How to Build a Website Using Laravel? (Step-by-Step Guide)

Building a website from scratch is not an easy task, especially if you’re new to web development. However, with the right development tools and frameworks, the process becomes much more manageable and easier. One such framework that lets you develop robust websites with ease is Laravel.

It simplifies many common web development tasks, allowing you to focus on building dynamic websites. In this blog, we’ll help you learn how Laravel development experts build websites by leveraging various practices. We’ll also learn to create a to-do website that can store, update, and delete tasks. But before that, let’s explore Laravel and its features.

What is Laravel?

Laravel is an open-source PHP web framework known for its simplicity and ability to facilitate rapid web development. It follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern, which helps developers organize and structure code more efficiently. That makes the web development process easier for building complex web applications.

It is built using PHP language and includes features like dependency injection, middleware, and a powerful query builder. It also has a built-in package manager called Composer that makes it easy to install and manage core and third-party packages.

Key Features of Laravel

• Eloquent ORM: Laravel’s Object Relational Mapping (ORM) system, called Eloquent ORM, allows developers to interact with databases using a simple syntax. It eliminates the need to use raw SQL queries, which simplifies working with databases.
• Blade Templating Engine: It comes with a powerful Blade templating engine that allows you to create clean and reusable HTML templates.
• Artisan Command Line Interface (CLI): Laravel provides a built-in command-line tool called Artisan. That helps developers automate common tasks such as Laravel migrations and seeding databases.
• Routing: It comes with a flexible routing system for defining how URLs map to specific controller actions. Laravel supports both basic and advanced routing techniques, making it easy to control how requests are handled.
• Authentication and Authorization: Laravel includes a built-in solution for user authentication, handling login, and user roles. Plus, it provides support for advanced authorization (through Laravel Policies & Gates) features that enhance security.
• Migrations: Its database migrations system allows developers to version control the database schema and make incremental updates. That ensures consistency across development environments.
• Middleware: They help Laravel authenticate, filter, and modify HTTP requests before they reach the controller. Using middleware you can perform tasks such as authentication, logging, and request filtering.
• Event Broadcasting: Laravel makes it easy to build modern, real-time sites such as comment systems by supporting event broadcasting. This feature allows developers to broadcast events to client-side applications through technologies like WebSockets API.
• Task Scheduling: It includes a simple way to schedule tasks using a scheduler that is driven by the cron daemon.
• Security: Laravel comes with built-in security features like CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) protection, encryption, password hashing, and data validation. That enables developers to ensure Laravel site security.

By leveraging these features, professional Laravel developers can make the web development process quick. Additionally, these features benefit even more when building scalable and robust websites. Now, let’s jump into some of the reasons why you may choose Laravel as your development framework.

Why Choose Laravel for Building a Website?

Choosing Laravel for building a website comes with several advantages, making it one of the best PHP frameworks. Here’s why Laravel stands out for building websites:

• Rapid Development: Laravel’s Eloquent techniques simplifies database interactions, reducing development time. The Artisan CLI provides a range of commands to automate common tasks, further increasing productivity. Plus, the Blade templating engine offers features to create blade components, making it easy to create frontends.
• Scalability: Its built-in caching mechanism improves performance and handles increased traffic. The modular architecture allows for easy scaling and maintainability, ensuring your website can grow as your user base expands.
• Security: Laravel comes with built-in security features to protect against common vulnerabilities like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS). Regular updates ensure the framework is always up-to-date with the latest security patches, providing a secure environment for your web application.
• Integration with Other Tools: It is compatible with popular web development tools like Composer, Bootstrap, and React. That makes it easy to integrate with your existing web development tech stack.
• Community and Ecosystem: Laravel has a large and active community that provides extensive support and resources. The Laravel packages ecosystem offers a range of core and third-party packages for various functionalities. That allows you to extend Laravel’s capabilities easily.

These benefits of using Laravel make it a preferred choice for many developers and possibly you, too. So, now you might wanna know how to build a site using Laravel, right? If yes, let’s jump to the next section.

How to Build a Website Using Laravel?

