You do not need to be a developer to put a website online. You need four things, in this order. Each one has its own article, and together they take about thirty minutes.
What you need
- A Cloud Server. This is the computer that holds your website and answers visitors. See Launch your first Cloud Server.
- A public address. A new server sits on a private network and cannot be reached from the internet until you give it a public IP. See Give your server a public address.
- Your website files. The pages, images and styles that make up your site. You copy them onto the server with FileZilla. See Upload your files with FileZilla.
- A web server program. Your server does not answer web visitors until you install one. This is the part people miss, and it is why a freshly uploaded site shows nothing. See Set up your server so a browser can open your site.
Then, when the site works on its address, you add the finishing touches: your domain name and HTTPS so the browser shows a padlock instead of "Not secure".
Two things that surprise people
Our servers use port 2200 for file transfers, not the usual 22. If FileZilla or your terminal hangs or refuses the connection, this is almost always why.
A new server accepts almost nothing from the internet. It allows you in (SSH on 2200) and blocks the rest, including normal web traffic. You have to open ports 80 and 443 yourself, in two places: the Security Group in the console, and the firewall on the server. Both are covered in Set up your server so a browser can open your site.
Which kind of site do you have?
- Plain files (HTML, CSS, images, or the output of a website builder): follow the four steps above and you are done.
- WordPress, a shop, or anything with a login and a database: see Host a WordPress site.
- An app your developer wrote (Node.js, Python, Laravel and so on): see Host an app that runs code.
What it costs
You pay for the server by the hour, plus the public IP, and nothing extra for the web server software or the HTTPS certificate. Both are free and open source. See How billing works.
If you get stuck
Work through My website does not open. It goes through the causes in the order they actually happen. If it is still down after that, contact support with your server name, its public IP and what you have already tried.