Saturday, August 23, 2025

How to Create a Free Website on Netlify: Step-by-Step Guide (with Example Code)

Creating a free website is simple with Netlify. This guide will show you how to organize your files, publish a website, update it, and even delete it when needed.

We’ll create a small example website called MySampleSite with HTML, CSS, JS, and an extra template page.


Step 1: Organize Your Website Files

Here’s how to arrange the files for MySampleSite:

MySampleSite/
│
├── index.html
├── about.html
├── contact.html
├── templates/
│   └── blog.html
├── css/
│   └── style.css
├── js/
│   └── script.js
└── images/
    ├── logo.png
    └── banner.jpg

Step 2: Example Code for Each File

index.html – Homepage

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>MySampleSite</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css">
</head>
<body>
    <header>
        <img src="images/logo.png" alt="Logo" class="logo">
        <nav>
            <a href="index.html">Home</a>
            <a href="about.html">About</a>
            <a href="contact.html">Contact</a>
            <a href="templates/blog.html">Blog</a>
        </nav>
    </header>

    <main>
        <h1>Welcome to MySampleSite</h1>
        <p>This is a sample website hosted on Netlify.</p>
        <button onclick="showMessage()">Click Me</button>
    </main>

    <script src="js/script.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

about.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>About - MySampleSite</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css">
</head>
<body>
    <h1>About Us</h1>
    <p>This is a demo website to show how to organize files and deploy on Netlify.</p>
    <a href="index.html">Back to Home</a>
</body>
</html>

contact.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Contact - MySampleSite</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css">
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Contact Us</h1>
    <form>
        <input type="text" placeholder="Your Name"><br>
        <input type="email" placeholder="Email"><br>
        <textarea placeholder="Message"></textarea><br>
        <button type="submit">Send</button>
    </form>
    <a href="index.html">Back to Home</a>
</body>
</html>

templates/blog.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Blog - MySampleSite</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="../css/style.css">
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Blog</h1>
    <p>Welcome to the blog page. Add your posts here.</p>
    <a href="../index.html">Back to Home</a>
</body>
</html>

css/style.css

body {
    font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
    text-align: center;
    background-color: #f0f0f0;
}

header {
    background-color: #333;
    color: white;
    padding: 10px;
}

nav a {
    color: white;
    margin: 0 10px;
    text-decoration: none;
}

.logo {
    width: 50px;
}

button {
    padding: 10px 20px;
    margin-top: 20px;
}

js/script.js

function showMessage() {
    alert("Hello! This is MySampleSite.");
}

Images

  • images/logo.png → small logo image

  • images/banner.jpg → optional banner

(You can use placeholder images from https://placeholder.com/ if you don’t have your own.)


Step 3: Publish on Netlify

  1. Create a free Netlify account (https://www.netlify.com/).

  2. Go to Add New Site → Deploy manually.

  3. Drag and drop the MySampleSite folder.

  4. Netlify will give a live URL for your website.


Step 4: Update Your Website

Whenever you make changes:

  1. Update the local files.

  2. Drag and drop the updated files into Netlify.

  3. Your website updates automatically.


Step 5: Delete or Deactivate Website

To remove your website:

  1. Go to your Site Dashboard.

  2. Click Site Settings → Delete this site.

  3. Confirm deletion.

⚠️ Deleting is permanent. Keep a backup if you want to redeploy later.


Step 6: Tips for Beginners

  • Use a consistent folder structure.

  • Always test your website locally.

  • Keep file paths clear (css/style.css, js/script.js, images/logo.png).

  • Start simple and gradually expand.


✅ Now, you have a complete MySampleSite with working HTML, CSS, JS, and a template page ready to upload to Netlify.

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