Your Website, Your Way! (Part 2)

September 24, 2013

Your Website, Your Way! (Part 2)

It’s MY Website, Not Yours!

Many, many people seeking to establish an online presence with a website are often burned by greedy manipulators just waiting to prey on the pockets of unsuspecting, wide-eyed, fledgling businesses and individuals keen to make their mark as quickly as possible in the online realm.

The very first step one is generally advised to take when establishing an online presence is to purchase one’s very own domain name and get a website constructed by an established professional. This can be very costly and is not necessarily the best way to go!

Oft-times, starting slowly, with no initial monetary outlay is a good way to not only test the online waters for your idea or business, but to try out different web hosts before handing over great clumps of your hard-earned cash to someone who’s work ethic and work practices are completely unknown to you.

Purchase A Domain Name First?

Most in the business will say to you “The sooner you purchase your domain name, the better! That way you have more chance of being able to use the name you want before someone else does!” True. By all means do it. It costs around $30 AU and when you do it will be yours for twelve months at which point you will have to renew your purchase in order to keep it.

Do be aware, however, that in purchasing your own domain name all you are doing is just that; purchasing a name, nothing more. It is not a website, it is simply a website address with nothing attached to it. In real estate terms you have purchased a piece of paper with a street address on it, however, as yet, you have neither purchases the land attached to it, nor build your house upon it! You’ve a long, long way to go before you can say; ‘This is my website!’

Purchasing your own domain name, is just the very, very beginning. It gets much, much harder and more complicated from there; what is more, nothing happens beyond that point unless you yourself make it happen; your domain name sits alone in cyberspace, waiting for somewhere to call home!

I’ve Got My Own Domain Name – What Next?

Purchasing your own domain name is a great moment of excitement for any new web owner-to-be… and usually, sadly, the greatest let down… because what most fledgling domain name purchasers don’t realise is–buying your domain is not the same as buying or building a website; they are two completely separate things.

Having purchased a domain name, you will now need to set up a website to attach it to, or pay someone else to do it for you. This takes time and can; if handled incorrectly and launched into with no knowledge under your belt whatsoever of how to do such; become a very costly and very, very disappointing affair!

That feeling of liberty everyone grasps at finally registering their own professional domain name is very rapidly quashed by the amount of rigmarole one must leap through in order to get one’s website, not only set up, but set up precisely how one would like it; no variance, no exceptions, just so. Such is an all but impossible task without having a bank balance which is as far-reaching as you wish your website to be.

Life Is A Compromise – So Is Building A Website!

You will need to compromise, maybe not on every level, but certainly on some when selecting what to put in and what to leave out of your website, as the more you ask someone else to put on it, the longer the time it takes to build and the greater the cost–assuming you don‘t know how to build one yourself! There are other options, however, open to everyone; skilled or unskilled in web-building; which can make the process very simple and very, very cheap–even free!

Free Websites Are A good Way To Start!

There are easy ways, cheap ways and free ways to establish one’s own website from the comfort of one’s lounge chair, not the least being the utilisation of a ’free website’ host. If choosing to take this option, purchasing a domain name first is not always the best course as it results in the complication of redirection and transfer of this domain name over to your free website at the time of upgrading… but let‘s not get previous for now…We talk in-depth, a little more about this option later.

Your Website is Your Online Domain.

There is one very good way to approach establishing a new website; pretend it is your home you are building; only this home is an online house which is to be the virtual representation of you and/or your business. There is no way on hell’s earth you would choose the first ‘builder’ you came across to get started immediately on building your dream home. You would take your time, look at all your options, ask around, view examples of their work, then select your preferred builder based on a number of elements; including standard of work and work ethic, best for your budget, reputation and past performance, appropriate and available building styles and options, convenience for you, among many other things. Building a website is no different. One should never dive in head first with the intention of spending whatever it takes to get it done as loudly as possible in the shortest possible time frame. This is a mistake which so many fledgling on-line businesses and individuals make, always at great regret and expense to themselves.

Know What You Want!

There are many, many elements which can be incorporated into a website and not every web host can necessarily do or provide all of them, or if they can it is usually at great, additional expense.

Before even thinking about plugging in your computer and jumping online to get started with establishing your new website, take a reflective moment. Think precisely about what it is you require, what elements you desire in your site and precisely what is the end result you envisage? If you have no idea what it is you need or even desire, how can you expect anyone else to produce what you want for you! You wouldn’t say to a builder ‘Oh I just need a dream home – whatever you can do would be great, as long as it has walls, a roof and a floor.’ So don’t do it with your website!

Take it Steady, Assess your Options!

The slow and steady approach when launching online is the best, safest, surest and most certainly the most financially viable way of establishing a web presence. Slow down. Wait. Stop and think about what it is precisely that you want to achieve by going online. Assess your situation and research all the options that are available to you. Don’t rush into getting a website constructed for you by an expensive professional to begin with. They will still be there tomorrow, next week and in three months time. Most importantly ignore anyone who tries to pressure you into taking ‘the best deal possible for today only!’ sales technique. This is a half-baked, unprepared way to launch online which is most assuredly doomed to failure. Taking it slowly is a difficult ask when you just want to get your website up and get the word out there as quickly as possible, but being cautious will always work to your best financial benefit in the long-term.

The Advantages of Using FREE websites?

Free websites are hosted by companies which take on the expense of setting up a host site themselves in order to ‘sub-host’ others looking to establish their own website (a bit like renting, rather than buying a house). Those don’t have the means or don’t wish to outlay any money initially in a ‘trial’ phase of developing an online presence via a website benefit greatly from utilising Free Website Providers.

These sites do all the hard work for you and offer a variety of templates which you can choose to adapt to your own design, allowing you to set up your own, professional looking website for free. You to choose your own username, which generally becomes your website address with the company’s name attached to it. For example;

The free web host company is called itsawebsite.com. You set up a blog or website with them using the username; e.g. jellybeanjuggler. Your website name would likely become;

jellybeanjuggler.itsawebsite.com.

Free websites are highly underrated as a means of establishing a quick and free presence on the web; mostly by over-charging web developers who prey on individuals and businesses with a lacking or limited web knowledge. These people charge a fortune to do that which they know, given a little guidance and basic knowledge, you could do for yourself!

Never underestimate the power of getting started on a free website and be aware that most formats provided by free web-hosts are usually the same ones used by professional website builders anyway, with slight variations, additions, etc. which are added with an easy key-stroke, yet at great expense to the paying client.

Ignore what the ocean-going online public are screaming at you about css, expensive web developers and web-hosts and create your website, your way… with a free site first!

Coming Soon…! Your Website, Your Way! (Part 3) We suggest which free web hosts to use and let you know how free websites can work for you!

Your Website, Your Way! (Part 1) Read Now.

Your Website, Your Way! (Part 2) [You’re Reading It]

Your Website, Your Way! (Part 3) Read Now.

Your Website, Your Way! (Part 4) Read Now.