There are a lot of questions that go through your mind when creating a website. A big part of it would be “How?” How do professionals create a website that will live up to the purpose it is intended for? How do I make my website gain more traffic? How do I make my website look good?
If this is your first time creating a website of your own, then it would be a challenge. Creating a website does not only involve computer skills, but it also needs your creativity.
Sure, you can hire a website developer to do it for you, but it would cost you money. So why spend when you can save by doing it yourself. Here are the steps and some tips when creating create your own professional self-managed website.
- Find a domain name that suits you best.
Creating your own domain name is a crucial step in making your website. It has to be memorable enough for your customers to retain and effective enough to be easily found by your target audience. Here are some tips:
- Find a domain registrar to help you in buying your own website.
- Create your personal branding or a catchy phrase that is related to the products, services, or interests that your site has to offer.
- If possible, stay away from using hyphens and numbers; it will add more to confusion.
- Credibility is the key.
Lack of information on your website is one big mistake. A website that lacks the necessary information will look very sketchy. How the users are going to differentiate you from the multitude of blogs and website with the same content is based on how credible you are. Hence, strategically place information about your experience or your company on your website – this is one big factor that can generate traffic.
- Looks are important.
Aside from credibility, looks are pretty much as important. A website’s aesthetics is vital in piquing the interest of visitors. Websites that look good often get more traffic. There are many themes for WordPress that you can choose from to make your website look aesthetically pleasing. Make sure that your website’s look is related to your content, such as a clean and classy look for a photography site and a rustic look for a site that involves arts and crafts. Always design according to what you offer.
- Content is the traffic magnet.
This is why you are setting up the website. You want to share with the whole world your interests, knowledge, experiences, products, and services. This is the factor that keeps traffic coming into your website. A significant percentage of the traffic that goes into your website is due to what you are showcasing in it.
Be bold and be creative in your content to ensure that it can generate high traffic. Also, be wary of content that has too much traffic. If one of your posts is getting too many visits, it may mean other websites may also have the same content, and that would be a very competitive field to go into.
- Prioritize search engine optimization.
This is a profound and complicated subject to tackle. Basically, search engine optimization is making sure your website gets the traffic that you intend it to have. There are many ways to optimizing your site for search engines. One is to install an SEO plugin – there are tons out there. Choose one that is simple, and work your way up to the complicated ones. Read guides on how to get better at SEO.
- Make use of plugins.
Plugins are made for your life to be more comfortable. Instead of writing codes from scratch, you can use plugins. A plugin is a pre-made software that you can add to your site, either for aesthetics or for a series of functions. There are a lot of plugins that you can install for your WordPress website; choose the plugin that has the best quality and function.
- Maintain and create consistently.
After creating your website, there is always the burden of maintaining it. Your content should be up to date and relevant. Here are some things you can do:
- Update the aesthetics for a more current feel.
- Schedule your content uploads or posts.
- Add new features to your website.
- Reply to messages or comments.
All these are important to make your visitors feel that you are there, continually creating new updates and content to keep them coming back.
Now that you have these tips handy, it’s time you create the website you have always planned on making. It’s a learning process, but it doesn’t have to be that hard. The good thing about WordPress is that you will be doing lesser work in creating a website than when using other website builders. With the abundance of pre-made features for beginners like you to use, you don’t have to be a professional to build a successful website.