How to Learn Code or Build a Website in a Day

Hearing of one talk about coding or creating a website might sound terrifying, but as technology advances we've been given plenty of tools and resources to make learning those tasks easy and affordable. So, say goodbye to investing in a computer science degree and hello to Codecademy, Squarespace, and WordPress! Learning the basics of web designing and coding adds value to you and your business because you won't heavily rely on developers to fix minor issues. Furthermore, understanding the language your website is made of or knowing how to complete A/B Testing with ease will put you ahead in your career. Technology is advancing, but the Internet is advancing quicker and having a quality website that functions quickly will put you ahead of other competing businesses.

Here is a quick video that defines coding in less than 90 seconds:

Codecademy

Codecademy is an online interactive platform that offers coding classes in 12 different programming languages, like Java, Python, or HTML. It is perfect if you’re trying to gain more knowledge for your career, build your own project, or simply learn code. Whatever your goal is the site makes learning to code and design websites to be fun and easy. The best part of it all is the basic plan offered is completely free! However, if you desire to upgrade to receive more benefits, like peer support or real-world projects, then you can pay $19.99/month for the “Pro” package.

 So, how does a course work?

For this blog I decided to try out the HTML course to gain a better understanding of how it works. To begin with each course is broken down into lessons where each lesson contains information and exercises that slowly guides you along the programming path.

As you can see the display screen is split into three sections. The far left section includes in-depth information about the exercise topic or task and includes instructions about how to apply the newly learned information. The middle section is where you will complete the instructions given. Since I chose the HTML course, the middle is a text editor where I created code based on the instructed exercise. The far right section is a screen that displays the written code that has been “Run”, it will only show up when “run” is clicked. Below is an example of what my website would show (on the right) when I write HTML code (in the middle) to make a header and body text.

 I have never learned or played around with a coding platform so Codecademy was great because they break down the material into digestible parts. You cannot move on to the next lesson until you’ve completed the instructed task, this is to ensure that you fully grasp the material because coding only becomes more complex. However, if you ever find yourself stuck have no fear! Codecademy offers hints, examples, and highlights incorrect statements to guide you, but they never explicitly tell you the correct answer. They, also, include commonly asked questions regarding the topic you’re learning so if you have similar questions it can be answered within a single click. Lastly, Codecademy offers quizzes and projects so you can attempt to create your own websites or games! This program is great for those who want to skip the boot camp and learn programming at their own pace with no worry about a fee. However, it is important to know that the company only offers courses and assistance with those learning or trying to perfect programming, it is not a website made to help you create or host your own website for free. As a digital marketer, learning to use Codecademy could drastically level you up in your career because your employer will see you as offering more value since you can read and write code without the assistance of a developer.

 If you're interested in reading a review about Codecedamy click here

Squarespace

Squarespace differs from Codecademy because it is a website that provides software as a service for website building and hosting. It provides customers with clean, free templates that make the design process easy to start. However, it is important to know that the service is not free, while they do offer a 14-day free trial once that is used customers must choose between either a personal, business, basic commerce, or advanced commerce subscription. Squarespace is amazing for those who do not have the time to learn programming or need help with creating a unique, functioning website. There are many categories of templates you can choose from, below is an example of premade blog template. The best part is the HTML codes are already created by Squarespace, all you have to do is click on what you want to edit or use the side bar to make edits.

Here’s an example of how easy it was for me to change the title (and trust me, I’m far from tech-savvy).

 Squarespace truly focuses on personalizing and customizing, not creating. Squarespace’s software gives anyone the chance to make a personalize site. There is no need for a developer or knowledge on coding to create a fully functioning website. Furthermore, the services are separated to fit customers’ needs for a reasonable price, which can either be paid monthly or annually. If you do know code and would like to put it to use then there is the option to insert custom CSS rules into your site. Either way, the site is easy to navigate and has many options for personalization. Also, detailed changes can be made in an instant and reverted back to default if you’re not satisfied with the final product!

While it is incredibly easy to use and has clean templates, you are limited since you cannot create a website from scratch. There are numerous templates you can choose from, but it is limiting. The personalization features give you the chance to differentiate yourself from others, but competitors could easily copy your website. Additionally, while coding and creating takes time, some businesses prefer to take the time to start from scratch because it definitely sets them apart from other businesses. For personal use or startup companies using Squarespace would be a smart decision because it does not require too much experience or money. Furthermore, the site offers an analytics tab so users, with no experience with Google Analytics or other complex analytics platforms, have a simplified version to track the progress of their website.   

Or, if you're interested in trying out your own marketing campaign! Squarespace makes it easy and simple to follow.

Curious about Squarespace’s entire feature index? Click Here \

WordPress

WordPress is very similar to Squarespace when it comes to creating websites, but it also has similar features to Codecademy. The startup process for Squarespace was simple, all you needed was to create an account or join through Google to get a free trial and ability to test with templates they have. With WordPress it is a little different. It is a 6 step process that asks you to create an account or join with Google or Apple, then they ask what kind of site you want to create. Since I’m writing a blog for you, I decided to see what kind of blog templates they offer. The third step focuses on what the site is about, I decided to pick travel for my example. What is great is through the process of putting together the basics of the website there is an example of how both the mobile version and desktop version will appear to customers. The fourth step asks for the name of my blog, for a company it will ask for the company name. Once that is added it appears on the example website so users have the chance to see if they like how it looks. Lastly, is adding in a keyword or a domain name. After that a subscription plan appears and gives you the option to pay for one of their services before being able to finalize your website.

What I like about WordPress is they made the process incredibly simple. They guide you throughout the process, as oppose to Squarespace giving users hundreds of templates and functions without any instruction. While WordPress and Squarespace have incredibly similar features – pay-per-month SAAS tools, easy web builder, premade templates, little to no coding experience needed – I definitely prefer Squarespace. Wordpress is flexible, yet requires third parties for additional features, like e-commerce. However, Self-Hosted WordPress is a piece of downloadable software that is open source, this means that sites built with WordPress can be customized to a large degree because the code is available and easily modified. Codecademy is amazing for educational purposes and those who spend time learning programming should start off with WordPress to put their education to the test, without having to worry about being overloaded or messing up code. If you’re feeling really comfortable with coding then you can commit to Codecademy Pro for $199, but you really need to understand the language because you’ll be creating a website from scratch! Using any of the mentioned programs would certainly put experience under your belt and add a lot of value to digital marketers.

Additional Resources: Squarespace vs. WordPress or Which is the Best Website Builder

Thanks for reading my blog! I hoped you gained some inSITE on learning how to code and build websites with ease!