No tech degree required. No 47 open tabs. Just the actual steps you need to go from “I really need a website” to having one that’s live, working and ready to represent your business.
Because deciding you need a website is the easy part.
Then suddenly everyone is talking about domains, hosting, platforms, templates, DNS, SEO and mobile optimization — and what started as “I should probably get a website” turns into a project you keep pushing to next month.
So we’re simplifying it.
This is your roadmap: what you need, what order to do it in and what actually matters along the way.
Let’s get you online.
01 / SECURE YOUR SPOT ON THE INTERNET
Start with your domain.
Your domain is your website address — something like:
yourbusinessname.com
If your business name is available as a .com, that’s usually the easiest place to start.
Keep it simple, easy to remember and, most importantly, easy to spell.
If you have to explain that there are three hyphens, an extra letter and a random number at the end every time someone asks for your website… we may want to reconsider.
Where do you actually buy a domain?
You purchase your domain through what’s called a domain registrar.
A few established places to start are:
GoDaddy
One of the most recognizable domain registrars and an easy place for beginners to search available domain names.
Namecheap
Another popular registrar that’s heavily focused on domains and related services.
Squarespace Domains
A straightforward option for purchasing and managing your domain. If you previously purchased a domain through Google Domains, those registrations were migrated to Squarespace.
You don’t need to overthink which one you choose.
What I do want you to pay attention to is the renewal price.
That amazing introductory price isn’t necessarily what you’ll pay every year. Take a quick look at the regular renewal cost before purchasing.
ASHLEY’S NOTE
Buy your domain yourself.
Create the account under your name or business, use an email address you control and save the login information somewhere safe.
Even if you eventually hire a designer to build your entire website, you should own and control your domain.
Your designer can help connect it.
They don’t need to own it.
And one more important distinction:
Buying your domain does NOT mean you have a website.
Think of your domain like buying the address.
You officially own your little spot on the internet.
Now we need somewhere to build.
02 / CHOOSE YOUR WEBSITE PLATFORM
AKA: where we’re actually building this thing.
Your website platform is the software you’ll use to build, manage and publish your website.
There are plenty of options out there, but at Salt + Ash, we design on two:
SHOWIT + SQUARESPACE
Both can give you a beautiful, professional website without needing to know how to code — but I like them for different reasons.
SHOWIT
Showit is my go-to when design and creative freedom are the priority.
It’s a visual, drag-and-drop platform that gives you a ton of control over where things go and how your website looks.
You’re not as locked into traditional layouts, which gives you the freedom to create something that feels much more custom and editorial.
For photographers, estheticians, hairstylists, coaches and other service-based businesses, that creative freedom can be a huge advantage.
Your website can still connect visitors to your booking platform, inquiry forms, email list and everything else your business needs.
Think: creative freedom + highly customizable design.
SQUARESPACE
Squarespace is my pick when you want a beautiful website with more built-in business functionality — especially e-commerce.
If you’re planning to sell products, digital downloads or other offerings directly through your website, I love having those commerce tools living within the same platform rather than piecing together a bunch of different systems.
Squarespace is a little more structured from a design standpoint than Showit, but that structure can also make your website really easy to manage once it’s live.
Think: beautiful design + built-in functionality + e-commerce.
SO WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Start with what your website actually needs to do.
If your website is primarily there to showcase your brand, services and portfolio and lead visitors toward booking or inquiring:
→ SHOWIT
If selling directly through your website is a major part of your business:
And if you’ve already fallen in love with ONE OF OUR TEMPLATES? Even easier.
Each Salt + Ash template tells you which platform it was designed for.
Either way, you’ll need an active subscription with your chosen platform to publish and keep your website live.
So now we’ve got:
Your domain = your address.
Showit or Squarespace = where we’re building.
Next up: choosing the design we’re starting with.
03 / CHOOSE YOUR STARTING POINT
Blank canvas or template?
Technically, you could start with a completely blank page and design your entire website from scratch.
You could also make your own pasta from flour every time you want spaghetti.
Sometimes we can skip a few steps.
A professionally designed website template gives you the structure without forcing you to figure out where every headline, image, button and section should go.
And here’s the biggest thing I want you to know when choosing one:
Don’t get hung up on the demo business.
If you’re a hairstylist and the template is shown as an esthetician’s website, that doesn’t automatically mean it isn’t for you.
Look at the bones.
Do you like the layout?
The typography?
The image placement?
The way the pages flow?
The overall feeling?
Can you imagine your brand living inside it?
Once you replace the demo colors, fonts, photography and copy, that website can look completely different.
The template is your starting point — not your finished website.
04 / GET YOUR BRAND TOGETHER
Before you start dragging things around…
This is the part everyone wants to skip.
Don’t.
Before you customize anything, gather everything you’re going to need.
At minimum, have your:
- Logo
- Brand colors
- Brand fonts
- Professional photos
- Services + pricing
- Testimonials
- Contact information
- Social links
- Booking or inquiry links
- Lead magnet or email opt-in, if you have one
Put everything into one organized folder.
Seriously.
Future you does not want to be searching through screenshots, Canva folders, emails from three years ago and 14,000 photos on your phone trying to figure out where your logo went.
Having everything ready before you start designing makes the actual website-building process dramatically easier.
05 / WRITE THE WORDS
Pretty gets their attention. Clear gets the click.
Your website copy is all of the wording on your site — headlines, service descriptions, About page, buttons, calls to action and everything in between.
And this is where a lot of DIY websites get stuck.
Because suddenly you’re staring at:
“Insert compelling headline here.”
Cool.
Now what?
Forget about trying to sound impressive for a second.
Your website needs to quickly answer:
What do you do?
Who is it for?
Why should they care?
What should they do next?