Before we build a website with Laravel, it’s crucial to get a complete overview of the steps involved. That’s why we’ll first dive into the prerequisites and general steps that can be followed to build a website using Laravel. Here is a stepwise guide:

Prerequisites for Building a Laravel Website

• PHP (version 8.1 or higher): Laravel requires the latest version of PHP.
• Composer: The dependency manager for PHP that helps install Laravel and other packages.
• A Web Server (Apache, Nginx): Local development environments like Laravel Homestead, Laravel Valet, XAMPP, or WAMP to run Laravel websites.
• Database: A database system (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, etc.) is needed to store your sites data.
• Node.js & npm: Required for compiling frontend assets.

Step 1: Install Laravel via Composer

To start, install Laravel using Composer. Run the following command in your terminal:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel website

This command creates a new Laravel project in a folder named “website”. Alternatively, you can install Laravel globally with Composer and create projects using the Laravel installer:

composer global require laravel/installer

laravel new website

Step 2: Set Up the Development Environment

Once Laravel is installed, navigate into your project directory using the cd command:

cd website

After that, start the Laravel’s built-in development server:

php artisan serve

This will launch a local server at http://localhost:8000, where you can view your Laravel website.

Step 3: Configure the Database

Next, set up your database. In the .env file located in the root directory of your project, configure your database settings:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql

DB_HOST=127.0.0.1

DB_PORT=3306

DB_DATABASE=your_database_name

DB_USERNAME=your_username

DB_PASSWORD=your_password

After configuring the database, run the migration command to create default tables for Laravel’s user authentication system:

php artisan migrate

Running the above command will create the necessary tables in your database.

Step 4: Define Routes

In Laravel, routes determine how URLs map to actions in your application. Routes are defined in the routes/web.php file. Here is an example to add a route for the homepage:

Route::get('/', function () {

    return view('welcome');

});

You can also create more routes for different pages:

Route::get('/about', function () {

    return view('about');

});

Step 5: Create Controllers

Controllers handle the logic for your application. You can create a controller using Artisan:

php artisan make:controller PageController

In app/Http/Controllers/PageController.php, define methods to handle page requests. Here is an example:

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class PageController extends Controller

{

    public function index()

    {

        return view('welcome');

    }

    public function about()

    {

        return view('about');

    }

}

Update your routes/web.php file to use the controller:

Route::get('/', [PageController::class, 'index']);

Route::get('/about', [PageController::class, 'about']);

Step 6: Create Views Using Blade Templating

In Laravel, views are created using Blade, a templating engine that makes it easy to integrate PHP with HTML. Create a new view file for your homepage in resources/views/welcome.blade.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">

<head>

    <meta charset="UTF-8">

    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">

    <title>Laravel Website</title>

</head>

<body>

    <h1>Welcome to My Laravel Website!</h1>

</body>

</html>

Similarly, you can create a similar about.blade.php view for the About page.

Step 7: Database Models and Migrations

In Laravel, models represent tables in your database. You can create a model and its corresponding migration file using Artisan:

php artisan make:model Post -m

The -m flag creates a migration file for the posts table. Update the migration file in database/migrations/xxxx_xx_xx_create_posts_table.php to define your table structure:

public function up()

{

    Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {

        $table->id();

        $table->string('title');

        $table->text('content');

        $table->timestamps();

    });

}

Now, run the migration to create the table:

php artisan migrate

Step 8: Handle Form Submissions and Validation

Laravel makes it easy to handle form submissions and validate data. Create a form in resources/views/create.blade.php:

<form action="/posts" method="POST">

    @csrf

    <label for="title">Title</label>

    <input type="text" name="title" id="title">

    <label for="content">Content</label>

    <textarea name="content" id="content"></textarea>

    <button type="submit">Submit</button>

</form>

In your controller, handle the form submission and validate the input:

public function store(Request $request)

{

    $validated = $request->validate([

        'title' => 'required|max:255',

        'content' => 'required',

    ]);

    Post::create($validated);

    return redirect('/');

}

Then, define a route for the form submission in routes/web.php:

Route::post('/posts', [PageController::class, 'store']);

Step 9: Authentication and Authorization

Laravel provides built-in user authentication. You can set up authentication by running the following command:

composer require laravel/ui

php artisan ui vue --auth

npm install && npm run dev

This command will scaffold authentication views, routes, and controllers for user login, registration, and password reset.

