content without reloading the page.

A good example of this is shopping carts for online stores. You’ll also use it to control media like videos, animated images and other interactive website content.

Other basic JavaScript concepts include variables, data types, functions (blocks of reusable code), and event listeners that respond to user actions like clicks or mouse movements.

You can add JavaScript (.js) using the <script> tags directly within the HTML files or linking them to external .js files.

Website Builders vs Coding

Two main approaches to website development are coding from scratch and using a website builder, each with pros and cons.

Website Builders

Website builders are an easy way to start creating websites without writing code. Most platforms offer drag-and-drop editors, pre-designed templates, and additional built-in features for security and performance. These are good options for smaller personal websites or a basic web page built quickly.

Pros:

  • Fast, simple setup.
  • No coding skills needed.
  • Ready-to-use layouts with responsive design.
  • Hosting, domains, and security features are often included.

Cons:

  • Could have limited design, functionality, and customization options.
  • Monthly or yearly subscription fees.
  • Possible performance issues as traffic increases.
  • Tied to the page builder’s ecosystem and hard to migrate.

Coding a Website

As we’ve discussed, learning how to code a website gives you more flexibility and control. In addition to letting you completely customize your site, coding can help you avoid some of the limitations of using a drag-and-drop website builder.

Pros:

  • Complete control with almost unlimited customization options.
  • Better performance with optimized code for faster page speeds.
  • You only pay for a web hosting service and domain registration.
  • Easier to add advanced features as required.

Cons:

  • Steeper learning curve.
  • Development takes longer.
  • You handle maintenance updates and security.

Coding a Site with WordPress

Thanks to its ease of use and powerful tools, many people without coding experience create their sites using themes and plugins with the WordPress CMS (Content Management System). However, you can code directly in the backend to get a great website.

Using the different types of code in the WordPress CMS platform, including HTML, CSS, and PHP (the server-side language WordPress is built on), you can create your website themes, modify existing ones, and develop plugins.

While you don’t need to know how to code to build a fully functional website with WordPress, it can help you tailor it to your needs instead of using off-the-shelf software and tools.

Additionally, understanding code can help find and fix issues with your WordPress site (e.g., errors, broken layouts, plugin conflicts) if something goes wrong. Checking HTML and CSS in your browser’s developer tools and understanding JavaScript errors can save time and frustration.

There is a range of resources to help you learn, including YouTube videos and courses like Code Academy.

Strip Banner Text - HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are the 3 main website coding languages.

How to Code a Website: Step-By-Step Guide

To start building websites you’ll need a plain text editor. Avoid using word processors like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, as they add formatting that can interfere with the code. Good options include:

  • Notepad++ (Windows)
  • TextEdit (macOS)
  • Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, Atom (Cross-platform).

You’ll also need your web browser (Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.) to view your website. Modern browser developer tools (accessible by pressing F12) can help you inspect and debug your code.

Tip: The best way to do this is to create separate folders on your computer to keep your files organized.

Create an HTML Template

The first step in building your website is setting up its structure. Open a new file in your text editor and save it with the .html extension, e.g., index.html. Thistells the web browser that the file contains HTML code and must start with the DOCTYPE HTML declaration.

Next, you’ll enter your code in HTML tags. Those tags have two main sections: the <head> and the <body>.

The head section contains meta-information not shown on the webpage, which is important for browsers and search engines and is part of on-page SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

You’ll use the HTML tags mentioned earlier to create content in the body. This includes defining your headings, paragraphs, images, navigation menus, and other page elements. When you finish adding your content, save the file.

Here’s an example:

<body>
    <h1>Welcome to My Website!</h1>
    <p>This is the first paragraph of my amazing website.</p>
    <h2>My Favorite Things</h2>
    <ul>
        <li>Coffee</li>
        <li>Coding</li>
        <li>Cats</li>
    </ul>
    <p>Check out this <a href="https://www.google.com">Google</a> link.</p>
    <img src="my_image.jpg" alt="A picture of something interesting">
</body>

Styling with CSS

Once the HTML file has the basic structure, use CSS to design your site’s look and feel. Write your CSS rules in a separate file in your code editor and save it with the .css extension.

