The easiest way to build a simple website in 2025 (Carrd walkthrough)

So, a podcast has probably told you that the easiest way to build a website is with Squarespace or Wix. But I think that's wrong. So today, I’m going to show you an easy way to build a simple website really quickly.

All right, let's talk websites. The largest platforms in this space invest millions of dollars to get people like you and me onto their platforms. There are a lot of great website builders out there, but not all of them are created equal.

I’ll probably do another video on this because I think it's really confusing for people who don’t have experience in web design to figure out which builder to use.

Some of the biggest website builders aren’t as easy to use as they claim and can be quite expensive.

Today, I’m excited to talk about a website-building platform that is incredibly simple to use. You can get a website up really quickly, and it’s very affordable.

The tool I’m talking about is Carrd. It’s marketed as a one-page website builder, but it’s surprisingly powerful—you can do a lot with it.

I’ve been using Carrd for almost ten years, but I’ve been building websites for nearly 20 years. Web design has been a significant part of my work and business.

The reality is that not every company needs to pay $10,000, $20,000, or even $30,000+ for a website. In many cases, it makes much more sense to build one yourself.

To be clear, a lot of companies should invest in their websites. But if you have an idea you're testing and you want to see if it has legs, the last thing you should do is invest $10,000 or $20,000 into it upfront.

You just need something simple to share your idea with the world. Or maybe you already have a website but need a secondary one for a conference, a subsidiary, or a new product you're testing in the market.

Maybe you’re a coach or consultant just getting started and want a simple, professional place to point people to—a site that effectively communicates what you do and allows visitors to reach out, contact you, or book a call.

The tool I’m talking about today is perfect for these use cases.

If you need a simple, one-page website—whether to promote a new product, host a webinar, or create a landing page with a custom domain—this is exactly what you’re looking for.

Carrd has been around for a while, but it gained a lot of popularity during the Black Lives Matter movement when they used Carrd to build a site—without even attaching a custom domain.

The URL was blacklivesmatter.carrd.co, and as people saw that name in the link, the platform started gaining a lot of traction.

I think a Kardashian may have even used it at some point.

I’ve been using Carrd for a long time, and one of my favorite things about it is its pricing model.

If you’ve built a website on Squarespace or similar platforms, you know that hosting typically costs $20, $25, or even $30 per month to keep your site live with a custom domain.

What I love about Carrd is that it costs less per year than one month of hosting on Squarespace.

Depending on the plan, you can pay as little as $19 per year—just a few bucks per month to keep your website live.

Personally, I have a plan where I pay $100 per year, and I can host up to 100 websites.

That means, for less than $10 per month, I can host 100 websites—which is half of what I’d pay to host just one site on Squarespace.

I use this for my own business ideas, and I’ve built sites for clients or friends, hosting them on my account for very little cost.

If you just want to get something live without investing $250+ upfront, Carrd is an amazing option.

Now, let’s build a simple landing page together.

We'll start on Carrd's homepage.

Carrd describes itself as a simple, free, fully responsive one-page site builder for pretty much anything.

"Responsive" means it works seamlessly on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. You can also customize the breakpoints to adjust how it appears across different screens.

I'll include a link to Carrd in the description.

If you scroll down on their site, you’ll see that with an upgrade to $19 per year, you unlock features like custom domains, forms (which can send data to your email marketing tool, CRM, or HubSpot), Google Analytics integration, and custom embeds.

Plus, you can have more than one site—up to three on the basic paid plan.

For today’s demo, I’ve designed a one-page site in Figma.

You don’t need to design your site beforehand—I just did because I’m a web designer. But you can jump right into Carrd’s editor and start building.

This example is a simple landing page for a hypothetical (but maybe not-so-hypothetical) mobile coffee cart that my wife and I have been talking about.

She actually put this brand together for my birthday and hosted our first coffee pop-up, serving espresso drinks to 20–30 friends with custom mugs and t-shirts.

Carrd is perfect for us to put up an initial splash page to generate interest.

Let’s jump in.

I’ll open my Carrd dashboard and create a new site.

You’ll see various templates, but I’ll start with a blank page since I already have a custom design.

Now, I’ll walk you through how to set up the sections, add content, and style the page.

I’ll begin by deleting everything on the blank page so we can start from scratch.