Step 10: Testing Your Application

Laravel site requires various types of testing including built-in PHPUnit testing. You can write unit tests for your models, routes, and controllers. For example, to test the Post model, you can add the following in tests/Feature/PostTest.php:

public function test_create_post()

{

    $response = $this->post('/posts', [

        'title' => 'Test Title',

        'content' => 'Test Content',

    ]);

    $response->assertRedirect('/');

    $this->assertDatabaseHas('posts', ['title' => 'Test Title']);

}

Once you have added this code in tests/Feature/PostTest.php, run the testing command:

php artisan test

Step 11: Deploying the Laravel Website

Once your development is complete, you can deploy your Laravel app on a live server. Laravel supports deployment tools like:

• Laravel Forge: For managing server environments.
• Laravel Vapor: For serverless applications on AWS.

Here is the basic overview of the deployment steps involved:

• Pushing your code to a remote repository (GitHub, GitLab).
• Configuring a server (using Forge or a VPS) with a web server, PHP, and a database.
• Pulling the code from your repository to the server.
• Running migrations and installing dependencies using Composer.

You can also choose from various Laravel hosting services available that provide more reliable and easy deployment of your site.

By following the above steps, you can build a complete website using Laravel. Now, let’s learn how Laravel developers create a to-do list website using Laravel in the next section.

Building a Basic To-Do Website With Laravel

We have seen the complete overview of the steps involved in building a website using Laravel. Now, let’s make a to-do web app with Laravel. Here is how:

Step 1: Set Up Your Development Environment

Firstly, we will install Laravel and set up a local development server where we can work on the to-do application. For that, make sure you have Composer installed. If not, you can download Composer from getcomposer.org.

Once done, open your terminal and run the following command to create a new Laravel project:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel todo-app

This command creates a new Laravel project in a folder called to-do app. After that, navigate into your project directory:

cd todo-app

Start the Laravel development server by running the following command:

php artisan serve

This will start the development server at http://localhost:8000. You can view your Laravel site by opening this URL in a browser.

Step 2: Set Up the Database

Here, we will configure the database for our to-do web app, as Laravel needs a place to store the tasks we’ll create. Follow the below instruction to do so:

In the root directory of your project, find the .env file and open it in a text editor. This file contains the environment configuration for your Laravel app. In the .env file, find the database settings and update them with your database credentials:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql

DB_HOST=127.0.0.1

DB_PORT=3306

DB_DATABASE=todo_database

DB_USERNAME=root

DB_PASSWORD=root_password

Replace todo_database, root, and root_password with your actual database name, username, and password.

Next, create the database. Open your database management tool (such as phpMyAdmin, MySQL Workbench, or command-line MySQL) and create a new database named todo_database.

After that, run the migration command to create default tables used by Laravel:

php artisan migrate

Running the above command will create the necessary tables in your database.

Step 3: Create the To-Do Model and Migration

In this step, we will create a model for our to-to tasks and a migration to define the structure of the tasks table in our database. Here is how you can create the to-do model and migration:

In your terminal, run the following command to create a model called Task and its corresponding migration:

php artisan make:model Task -m

This command creates a Task.php file in the app/Models folder and a migration file in the database/migrations folder.

Now, open the newly created migration file located in database/migrations/xxxx_xx_xx_create_tasks_table.php. Update the up() function to define the structure of the tasks table:

public function up()

{

    Schema::create('tasks', function (Blueprint $table) {

        $table->id();

        $table->string('title');

        $table->boolean('completed')->default(false);

        $table->timestamps();

    });

}

Here, we define a table with three columns:

• title: The task’s title.
• completed: A boolean value that indicates whether the task is completed (default is false).
• timestamps: Laravel will automatically create created_at and updated_at columns.

Now, run the migration to create the tasks table:

php artisan migrate

Step 4: Create the Controller for Task Management

In the previous step we defined the model. Now, let’s create a controller to handle the logic for managing our tasks, such as creating, updating, and deleting tasks (CRUD operations). Run the following command to create a controller named TaskController:

php artisan make:controller TaskController

After that, open app/Http/Controllers/TaskController.php and add the following code to define basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations for tasks:

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

use App\Models\Task;

class TaskController extends Controller

{

    public function index()

    {

        $tasks = Task::all();

        return view('tasks.index', compact('tasks'));

    }

    public function store(Request $request)

    {

        $request->validate([

            'title' => 'required|max:255',

        ]);

        Task::create([

            'title' => $request->title,

            'completed' => false,

        ]);

        return redirect('/');

    }

    public function update(Task $task)

    {

        $task->update(['completed' => !$task->completed]);

        return redirect('/');

    }

    public function destroy(Task $task)

    {

        $task->delete();

        return redirect('/');

    }

}

Here is a breakdown of what each function does:

• index: Displays all tasks.
• store: Validates and stores a new task.
• update: Marks a task as completed or uncompleted.
• destroy: Deletes a task.