The next step is to link the .css file to your HTML document using the link tag in the head section, or you can embed the CSS directly using style tags:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>My Styled Website</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome!</h1>
    <p>This text will now be styled by CSS.</p>
</body>
</html>

From there, you use selectors for specific elements to apply the properties and values we discussed earlier for color, font family, background color, margins, padding, and display, which will control your site’s layout and design elements.

For example, changing a header’s color and font size would look like this:

h1 {  
color: blue;
font size: 16px;
{

Note: You can also use internal styles to add CSS directly to your HTML document.

Adding JavaScript

Now that you have your structure and design, it’s time to add JavaScript to make your website dynamic and interactive.

This involves creating a .js file and writing code to handle interactions, manipulate the DOM (Document Object Model), and perform actions based on events like visitor input for contact forms, social media buttons, visual effects, etc.

To write your JavaScript code, open another file and save it with the .js extension. Again, you must link this file to your HTML document using the <script> tag, usually just before the closing </body> tag.

The src attribute of the <script> tag points to the path of your .js file. For performance reasons, HTML content is loaded first. The src attribute of the <script> tag points to the path of your .js file.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>My Interactive Website</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome!</h1>
    <button id="myButton">Click Me</button>
    <p id="output"></p>
    <script src="script.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Deploying Your Website

Once you’ve coded your website, the final step is to make it accessible by launching it online. For this, you need a web hosting service and a domain name.

Web Hosting & Domain Registration

A web hosting provider stores your website files and makes them accessible by providing the web server space and infrastructure for people to access and view your site.

While there are different types of services and plans, WordPress hosting is specifically configured and optimized for WordPress sites.

With WordPress Hosting from Hosted.com you get high-speed hardware and software to keep your site running smoothly with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. You also get 1-click WordPress installs, making the core software setup process much easier, with automatic updates.

We also include enhanced security to protect your site and data, such as a free SSL Certificate, malware scanning and removal, and daily automated backups.

Your domain name is your site’s address on the web and what visitors will type into their browsers to access it once it’s been published, for example, yournewsite.com. Choose a name that is easy to spell and reflects your content and business.

Get a free domain name registration* when you sign up for selected WordPress Hosting plans with Hosted.com.

Upload Your Website Files

Once you have set up your hosting account and registered your domain, you must upload your site files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, etc.) to your new server from your computer.

This can be done using an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client like FileZilla or the file manager in your hosting control panel, but the general idea is the same.

Your provider will give you the credentials (hostname, username, password) to connect to your server. Once connected, drag and drop your website files and folders into the corresponding directories on the server.

Alternatively, use your hosting account’s control panel, such as cPanel’s File Manager tool, to upload files and folders directly through your browser.

Once everything is on the server, your site should be live and accessible through your domain name. Should you need help, our Customer Support team is always available to walk you through it.

Strip Banner Text - Get the best WordPress Hosting for your new site. [Learn More]

FAQS

How to code a website for myself?

How to code a website yourself? Learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Set up a development environment with a text editor, create an HTML file for your content structure, and add CSS for styling and JavaScript for interactivity. Finally, purchase hosting and register a domain name to publish your site.

Is Python used to code websites?

Yes, Python is used for web development, mainly for back-end functionality. It handles server-side operations such as processing forms, managing databases, and creating dynamic content delivered to browsers as HTML.

Is website coding easy?

It depends on the type of website you want to build. Creating basic websites with HTML and CSS is relatively accessible for beginners. However, building more complex, interactive websites requires more advanced skills and experience. Ideally, start small, follow tutorials, and practice.

How to code a website using HTML?

How to HTML code a website with HTML? Create a new .html file in a text editor. Start with the basic structure: , then add , , and tags. In the head section, include the title and metadata. In the body, add your content using HTML tags. Save the file and open it in a browser to see your website.

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