Website planning

Most people jump straight into building. Hosting ordered, WordPress installed, and then... staring at a blank screen. No idea what content the site needs, how it should look, or which tools to use.

Half an hour of planning prevents that. No elaborate project plan — just three concrete steps that help you start with direction instead of guessing.

Your website will consist of pages. Those pages need to help, inform, or convince visitors. But which pages do you need?

Start with your topic or niche. Say you're starting a site about coffee. Then you could think of:

• Reviews — assessing individual products or services ("Sage Barista Express review")
• Guides — step-by-step instructions ("How to make the perfect espresso")
• Comparisons — putting options side by side ("Filter coffee vs espresso")
• Lists — overviews and tips ("5 mistakes beginners make")

You don't have to write all of this now. The point is to have a picture of what your site could contain — so you build with direction instead of guesswork.

Colors and fonts determine how your website feels. Professional or playful. Calm or energetic. You don't need to be a designer — just pick a main color that fits your topic, and the rest follows naturally.

Colors

One main color is enough to start with. The tool below builds a complete palette around it: a dark variant for headings, a light background, and an accent color that stands out.

Fonts

Choose one style that fits your site. Want to look professional? Modern? Classic? The combination of heading and body font makes the difference.

Social media

Claim the same username on Instagram, LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook early — even if you don't do anything with them yet. Otherwise someone beats you to it and you'll need a different name.

To get your website online you need four things:

1. Hosting — the place where your website lives (think of it as renting space on the internet)
2. A CMS — the software you use to manage your site (we recommend WordPress)
3. A theme — the design of your site
4. Plugins — extensions for extra functionality

Why WordPress?

WordPress is by far the most popular CMS in the world — more than 40% of all websites run on it. It's free, flexible, and you'll find tutorials and help everywhere. For beginners, it's the safest choice: no vendor lock-in, endlessly extensible, and you can literally build any type of website with it.

The right setup depends on what kind of site you're building, your technical level, and your budget. The tool below gives you a personalised recommendation.