Make Your Own Website and build a Personal Brand
Why should you have a Website?
A well-designed and informative website can give you an edge in your business or personal brand.
If you have any products or niche services to sell online, your site can open up new markets and expand your reach cheaply and easily.
If you still need to get a website, you are losing out on precious traffic (leads) coming from the web.
Why make your Website yourself?
- It will save you a lot of money. A Web Designer or agency will charge for the number of pages and features you want on your Website. Whereas, If you do it yourself, you can have unlimited pages and features on your site. You pay only a specific fixed annual cost for the domain name and hosting services.
- Apart from saving money, you will not have any dependence on a web designer or agency. Many times new website launch or redesigning of an existing website is delayed due to coordination issues between you and the designer. If You are unsatisfied with the design or layout, the designer keeps your project on hold for small changes.
- Once your Website is live, you should be able to change content on your Website frequently.
- Creating new posts, and amending texts, images, and videos are some things you can do to keep your site updated.
It means that you will ultimately control your Website and how you move your online business forward.
Here are a few basic rules and simple tips to help you make your Website look professional and show your company in the best light. I am sharing a 3-Step beginner’s guide to creating a successful business website or personal brand.
Step 1: Get a Domain Name
You first need to choose the right domain name that is available and also catchy to attract website visitors.
Choosing a domain name can sometimes be very time-consuming. For this reason, it is essential to come up with a great domain name quickly.
Here are a few guidelines for choosing a great domain name for your blog or Website.
Get started with your own business name:
Your Website is an excellent opportunity to build your business brand. So start with your business name if it is available.
Make sure it is a short name. People tend to remember short names more easily. As a guideline, when selecting a domain name, try to stay within twenty letters. Having a short and easy-to-remember domain name will give you an advantage over other long & hard to remember domain names.
Go for something other than abbreviations.
Domain Name should be able to describe your brand.
If you are building your personal brand, go for a domain with your name.
If you don’t prefer to have your name, then have a name that describes your site and its purpose.
For example, a domain name that says digitalname.com or digitalmarketername.com will immediately indicate what your site is about. It will be easy for people to remember you and your site.
Some examples of choosing domain names in these topics are treehugger.com, tinybuddha.com, devilonwheels.com, curlytales.com, etc.
These are just examples; It could be about your hobby or any other expertise you have developed over the years. It can be about Food, Fitness, Travel, Cars, Bikes, Nature, Kitchen recipes, Pets, Technology, Education, etc.
For a personal branding website, you should select a topic or subject which you are passionate about and can demonstrate yourself as a subject matter expert. This is very important because you can only write helpful articles about this subject and engage visitors who visit your site.
Many sites are guilty of writing about things based on what’s trending in general. They publish stuff that has nothing to do with their passion. Select a niche and attract a particular target audience.
Get a .com domain name extension only:
Though several extensions are available, I advise using a .com domain name only. Even today, several website visitors assume that domain names only have a dot com extension. So distinguish them and go ahead with the a.com extension only. Domain names with other extensions or with numbers may be cheaper, but don’t compromise on your domain name by saving a few hundred rupees.
When choosing a domain name, check for spelling mistakes and avoid numbers and hyphens. E.g. avoid digital12name.com or digital-marketername.com
Avoid complicated pronunciations and those words that sound foreign, as your audience will be mainly from India.
Cost: Rs 950.00
Step 2: Get WeB Hosting
Webhosting is an online storage space that stores your articles, images, video, and other files that comprises your Website. You need to get a Web hosting service to save your site’s content.
Web hosting is necessary as your Website cannot connect to the internet without hosting.
Web hosting service provider helps you with domain name purchase, also though it is not compulsory.
Cost: This is a paid service, and it costs INR 120 per month .
Treat this cost as an investment in your brand. Once you have your Website, there will be several opportunities to make money from your site and recover this cost.
Step 3: Install WordPress
WordPress is an online, open-source website creation tool, which is the easiest and most powerful blogging and content management system today. WordPress is versatile and can be used for Blogs, business websites, online magazines, and even e-commerce sites. Many famous blogs, celebrities, and even fortune 500 companies are now using WordPress to build their sites. You need to customize your site with themes and plugins on an excellent design website and added functionality.
Cost: Free
With these three steps and an investment of just Rs 2,500 per anum, you can start your journey of creating your blog or Website with a self-hosted WordPress blog. This is the first and most essential step to learning and practicing digital marketing from home.
If you think Hosting and WordPress hosting could be more technical, I will provide you with FREE technical support for Hosting and WordPress installation with customization.
Click on the Zoom meeting icon to schedule a web-meeting with me.
This is a FREE Support.
Alternatively, you can send a WhatsApp message by clicking on the WhatsApp icon.
Conclusion: Maintaining your site is extremely important to stay relevant. So update your website frequently with blog posts on current industry events and new products and services.
Share free offers and company news to keep visitors returning to your site.
Making a website for your business or personal brand is a low-cost investment to help you share value, establish your community, and build authority in your industry. It will help you reach a wider audience than you could ever imagine through traditional marketing techniques.
Make a website that you’re proud of and which YOU can keep up to date.
