How to Create a Website in Sri Lanka: a Practical 2026 Guide

Getting a website live in Sri Lanka is more straightforward than most people expect. The main steps are the same whether you are starting a small business, a personal portfolio, or an online store: pick a domain, choose hosting, install WordPress, and publish. This guide walks you through each stage in plain terms.

Step 1: Choose and Register a Domain Name

Your domain is your address on the internet — for example, yourshop.lk or myagency.com. A few things to keep in mind when choosing:

Keep it short and easy to spell. Names that need to be spelled out over the phone are a liability.
Choose the right extension. A .lk domain signals that your business is local and builds trust with Sri Lankan visitors. A .com works if your audience extends beyond the country.
Check availability early. Good names go fast. Search before you settle on a name.

At HostHere, .lk domain registration is Rs 5,000/yr. A .com registers at Rs 4,700/yr and renews at Rs 5,050/yr — the price is the same at renewal, no first-year-only discount that catches you out later.

Step 2: Choose a Hosting Plan

Hosting is the server that stores your website files and makes them available to visitors around the clock. The type of hosting you need depends on where you are in your journey.

Shared hosting is the right starting point for most new websites. You share server resources with other sites, which keeps costs low. HostHere’s shared plans start at Rs 1,490/yr and run on NVMe storage with LiteSpeed — a fast combination that handles typical traffic without tuning.

Managed WordPress hosting is a step up when you want WordPress pre-configured, automatic updates, and priority support. It makes sense once your site is bringing in revenue or you prefer not to manage updates yourself.

VPS hosting is for sites that have outgrown shared resources or need specific server configurations.

If you are launching your first website, shared hosting is the sensible choice. You can move up later.

See current plans at HostHere Web Hosting.

Step 3: Connect Your Domain to Your Hosting

Once you have both a domain and a hosting account, you need to point the domain at your hosting server. This is done by updating the domain’s nameservers.

Your hosting welcome email will include HostHere’s nameservers (they look like ns1.hosthere.lk and ns2.hosthere.lk). Log in to wherever your domain is registered, find the nameserver settings, and replace the existing values with the ones from HostHere.

Nameserver changes propagate across the internet within a few hours — sometimes faster. During propagation, the site may be intermittently reachable. This is normal.

If your domain is registered with HostHere, you can manage nameservers directly from your client area without logging in to a separate registrar.

Step 4: Install WordPress

WordPress powers roughly half the websites on the internet and is the practical choice for most Sri Lankan businesses. It is free, has a large ecosystem of themes and plugins, and does not require coding knowledge for everyday use.

Installing WordPress is a one-click process from cPanel:

Log in to cPanel using the credentials in your hosting welcome email.
Find the Softaculous Apps Installer section.
Click WordPress and then Install Now.
Set your site name, admin username, and a strong password.
Click Install. Softaculous handles everything — database creation, file upload, configuration.

The whole process takes under two minutes.

Once installed, visit yourdomain.lk/wp-admin to reach the WordPress dashboard.

Step 5: Set Up a Theme

A theme controls how your site looks. The WordPress theme directory has thousands of free options. For a professional result without hiring a designer, look for themes that:

Load quickly (check reviews that mention speed)
Are compatible with the major page builders (Elementor, Kadence, or similar)
Were updated in the last six months

Install a theme from the dashboard under Appearance > Themes > Add New.

If you are building an e-commerce site, WooCommerce is the standard plugin — it works well with most themes and integrates with local payment gateways.

Step 6: Add a Professional Email Address

A contact@ or info@ address on your own domain looks far more credible than a Gmail address on a business card. HostHere Business Email starts at Rs 179/mo per mailbox and works with standard email clients and mobile apps.

Set up your business email at HostHere Business Email.

Step 7: Check These Before You Go Live

Before you share the URL publicly, go through this short list:

SSL is active. The address bar should show a padlock. HostHere includes a free SSL certificate on all hosting plans — activate it from cPanel under SSL/TLS Status if it is not already on.
Test on mobile. Most visitors in Sri Lanka browse on a phone. Resize the browser or use your own device to check that the layout holds.
Set up a contact form. A plugin like WPForms or Contact Form 7 takes ten minutes to configure and means visitors can reach you without revealing your email address to scrapers.
Back up before any major change. cPanel’s built-in backup tool or a plugin like UpdraftPlus handles this.

Getting Help

HostHere support is available Monday to Saturday, 10am–10pm SLT on WhatsApp (+94 71 3811 430). If you get stuck at any step — nameserver settings, WordPress errors, SSL activation — the team can walk you through it.

Ready to start? Get your domain and hosting from HostHere and have your site online today.