My 3 step guide to creating a website.
Creating a website in 2016 is as easy as A-B-C.
Or 1-2-3. However you prefer.
The old days of getting a website required you to be a developer. You needed to learn how to code and understand DNS servers (what is that?! ;)). You spent so much more time as a coder than a content creator. Things are much simpler now. If you are a small business or someone that just wants to write, here is my step-by-step to getting your website up.
Step 1: The Why and What
The easy part: We have many thoughts in our heads about our websites. Take time to write down why you want a website and what purpose would you like it to serve. Keep it simple. Keep it short. But, take as much time as you need to figure out the why and what for your website. This why is going to be the driving force behind everything you put on your website, from design to content to copy, and will help you strategize reaching your target audience.
Continuing along this thread, determine what types of content categories would go in the navigation of your website to serve your purpose above (keep to a minimum of 3-5 for simplicity). For example, a realtor's website would have content related to 3 categories: buying a home, selling a home and financing a home. A fashion website would need classic and seasonal content categories for women's clothes and shoes, men's clothes and shoes, children's clothes and shoes, and accessories.
The hard part: Actually putting this on paper. Knowing the why and what is hard. It takes time. Draw inspiration from other websites, blogs and e-commerce sites out there - and figure out which one closest matches your imagination. What do you like and not like about some of the websites and blogs you read regularly? Take as many notes as possible.
After months of mulling about my website, I simply started writing in the Notes app on my phone during a flight about what this website meant to me. I envisioned small businesses and women entrepreneurs using this website. Little did I realize I had one of my main pages - the About - already written out. I thought through the different types of content and even got a draft of my first post together.
Step 2: Getting your domain or URL
The easy part: When Google launched Google Domains (still in Beta), Step 2 in this process got simplified, IMHO. No more complex GoDaddy or Bluehost sign ups. If you are in the Google ecosystem (if you have Gmail or use Google Docs or Google Photos, you are!), you are minutes away from your own website URL. Go to domains.google.com and sign into your Google account. Use the sign in info from your Gmail or Docs or Photos. Follow the prompts and get the URL you've always wanted. It's $12 a year for a domain. So, for about the same price as lunch at your local deli, you get your own domain name for a year!
The hard part: What should I call my website? Shall I get creative with a name? Should I use my own name? Do I want a .com or do I want another extension like .marketing? Decisions, decisions! :)
Step 3: Choosing a design template
The easy part: Once you get the domain, Google will prompt you with choices for design. Do you want the free Blogger design, or maybe something a little more professional that looks great on your phone? Your options will include Squarespace (my fav), Wix and a few others. You can't go wrong. Pick anyone. Once you pick a system, you need to choose a design template. You get to try design templates for free for 15 days. So, explore a few design templates, choose a design you like that works within your content (revisit step 1) and just go for it! After 15 days, you'll pay between $12-18 a month depending on the features you choose.
The hard part: Which design template should I get? It is one of the hardest choices you will make for your website. We all want a good-looking and responsive site. I recommend experimenting with a few templates. Create 1-2 pages and keep changing templates till you feel you've found the one you like. Squarespace does a good job of categorizing their template categories into blog templates, personal website templates, e-commerce templates, portfolio templates: maybe that will help you narrow down your choices based on the type of website you're creating.
See, super simple! Try it. If something doesn't work, my blog post is badly written. Getting a website is not! There are a few tips and tricks for ranking in Google search results that I will share in another post.
The last thing I will leave you with is Be Responsible with what you send out into the internet. If you've read this article by the Guardian, you know how even the internet can be corrupted. It's all machine language. A matter of 0's and 1's. Once you kinda know how the algorithm works, it's a matter of beating a machine. But please don't do that. Send good out into the internet universe, so the good can rank and proliferate. Btw, if you do have good to say, being quiet in a noisy space is not the solution. You need to sing a song to numb the noise.
If you have any trouble at all following the steps above, leave me your information in the comments below or send me a tweet.
