How to Build a Website with Laravel: Step-by-Step Guide for 2025

How to Build a Website with Laravel: Step-by-Step Guide for 2025

How to Build a Website with Laravel: Step-by-Step Guide for 2025

Learn how to build a website with Laravel in 2025. This step-by-step guide covers installation, routes, controllers, database management, and deployment.

Laravel is one of the most popular PHP frameworks for building robust and scalable web applications. It simplifies the development process with its elegant syntax, powerful tools, and extensive documentation. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to build a website using Laravel in 2025.

What is Laravel?

Laravel is a PHP framework based on the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture. It provides tools and libraries that streamline the development process, including features like routing, authentication, database management, and templating.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Development Environment

Before starting, ensure you have the following tools installed:

  1. Composer: Laravel’s dependency manager.
  2. PHP: Laravel requires PHP 8.1 or higher.
  3. Web Server: Apache or Nginx.
  4. Database: MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite.
  5. Node.js and npm: For frontend assets (optional).

Installation Steps:

  1. Download and install Composer.
  2. Verify PHP version by running: 
    php -v
  3. Install Laravel globally via Composer: 
    composer global require laravel/installer

Step 2: Creating a New Laravel Project

To create a new Laravel project, use the following command:

laravel new project_name

Alternatively, use Composer to create the project:

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

Navigate to the project directory:

cd project_name

Step 3: Setting Up the Database

Laravel supports multiple databases. Update the .env file in the root directory with your database credentials:

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

Create the database in your database management tool (e.g., phpMyAdmin or MySQL CLI).

Step 4: Running the Development Server

Start Laravel’s built-in development server:

php artisan serve

Visit http://localhost:8000 in your browser to see the default Laravel welcome page.

Step 5: Setting Up Routes

Routes define how your application responds to user requests. Laravel stores routes in the routes/web.php file.

Add a route for the homepage:

Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome');
});

Create additional routes as needed:

Route::get('/about', function () {
    return view('about');
});

Step 6: Creating Views

Views are the HTML templates used to display content. Laravel uses the Blade templating engine for dynamic content rendering.

Create a new Blade template in the resources/views directory:
File: about.blade.php

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>About Us</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome to the About Page</h1>
</body>
</html>

Link this view to the /about route in web.php.

Step 7: Working with Controllers

Laravel controllers handle the logic for your application. Generate a controller using Artisan:

php artisan make:controller PageController

Add a method in PageController:

public function about() {
    return view('about');
}

Update your route to use the controller:

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

Step 8: Database Migrations

Migrations allow you to define database schema changes in PHP. To create a new migration:

php artisan make:migration create_posts_table

Edit the migration file in the database/migrations directory:

Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->string('title');
    $table->text('content');
    $table->timestamps();
});

Run the migration to update the database:

php artisan migrate

Step 9: Using Eloquent ORM

Eloquent simplifies database operations. Create a model for the posts table:

php artisan make:model Post

Retrieve all posts in a controller:

use App\Models\Post;

public function index() {
    $posts = Post::all();
    return view('posts.index', compact('posts'));
}

Step 10: Adding Authentication

Laravel includes built-in authentication features. Install authentication scaffolding using Composer:

composer require laravel/ui
php artisan ui vue --auth
npm install && npm run dev

Run migrations to create the required tables:

php artisan migrate

Visit http://localhost:8000/register to see the registration page.

Step 11: Deploying the Website

  1. Prepare the Application:
    • Set up the .env file for production.
    • Run php artisan config:cache to cache the configuration.
  2. Upload Files to Server:
    • Use FTP or Git to upload files to your hosting provider.
  3. Set Up a Virtual Host:
    • Point your domain to the public folder.
  4. Run Database Migrations: 
    php artisan migrate --force
  5. Optimize Application: 
    php artisan optimize

Conclusion

Building a website with Laravel in 2025 is a straightforward process, thanks to its rich features and active community. From setting up routes and views to managing databases and adding authentication, Laravel provides everything you need to create modern web applications efficiently.

READ ALSO : Best PHP Frameworks in 2025: Top Tools for Modern Web Development

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