Building your blog or website seems incredibly intimidating, huh? My goal is to help you, the do-it-yourself-web designer, create a beautiful, useful, blog, or website for your small business. In this blog post, I’ll show you how to build your blog or website from the ground up.
I’ll show you the first five things you need to do to get your blog or website started. With these five steps, I also offer links to the resources/products I use most.
Securing Your Domain Name (web address) and Host Server
The first thing you need to do is choose a domain name. Once you ensure the domain name you prefer is open, lock that sucker down. For your website to be live and visible to the vast worldwide interweb, you will need a server on which to host it.
Bluehost is my go-to resource for purchasing a domain name and website hosting. I’ve had several personal blogs and websites, along with those that I’ve built, over the years hosted by other server providers. With my experience in the web design realm I feel comfortable saying that Bluehost is my favorite hosting service to date.
The reason why I’m so partial to BlueHost is that it’s so incredibly simple to use. From the moment you secure your domain name, the Host Gator customer support is at your beck and call. I know because I’ve called them often. They are incredibly helpful and pleasant to talk with, I’ve never had an issue that didn’t get resolved. Also, once you are ready to install your user platform (see my next point in this post for more info on that), the Host Gator help section offers easy-to-follow guidelines on how to do that.
If you are brand new to web design and blogging, you will benefit from the Bluehost service.
Choosing a Blog or Website User Platform
WordPress.org
Picking the Perfect Backend support + Theme
Genesis
Choosing Fantastic Stock Images for Your Blog or Website
stocksnap.io
pexels
unsplash
make sure your blog looks professional with Web Design Best Practices
Just because you may be an amateur web/blog designer creating your first (and perhaps only) website or blog for your business or self-fulfillment doesn’t mean your site has to LOOK amateur. This guy did a great write up on ten best practices on some fantastic websites. While it may take some time to read through his entire list of best practices, it is WELL worth your time to do so before you hit publish on your site.
Now that you have the tools to create your creative or small business website or blog go forth and create! I sincerely wish I had someone hand me these resources when I was building my first several websites and blogs. It would have saved me an incredible amount of time and frustration.
Continuing my series of building your small business website or blog if you’re not a web designer I’ll be talking about content, optimizing your site for SEO, creating beautiful graphics and implementing your new web site into social media. Keep an eye out for my upcoming posts.
If you want to get the web design series sent right to your inbox, click here. Along with the web design series, you’ll receive all of my blog posts.
If you’re still struggling to get your website up and running, don’t hesitate to contact me for help. I can offer several web design services to help your business get up and running efficiently and affordably.