 Weebly Is Great For Fun Or For Business! | Starting a brand new website is not as difficult as one might fear it to be if you have the right tools. On the other hand, you can make it as hard and as expensive as you want it to be. Since I'm blonde, and content to be so, I've already invested the time and money into the long, hard way of website building. Today I use an online website design program that is as easy as wasting time on Facebook. It's called Weebly. And for me and a gazillion others, it's the only way to go for starting your own website. |
Let me ask you this: Why do you want to start a new website? Is this for business or pleasure? Is it just for fun or do you need to attract a lot of visitors to make money with it? The answer isn't important for HOW to make a website. Rather, it's to help you to be clear about it so you'll reach your goals. If this is just to play around you're going to love Weebly. If this is for business, you're really going to love Weebly because you won't spend forever just learning how to use the program. You can keep focused on your business. Either way, it's important to start your new website with the right foundation. Otherwise, you might invest a boat load of time and have precious little to show for it.
A website has 3 basic parts: A Domain Name, A Host, and a Website Designer. Weebly offers a convenient, all-in-one service or you can choose different providers for each of these elements.
A Domain Name is an online address like MyWebsite.com or MyOtherWebsite.org. It's where people go to find your website. You can own a domain without having a website, but you can't have a website without some kind of Domain. Domains are all over the price map, but $15.00 per year is a rough average.
A website has 3 basic parts: A Domain Name, A Host, and a Website Designer. Weebly offers a convenient, all-in-one service or you can choose different providers for each of these elements.
A Domain Name is an online address like MyWebsite.com or MyOtherWebsite.org. It's where people go to find your website. You can own a domain without having a website, but you can't have a website without some kind of Domain. Domains are all over the price map, but $15.00 per year is a rough average.
| A Host or Hosting Company like BlueHost is where the information, files, images, etc., are stored for your website. Even the most basic of websites utilize some kind of hosting service. I like BlueHost because you can have multiple domains under one account, but you only pay for hosting on that first main domain. Hosting charges vary but you can expect to pay about $5 - $10 per month. Multi-year plans offer the best price breaks. | |
A Website Designer is the program used to create your website like Weebly or DreamWeaver, etc., Some website building programs can be hundreds of dollars and are limited to the computer it's installed on. Weebly is much less and since it's an online program, it can be used from any computer with an internet connection. Sweet! Update your site from Starbucks!
For the rest of this post, I'm going to assume that you want lots of web surfers to find your website. For that to happen, you'll need to do a little research to uncover the keywords people are already typing into Google, Bing, Yahoo! to find the INFORMATION your website will offer. I strongly recommend doing this research before you buy a Domain Name because what you'll find may influence what Domain Name would be best for your new website. Here are some things to look for:
1. Are there enough people searching for your products, services or information? If not, your site may never be popular or profitable.
2. If your website is too general, like “travel”, you'll probably never get found because the Big Travel Companies dominate that market. But you might find a profitable niche with unique specialty excursions that are geographically specific. Use Google's Keyword Tool to research popular terms and phrases.
3. Can I create a Domain Name that incorporates popular keywords to help people find my new website? Too many people get attached to a particular domain name that will never naturally appear in searches. Be open to new ideas and domain names if it could get you more sales!
Now, sign up for a FREE Weebly Account and start playing with it. To show you how simple it is to get started, watch my short tutorial. You'll see for yourself how to start your own website.
If you like Weebly as much as I do, you'll probably want to get a Pro Account to access all the features. Here's a tip: After a week or so, Weebly may offer you a deal, like 10% off to sign up with a Pro Account. If they do, TAKE IT! In all my years of being with Weebly, they only offer that deal once. Only once!
Not too long ago, Weebly teamed up with BlueHost to be one of their featured website builders. Check into BlueHost and see if that might be the least expensive way to go to start your own website.
To sum up how to start a new website:
- Be clear about your goals and what you want from your website.
- Do some research about your field of interest to see how viable it is or what tweaking you need to do for people to find your new website.
- Try out Weebly! See if this easy-to-use website design program is a good fit for you. Weebly offers a completely FREE website option for up to two sub-domains for lots of practice and fun. They are actual, live websites too!
- Consider BlueHost for affordable hosting options. You can also access Weebly from the cPanel within your BlueHost account.
- Finally, have fun with your new website! Enjoy the process.
Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to leave any comments below.
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