With that, we created a TaskController to handle the core logic of our to-do web app, such as listing tasks, adding new tasks, toggling completion, and deleting tasks.

Step 5: Define Routes

Here, we will define routes for our to-do app, mapping URLs to the methods we just created in the controller. To add routes to web.php, open the routes/web.php file and add the following routes:

use App\Http\Controllers\TaskController;

Route::get('/', [TaskController::class, 'index']);

Route::post('/tasks', [TaskController::class, 'store']);

Route::patch('/tasks/{task}', [TaskController::class, 'update']);

Route::delete('/tasks/{task}', [TaskController::class, 'destroy']);

Here is the breakdown of methods used for each of the route:

• GET /: Fetches and displays all tasks.
• POST /tasks: Creates a new task.
• PATCH /tasks/{task}: Updates the completion status of a task.
• DELETE /tasks/{task}: Deletes a task.

Now, we have the necessary routes that allow our website to handle task creation, updating, and deletion through the URL.

Step 6: Create Views with Blade Templating

In this step, we will create views using Blade, Laravel’s templating engine, to display and manage tasks in the frontend. Here is how you can create a new file at resources/views/tasks/index.blade.php and add the following HTML:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">

<head>

    <meta charset="UTF-8">

    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">

    <title>To-Do List</title>

</head>

<body>

    <h1>To-Do List</h1>

    <form action="/tasks" method="POST">

        @csrf

        <input type="text" name="title" placeholder="Add a new task" required>

        <button type="submit">Add Task</button>

    </form>

    <ul>

        @foreach ($tasks as $task)

            <li>

                <form action="/tasks/{{ $task->id }}" method="POST" style="display: inline;">

                    @method('PATCH')

                    @csrf

                    <input type="checkbox" {{ $task->completed ? 'checked' : '' }} onChange="this.form.submit()">

                </form>

                {{ $task->title }}

                <form action="/tasks/{{ $task->id }}" method="POST" style="display: inline;">

                    @method('DELETE')

                    @csrf

                    <button type="submit">Delete</button>

                </form>

            </li>

        @endforeach

    </ul>

</body>

</html>

This view will display the existing tasks in a list, allow users to add new tasks, and let users mark tasks as completed or delete them.

Step 7: Deploy the Website

You have multiple options to deploy your Laravel to-do web app to a hosting provider using Laravel Forge or shared hosting. Here are overview steps for both of these ways:

Deploy Using Laravel Forge

• Sign up for Laravel Forge from its official site.
• Connect Forge to your hosting provider (such as DigitalOcean, AWS, or Linode).
• Create a new server, install Laravel, and deploy your project.
• Set up a MySQL database on your server and configure the .env file with the correct database credentials.
• Once deployed, your app will be live on the internet.

Deploy on Shared Hosting

• Zip your Laravel project and upload it to your hosting provider using FTP or cPanel.
• Move the contents of the public folder to your hosting’s public_html directory.
• Configure the .env file with your database and server details.
• Migrate the database using your hosting’s terminal or phpMyAdmin.

With this step, we deployed our Laravel to-do website to the web using either Laravel Forge or a shared hosting provider.

By following the above steps, you can create a to-do website that can store, update, and delete tasks. It was a simple site to get you started. You can extend this site further with more design and functionality. But if you want to build a complex site with multiple functionalities and custom designs, consider getting Laravel development services.

FAQs About Building a Website Using Laravel

Wrapping Up

Using the Laravel framework might be one of the best decisions for building robust, scalable, and secure dynamic sites. In the beginning, it may be overwhelming, but the features Laravel offers are equally valuable.

Larvel’s Eloquent ORM, easy routing, blade templating engine, and more enable rapid websites. If you are new to Laravel development, you can begin with small websites like blogs, to-do, and so on. The steps to create a site begin with installing Laravel and finally deploying your site.If you are looking to build a site with complex needs and customizations, hire Laravel developers.