Starting online marketing from scratch comes down to five steps in order: register your domain, put up a simple website, claim your brand name on the handful of platforms your audience actually uses, get basic SEO in place, and start collecting emails from day one. The details, and why the order matters, are below.
There’s an overwhelming amount of information out there about online marketing, and when you’re just starting out, that’s part of the problem. Everyone has a different opinion on where to begin. This page exists to cut through that: a straightforward starting point for anyone setting up their brand’s online presence for the first time.
Step 1: Register your domain
Your domain name is the one piece of online real estate you actually control, so it comes before anything else. A handful of things matter more than which specific registrar you use:
- Transparent renewal pricing. A cheap first-year price that jumps sharply at renewal is the most common domain-buying trap. Check the renewal rate, not just the signup price.
- Free WHOIS privacy. This should be included by default in 2026, not sold as an add-on.
- Simple DNS management. You’ll come back to this every time you connect an email service or a new tool to your domain, so a clean dashboard saves real time later.
Namecheap and Cloudflare are commonly recommended for straightforward, low-upsell registration, and Squarespace now handles domains that used to run through Google Domains, which shut down and migrated its customers in 2023. Whichever registrar you pick, the actual purchase flow is nearly identical everywhere: search your name, add it to your cart, and check out.
Step 2: Put up a simple website
A domain name with nothing behind it doesn’t do much for you. Before you touch social media, get even a one-page site live: your name or brand, what you do, and a way to contact you. It doesn’t need to be elaborate. It needs to exist, so that when someone searches your brand name or checks a link in your social bio, there’s somewhere real to land.
Step 3: Claim your brand name on the platforms that matter
The platform landscape has shifted since “claim every network” was reasonable advice. Google+ shut down years ago, and spreading yourself across a dozen platforms you’ll never actually post on isn’t a strategy, it’s just extra passwords to manage. Start by claiming your name on the handful of platforms most likely to matter for your brand: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube cover most audiences between them. Claiming a profile on a platform costs nothing and takes a few minutes, even if you don’t plan to actively post there yet. It protects your name and keeps someone else from claiming it first.
Once your names are claimed, resist the urge to post everywhere immediately. Our roundup of the top social media platforms for brands will help you figure out which one or two platforms your actual audience spends time on, so you can focus your early effort there instead of spreading it thin.
Step 4: Get basic SEO in place
Even before you’re producing regular content, a few SEO fundamentals are worth setting up early: a clear page title and description on your homepage, a Google Business Profile if you serve customers locally, and a sitemap submitted to Google Search Console so your new site actually gets found. If you’re running any kind of online store, our guide to ecommerce SEO goes deeper once you’re past the basics.
Step 5: Start collecting emails from day one
Social platforms are rented space. You don’t own your followers, and algorithm changes can cut your reach overnight. An email list is the one audience you actually own, so build the habit of collecting emails early, even with something as simple as a newsletter signup on your homepage. It’s also the foundation for remarketing to visitors who found your site but didn’t convert the first time.
Starting From Scratch FAQ
What’s the very first thing I should do to start marketing my brand online?
Register your domain name before anything else. It’s the one piece of your online presence you fully control, and everything else (your website, email, and social profiles) builds on top of it.
Do I need to be on every social media platform?
No. Claim your name on the major platforms to protect it, but focus your actual posting effort on the one or two platforms where your specific audience spends time.
How much does it cost to get started?
A domain name typically runs a modest amount per year, and claiming social media profiles is free. The bigger cost is usually time, not money.
Is Google+ still worth claiming a name on?
No. Google+ shut down years ago. If an old guide still recommends it, that’s a sign the advice hasn’t been updated since.
Keep going once the basics are in place
This page is your starting line, not the finish. Once your domain, site, and profiles are claimed, the next questions are usually what to actually post and where to focus. Our social media life cycle guide covers how a brand’s presence should mature over time, and our current social media trends roundup is a good way to see what’s actually working right now rather than guessing. If your goals lean more B2B, our guide to social media for B2B lead generation is the more relevant next read, and once you’re posting regularly, our CTR improvement tactics cover what actually gets your content clicked instead of scrolled past.
When you’re ready to post images, our Facebook and Instagram sizing guides will save you from the blurry-logo problem almost every new brand runs into early on.
Feeling overwhelmed by all of this at once? That’s normal, and it’s exactly what we’re here for. Get in touch and we’ll help you figure out where to actually start, based on your business, not a generic checklist.
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