First, I’ll set the background color for the page.

If we go into my design, I have a background color selected, so I’ll apply that here.

Next, I’ll start with the header section.

Typically, I build from top to bottom, but in this case, I’ll begin with the main heading to establish the structure of the page.

I’ll add a text block and enter the headline:

“Be a Good Neighbor.”

I’ll set this as a main heading (H1) for SEO purposes.

Then, I’ll change the font to Quicksand and adjust the size to 3.5rem (~56px).

For styling, I’ll set the text color to white (or an off-white shade from my design).

I’ll make the text uppercase for visual consistency.

Now, I’ll insert a text block for the subheading.

For now, I’ll use placeholder text (Lorem Ipsum).

The font will also be Quicksand, slightly smaller, with a semi-bold weight.

Next, I’ll insert two buttons since my design has two call-to-actions.

These buttons will be styled with a white background and blue text.

To save time, I’ll duplicate one button instead of creating a second one from scratch.

Now that I have the text and buttons in place, I’ll structure the header section into a two-column layout. The left column contains the heading, paragraph, and buttons. The right column holds an image of Shannon, which I’ll upload.

To set this up, I’ll add a container and set it to two columns. Then, I’ll move the text and buttons into the left column. Next, I’ll insert an image block in the right column and upload Shannon’s photo. I’ll adjust the image settings so it’s full-bleed and fills the column properly. Finally, I’ll tweak the container width to ensure proper spacing and alignment.

Now, let’s add the navigation bar at the top.

I’ll insert a full-width container and position it above the header section. I’ll set its height to auto so it adjusts dynamically.

For the navigation, I’ll create a two-column layout. On the left side, I’ll place the logo. On the right side, I’ll add the navigation buttons.

I’ll insert an image block, upload the Cul-de-Sac Club logo, and size it down. The logo should be small but still visible.

For the navigation buttons, I’ll insert buttons and align them to the right for a clean layout. I’ll duplicate an existing button for consistency.

Now, I’ll add a full-width background image. I’ll upload an illustration of a neighborhood, set it to edge-to-edge width, and adjust the padding and margins so that it overlaps slightly with the next section to create a seamless transition.

Now that we have the header and navigation, let’s move on to the merch section.

I’ll insert another container and set the height slightly shorter than the previous section.

I’ll add a heading that says "Hometown Goods." I’ll make this a subheading, set it to uppercase, and style it in white. Below it, I’ll add a paragraph with the tagline "Get them before they’re gone."

To display products, I’ll create a three-column layout. I’ll upload product images—starting with a hat and a hoodie—and set each product to have a max-width setting to ensure they are uniform.

Each product will have a button linked to a Stripe Payment Link for easy checkout.

Now, let’s build the footer.

I’ll create a two-column layout. On the left column, I’ll add the contact information, including an email address and phone number. On the right, I’ll add social media links, including Facebook and Instagram.

To add social media links, I’ll insert an icons block and select Facebook and Instagram.

I’ll also add a list of links, like Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, and format them using Markdown.

Below the text, I’ll upload the Cul-de-Sac Club logo again for branding.

To separate the footer visually, I’ll insert a divider line above it. I’ll align all elements properly to make sure it looks clean.

Now that the desktop version is built, I’ll tweak it for mobile.

I’ll click on the mobile preview mode in Carrd. I’ll adjust button sizes so they don’t stretch too wide on smaller screens. I’ll tweak spacing and padding to create a cleaner layout. I’ll ensure that text remains legible without excessive scaling.

Once everything looks good, I’ll publish the site.

I’ll save it as "culdesac-test" for now. I can use a Carrd subdomain like culdesac.carrd.co for testing. When ready, I can connect a custom domain like culdesacclub.com. Carrd has documentation on how to set up DNS for custom domains.

Hopefully, you found this helpful. As I mentioned earlier, there are dozens of website builders out there, but if you need a simple, affordable landing page, Carrd is an amazing choice.

For just $19 per year, you can launch a fully functional website instead of paying $20 to $30 per month for other platforms like Squarespace or Wix.

Let me know if you have any questions. There’s a link in the description where you can check out Carrd. And if you end up building a site, drop the URL in the comments—I’d love to see what you create.

That’s all for now. I’ll see you in the next video. Thanks again.

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