Someone shouldn’t have to investigate your homepage to figure out whether you’re a hairstylist, photographer, coach or tax attorney.
Make it obvious.
Then give them somewhere to go.
Book the appointment.
View the services.
Send the inquiry.
Shop the collection.
Download the guide.
Every page should have a purpose.
06 / MAKE THE TEMPLATE YOURS
Now we get to the fun part.
You’ve got your template.
You’ve got your branding.
You’ve got your photos.
You’ve got your words.
Now we put everything together.
I recommend starting with the biggest visual changes first:
COLORS → FONTS → PHOTOS → COPY
Don’t immediately start moving every section around.
Get your actual brand into the template first.
You may be surprised by how dramatically the design changes just by replacing the demo content.
Once that’s done, decide what actually needs adjusting.
Move a section.
Duplicate one you love.
Hide something you don’t need. (I suggest hiding over deleting because you never know when future you will need it)
Swap images.
Change backgrounds.
Adjust layouts.
Make it yours.
But remember:
You don’t have to redesign the template to make it original.
A good template was intentionally designed with spacing, hierarchy, strategy and user experience in mind.
Use that to your advantage.
07 / CONNECT THE IMPORTANT STUFF
Pretty is great. Functional is better.
Now we need to make sure your website actually does something.
Depending on your business, you’ll want to connect things like your:
- Domain
- Booking platform
- Inquiry forms
- Business email
- Email marketing platform
- Lead magnet
- Social media
- Checkout or shop
- Analytics
- CRM
Then…
CLICK. EVERYTHING.
Every button.
Every menu item.
Every social icon.
Every form.
Every link.
If your giant BOOK NOW button goes nowhere, she’s just decoration.
We want pretty and useful.
08 / CHECK YOUR MOBILE SITE
Your website doesn’t only live on a laptop.
This one deserves its own stop on the roadmap.
Your desktop website can look absolutely beautiful while your mobile version is quietly having a meltdown.
Before you launch, go through every page on mobile.
Check your:
- Font sizes
- Spacing
- Image crops
- Buttons
- Forms
- Navigation
- Section order
- Overlapping elements
- Tap targets
And don’t just shrink everything until it technically fits.
Your mobile site should feel intentionally designed too.
For a lot of visitors, mobile is the version of your website they’re actually going to see.
Treat it accordingly.
09 / GIVE GOOGLE SOME CONTEXT
Let’s talk SEO without making it weird.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.
Basically, we’re helping search engines understand what your website is about so they have a better chance of connecting it with relevant searches.
There is an entire world of SEO strategy beyond this, but you do not need to become an SEO expert before launching.
Start with the basics.
Give each important page a descriptive page title.
Write a meta description explaining what that page is about.
Use clear headings to organize your content.
Add appropriate alt text to relevant images.
And use the language your ideal client would naturally use when searching for what you offer.
For example, if you’re a wedding photographer serving Naples, Florida, your website should contain language that helps people and search engines understand what you do and where you do it.
Naturally.
We’re writing for humans first.
10 / DO THE PRE-LAUNCH WALKTHROUGH
We’re almost there.
Before you hit publish, go through your website one last time.
And I mean actually go through it.
Check:
- Every link
- Every button
- Every form
- Desktop
- Mobile
- Spelling
- Phone number
- Email address
- Booking links
- Social links
- Navigation
- Page titles
- Images
- Footer
Submit your own contact form.
Click your own booking button.
Try your lead magnet.
Then send the website to someone who hasn’t been staring at it for the past three days.
Eventually your brain starts reading what you meant to write instead of what’s actually there.
Fresh eyes are your friend.
11 / CONNECT + LAUNCH
This is it.
Your website is built.
Your links work.
Your mobile site isn’t doing anything questionable.
It’s time to connect your domain and publish.
And this is usually when perfectionism suddenly shows up with a clipboard.
Maybe I should rewrite that headline.
Maybe I need another photo.
Maybe that button should be two pixels lower.
Stop.
Your website isn’t permanent.
You can change the headline next month.
You can replace your photos next year.
You can add a new service.
You can remove an old one.
You can completely change direction as your business grows.
And you probably will.
Your website should evolve with your business.
But it can’t do anything for your business if nobody can see it.
HIT PUBLISH.
You’re live.
THE ROADMAP, SIMPLIFIED
01 Secure your domain
↓
02 Choose your website platform
↓
03 Choose your template
↓
04 Gather your branding
↓
05 Write your copy
↓
06 Customize your design
↓
07 Connect your systems
↓
08 Perfect mobile
↓
09 Set up basic SEO
↓
10 Test everything
↓
11 Connect + launch
That’s it.
You officially went from:
“I NEED A WEBSITE.” to Live + Launched
WANT TO SKIP THE BLANK SCREEN?
You don’t have to build your website from scratch.
Salt + Ash website templates give you a professionally designed foundation so you can skip the part where you stare at a blank screen wondering what goes where.
Choose the design.
Bring in your brand.
Add your photos + copy.
Make it yours.
Launch it.
LOVE THE TEMPLATE, BUT NOT THE DIY?
That’s okay too.
Maybe you know exactly which Salt + Ash template you love — you just have zero interest in spending your weekend putting the whole thing together.
Hand it over.
With Website in a Weekend, we start with your chosen template and customize it around your brand, content and business and have it done In ONE WEEKEND!
You get the strategic starting point of a professionally designed template without having to be the one building it.
ONE MORE THING
You don’t need to know everything about websites before you have one.
You don’t need to understand every SEO strategy.
You don’t need to become a designer.
And you definitely don’t need to wait until every single piece of your business feels perfect.
You need a clear place online that tells people:
This is who I am.
This is what I do.
This is how I can help you.
And this is what you should do next.
You’ve already put the work into building the business.
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