Today, building an online presence is truly crucial. Whether you’d like to change your career path or simply wish to share your personal story, creating a personal website is a great way to establish your name in the industry. And because the way you present yourself online also impacts how others perceive you and your brand, creating the right website is truly essential. To that end, here is an extensive guide to building a personal website that will guarantee success:
Outline your website goals
Before you start building your website, it would be a good idea to outline its purpose, goals, and main features first, as this will give you a better idea of how the finished site should look. Begin by defining the purpose, whether that means selling products or displaying a portfolio, and then list out the features your website needs to have to achieve that purpose, such as high-quality photo galleries or shopping carts and secure checkout pages.
Then, continue by creating a layout of the homepage, main pages like “contact” and “about us” pages, as well as the main menu. This might also be a good time to make some important branding decisions, such as choosing the right logo, fonts, and color palettes.
Choose the right site builder
While it might be common practice to hire professional web developers, or even create your website if you have the technical skills, most smaller businesses don’t have enough time or a high enough budget for these options. Instead, a frequent solution for personal websites is using tools that will allow you to build a site with no coding knowledge required.
For instance, you could opt for a content management system like WordPress is one of the most popular choices, but keep in mind this option is best for websites that require plenty of customization, as well as quite basic, and content-heavy sites. Another option is also website builders such as Weebly and Wix, being a great solution for novices looking to build a well-designed personal website.
Select the best domain name
Your domain name is one of the most important aspects of your website, both in terms of usability and SEO. To make the best first impression, the domain name should be short and simple to spell, while still being unique, personal, and memorable enough for your customers to easily find it.
Apart from the name itself, the domain extension you select can also be quite impactful. That is why choosing a personal website domain such as .me is always recommended. Besides being a secure, trusted, and easily customizable extension, such a domain is also ranked highly by Google, thus aiding in SEO efforts, while being a brilliant call to action as well.
Invest in website design
Whether you are developing your website or using a specialized site-building tool, paying attention to web design is incredibly important. Not only will a well-designed website help to make a great first impression and attract visitors, but it can also build trust in your brand, boost SEO efforts, and allow you to stand out from your competition.
To make web design a bit easier for beginners, you might want to choose a premade theme or template that matches your content needs and personal style the best. Then, it would be wise to customize your theme as much as possible, such as choosing a different font, opting for your brand’s color palette, and incorporating logos and relevant images, to create a more distinct and unique website.
Don’t forget about SEO
After finishing your website, preparing it for search engines is one of the most important things you could do, as this aspect determines how highly you will rank in search engine results, and ultimately how wide of an audience you will attract. And while search engine optimization (SEO) might be quite a complicated business, there are some simple things you can do right now to achieve better results.
Besides a good domain name and extension, it’s crucial to find the best, most relevant keywords to your brand, and include them in the content on your website. Filling out necessary meta-information, increasing website loading speeds, and linking to social media pages can be good tactics for driving traffic to your website as well.
Building a personal site by yourself can often be a challenging and time-consuming task. However, simply by utilizing the helpful tips mentioned above, you will be well on your way towards a functional and successful website.