I could give you countless reasons why you should have great online presence, whether it’s a representation of yourself, your work or your business. Not only is it free, but it gives your brand endless exposure and is a great reference point for your potential clients. There are social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube and also Websites and Blogs which are all interrelated; but today we’ll address the latter.
The following tips are from my personal experience; what I used to build my blog from scratch. With great support and good leads I was able to build my blog in just a short while. Also, I have been in the digital/social media marketing field for several years and learnt that the best thing you could do for yourself and your business right now is branding yourself online.
A good website helps people learn more about you through written content, images or videos, so in case you are wondering where to start, grab your pen and paper, here is a breakdown.
- BUILD YOUR SITE FOR FREE ON WORDPRESS
First, when you want to build your website, you should have a rough idea of how you want it to look like and write down the pointers. One of the best site-builders for a beginner is www.wordpress.com. Here, you could build and design the site yourself. You just need to log in and pick a unique username for your website and then pick out the kind of layout you want. At this stage you don’t pay anything but later in the post, I share the cost for running a website on .com, .org or .co.ke
- WHICH NAME TO GIVE YOUR SITE
You need to pick out a unique name for your site, one that hasn’t been used before, something that your future clients or readers would remember easily and relate with you. So as you look for a name, also remember to ensure it’s short, simple and relatable with your content.
- PICKING A HOST AND HOW MUCH IT COSTS
In order for your site to run, there’s an annual fee which starts from as low as 4 dollars. There are many hosts to choose from so you could look at 3 different options and settle for the best. Get guidance or check reviews from whichever host you select because you wouldn’t want to end up with an unreliable host, who you may be unable to reach whenever your site is down or unavailable. I found that some local hosts are more pricey than those abroad, so do your research well. Here are some good sites to choose from http://www.top10bestwebsitehosting.com/
- WEB DESIGNER
So the best part about WordPress is that when you finally decide to migrate your site to a .com, .org or whichever else, you’d just transfer all the content from WordPress to the new site easily. So when you want a new design and especially for the first time, good support is necessary from a web designer who will guide you on how to run the back-end for the first few months and support later. For this service, it may only be a bit pricey at first (from 200 dollars) after which you only pay an annual or monthly maintenance fee.
- CONTENT AND FREE IMAGES
For content it’s all up to you! It’s your space and you can fill it with whatever you like; also there are websites where you could get free images like www.unsplash.com. These are images provided by photographers from all over the world. So pick your best!
- GOOGLE ANALYTICS
A Gmail account is needed so as to access Google Analytics. This gives you the breakdown and details about how many people visit your site at a given day and time. So you would be able to gauge the growth as well as the most viewed stories.
I hope those tips have helped and in case of any more details feel free to contact me on email oursharonsnotebook@gmail.com
“I grew up in a physical world, and I speak English. The next generation is growing up in a digital world, and they speak social” -Angela Ahrendts.
Always,
Sharon

Sharon is a writer who creates content touching on daily life – including Lifestyle, Technology and Entrepreneurship. She is the Founder and Lead Editor of Masisha.