Three years ago, I found myself in a panic at 11 PM on a Sunday. A potential client had just emailed asking to see my portfolio before an 8 AM Monday meeting.

The problem?

I didn't have a proper website.

My writings were scattered on different websites, while my designs and my social media creations were on another platform. My reviews were on several different websites.

The point of the story? Everything was just on different platforms.

And my website? Half-finished WordPress, unpublished.

Are you getting stressed for me? But don’t worry—I’m going to share with you all my trials and tribulations with building a website quickly in this article.

A lot of us—especially marketers and creators—get stuck waiting for everything to be perfect before hitting publish on our website.

I’ve totally been there myself.

But here’s the thing: perfection is the enemy of progress.

Opportunities don’t hang around while you nitpick your website.

You don’t get months to tweak and perfect things. Moments of opportunity call for action, and fast.

And once your site is out there—even if it’s not flawless—you’ll start seeing actual progress.

Every day you wait is a day you’re missing out on building your audience, getting leads, and showing people what you can do.

The truth?

A good website you launch today will always beat a “perfect” one you launch next month. Your first version doesn’t have to be your last—it’s just the start of something better.

The real secret to making a website in under an hour?

Making smart, no-nonsense choices about your platform, design, and content right from the start.

The absolute fastest way to build a website?

A platform that takes care of all the tech for you.

Skip anything that requires you to mess with hosting, databases, or plugins before you even get to see your landing page or homepage.

The best modern platforms (like beehiiv) deliver professional results, no coding or technical setup needed. That means you get to focus on what actually matters: your content and your message—not wrestling with server settings or configuration files.

Don’t take it just from me! Dakota Robertson, founder of Wrongs to Write newsletter, once said during an interview, “What I loved about beehiiv right away was how simple the interface was. beehiiv just does everything I need it to. I don't need this crazy stuff or these extra features that I just never use.”

When time is critical, resist the urge to customize your design extensively.

A clean, professional template that already feels like your brand should be your go-to. The less you need to change, the faster you’ll launch—maybe just swap a few colors or images and call it a day.

Starting with a template isn’t “cheating”—it’s actually how a lot of top creators launch sites that work (and convert). Save the extensive customization for version two of your website.

Holly Cobb and Gabriel Pang, creators of UniScoops newsletter, once said, “To make your newsletter stand out from the crowd, it’s essential to have a well-designed layout that is visually appealing and consistent with your brand.”

When you’re first getting started, don’t stress about having everything perfect. All you really need is something simple that tells people who you are and shows you’re open for business.

Focus on the basics: a headline that says what you do, a quick intro about your services or products, your contact info, and maybe a couple of examples of your work or a kind word from a happy client.

This “minimum viable content” mindset helps you get online quickly—and with platforms like beehiiv, it’s a breeze to add new pages, blog posts, or anything else down the road when you’re ready.

Here's what I've learned about the most popular website creation tools:

Wix, like many, offers impressive drag-and-drop functionality that can get you online quickly, especially if you're comfortable with visual design tools.

The true secret weapon is the ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) feature, which can create a basic site in minutes based on your answers to a few questions.

Squarespace consistently delivers polished, professional-looking results with minimal effort.

I love their templates—they’re beautifully designed and versatile across different industries. The platform excels at helping you create something visually impressive quickly.

WordPress has always been my go-to, but when the website didn’t do what I needed it to do, I told myself I’d never go back. While it can be fast to set up your website with the right theme, WordPress can also lead you down rabbit holes of customization and plugin exploration.

The platform does offer incredible flexibility, which is both an asset and a potential time sink—the moment you start diving into custom post types or complex functionality, your one-hour setup timeline becomes unrealistic.

Linda Hwang has extensive experience in B2B marketing and previously worked at a renowned international facilities management company. There, she played a crucial role in creating effective content and social media marketing plans. Now, Hwang is a marketing consultant who helps small businesses create compelling brand stories.

After years of experimenting with different platforms, I've found that beehiiv offers the fastest path from idea to live website.

Here's why it consistently outperforms other options when speed is the priority:

beehiiv eliminates the technical barriers that slow down other platforms.

There's no need to purchase separate hosting, configure domain settings, or worry about SSL certificates. Everything you need is included from the moment you sign up. This integrated approach means you can go from zero to a live website faster than with platforms that require you to connect external services.

beehiiv's templates are specifically designed for quick deployment.

They're clean, professional, and structured in a way that works well with minimal customization. You can literally sign up, choose a template, add your content, and publish within minutes.

The platform focuses on functionality over endless design options, which keeps you moving toward your goal instead of getting stuck in design decisions.

This streamlined approach is the most effective answer to the question, “How do I build a website in five minutes?”

One of beehiiv's unique advantages is its built-in email marketing functionality.

The moment your website goes live, you can start collecting email addresses and building your audience. This integration eliminates the need to set up separate email marketing tools or worry about connecting third-party services.

This feature is particularly valuable for quick website launches because it means you can start monetizing your online presence immediately.

Mady Maio, founder and creator of Camber App and its related newsletter, LA Happenings by Camber, once mentioned, “I love that beehiiv is a website as well. So, it's not just a static thing that happens in people's inboxes once a week. They can refer back to it."

Ready to get your website live?

Here's the exact process I follow when I need to create a website quickly with beehiiv:

This process consistently gets websites live in under an hour.

Remember, your first website doesn’t need to be perfect.

The real win is getting something professional online fast, so you can start building your audience and collecting leads right away. There’s always time to tweak and add more later—but you can’t grow from a site that isn’t live.

Don’t wait for “perfect”—get your site out there and start growing today.

Try beehiiv’s free plan and experience just how easy it is to go from idea to reality.

Your audience is waiting, and beehiiv makes it effortless.