Selfhosting vs. free online website platforms
If you are serious about getting a website for business, I recommend you get a self-hosted site. This means that you buy hosting (don’t worry, I will show you how) and have all of your files in your ownership. Free online platforms offer free hosting, but if they go down so does your business website, so think about doing it right from the start and not getting into trouble after putting in a lot of work.
WordPress is a great way to get started with a website. It is a free cms (content management and blogging system) that can be set up quickly.
What is a cms (content management system)?
Well rather than putting up html coded pages only, it’s a system that let’s you easily manage your content (text, images etc.) without having to code anything. All modern websites use a cms. Most popular ones are WordPress, Drupal or Joomla.
Attention: The WordPress software for self-hosted websites is explained at www.wordpress.org. However, wordpress.com, is a free online blogging platform and NOT for self-hosted websites.
Which internet address should I get?
If you are selling a range of products related to something like fish care, consider adding that to your website name (URL) which could be www.fishcare.com or something similar. If you are offering services with your personal branding, consider combining your name and your offer in your URL, for instance www.myname-coaching.com or just www.myname-personalcoach.com. It’s better not to make it too complex and try to avoid using more than 2 dashes.
To see if your domain name is available, go to www.cyon.ch or www.godaddy.com. For a serious online business the extension .com is advisable in most cases.
Working with a theme
A theme is a set of templates for a website. You might want to use one, because today, you can find amazingly sophisticated premium themes that contain layouts for home page, blog, contact page, pages with or without sidebars, galleries etc. Ask me for a list of WordPress theme recommendations with a theme that is suitable for your purpose. Themes are often even preferred over building a website from scratch, because – if it is a quality theme – it will meet the requirements for responsive design and correct rendering in different browsers.
Need some basic knowledge about dealing with images for your new website?
These tips will make it easy to understand how you can start preparing.
All about preparing images
What size and resolution do my images need to be?
Don’t make any of these mistakes…read this.
Where can I find photos for my website? Which images can I use for free?
Read more about this on this post on finding photos…
3 things to remember when selecting images for your website
Learn to choose the right ones…more here.
What if I can’t find any appropriate photos?
Then working with graphics could be a viable option. Read on.