Confidently Build Your Personal Website
When you come across someone’s name, the first thing you’ll want to do is find more information about who they are. Maybe do a Google search of them, or look them up on social media such as Instagram or LinkedIn.
But what happens if you can’t find anything?
If you’re looking into building your online presence for either co-op employers, your new startup, or just for yourself — it goes without saying that you need to have a website.
Not only that, but having an accessible online presence both on computer and phone or tablet is crucial. Currently, around 2 billion people — about 50% of people who use the Internet — solely rely on their smartphones, and this number is projected to increase to nearly 75% by 2025.
You can use a website to put out your name and receive opportunities by just being a searchable presence on the Internet. People will use what they see about you online to form their opinion about your image — what you’re capable of, how you differentiate yourself from others, and how you’re represented.
Your personal brand is what makes you memorable and appear human! Your website should represent the best of yourself and what you believe in.
All you need to know to get started…
It’s 2021. There are endless free resources online to help you make a website at any level!
Even if you’re an entrepreneur who’s never touched a single line of code in your life, building a website shouldn’t be a daunting task — anyone can create their own website by finding the right tools available for them.
What You’ll Need (Hint: it’s not free)
In order for your website to be visible, you will need to connect it to the Internet. Web hosts provide services that host your website on the Internet (with your very own domain name) and connect to the Internet’s servers. To get started, you’ll need to purchase a hosting plan — some popular hosts include Bluehost and HostGator.
Some websites may also provide hosting for free through their services, such as GitHub via GitHub Pages, but involve more heavy-lifting to deploy your website on your own.
Let’s dive into the top options for people building their personal websites today.
Website Builders
Website builders are simple pages with pre-made layouts for customizing your own website that are popular for their ease of use. You can pick from whatever modules you want and drag and drop them onto your website.
Some of the most popular options are WordPress, known for its blog support and community, Squarespace, which is well-liked by many design-savvy people, and Wix, for a simple all-in-one free solution.
No-Code Website Generators
No-code website generators are a newer form of website builders that aim to keep full customization while abstracting away all the code. These builders also involve drag and drop actions but grant full liberties for customizing all sides of your website entirely through visual programming.
Some notable options are Bubble.io and Webflow.
Do-It-Yourself Web Development
For people who don’t want to rely on website builders or potentially pay for existing services, this third option might be for you: building your own website!
If you’re developing your own website, you’re responsible entirely for the design which will represent the essence of your brand. This includes everything especially your color scheme, user interaction, and visual design. Especially in today’s age, having a well-designed mobile website is almost as important as a full-fledged website.
Like the old saying, ‘measure twice, cut once’ is an important principle when designing your own application to ensure that you have a clear roadmap and a solid picture of what you are building. It is best to use a design tool to create an initial prototype of your website design before you start coding, such as Figma or AdobeXD.
HTML and CSS are just at the tip of the iceberg of web development, but getting exposure to them and understanding how to use them in your toolkit will certainly help you when building your personal brand.
There are plenty of great resources out there that teach you how to develop a website — I highly recommend learning through FreeCodeCamp as you learn while building your portfolio entirely for free.
Static Website Generators
As an in-between of a no-code website builder and an all-code DIY website, static website generators are an efficient in-between for people inclined to code up their own website but also want to launch it as fast as possible.
While you will have to do a bit of setup programmatically, utilizing a generator will provide you with a powerful and speedy website with the option for existing templates or full customizability, along with trusted maintenance. Some of the best static website generators out there today are Gatsby, Hugo, and Jekyll.
TL;DR: If you’re not interested in learning how to code and design your website on your own, website builders will be your best bet. After all, they provide a fast and intuitive way to bootstrap your website together without having to dive into the details. However, if you’re looking to impress your audience with a truly unique design and interface, starting from scratch is the best way to build your personal brand.
Come to Engage!
On February 25th, E-Club’s Engage program will be partnering with Oasis to host a workshop on building a website with HTML and CSS. Attend to get immediate exposure and hands-on experience — and see how constructing and styling websites is simple and straightforward!
You can register here.
