Where to build in Valheim explained
When you start Valheim, you will find yourself defenseless against those different monsters and ailments that the game will present, so before you decide where to build a proper home let's focus on a simple shelter to survive the first night and start farming materials.
First sure you have enough resources for the workbench, which is the first major goal in the starting Meadows area.
Since the workbench requires a roof over it to work, it's also where you ideally want your first building to be. In the Meadows, there is no bad first place to build - though we recommend somewhere that is open (so avoid dense tree areas), or if you find a ruin, repairing that to make your first shelter cheaper and faster to create.