Start a Clean, Modern Website
A well-built website:
- Loads fast. This means getting a good host and optimizing your site and images
- Is easy to find. Read those SEO books. Write those meta descriptions.
- Is easy to share. Why not add those Facebook buttons?
- Is easy to remember. Keep the names short. If you can’t find a good .com name, use a .org or a .photo or a .nyc. Why limit yourself?
- Is clean and fluid. Your site should be easy to navigate on all devices and should have a good layout for doing so. This leads us to:
- Is responsive. Your CSS code should be built to scale your site with screen sizes. An easy way to do this is by using Bootstrap (see below)
- Is secure. Google even ranks sites that use HTTPS higher now. Your site and customers will benefit from this change. Keep your data safe!
You Can Host Your Website for Free
It’s true, and the solution was right under your nose the whole time! I’m sure most of you have a Google Drive account anyways. Use up that free storage! This is great for rapid prototyping your first custom HTML website. You could couple this with Bootstrap and whip up a fancy design in no time.
Bootstrap it.
Bootstrap is one of the easiest ways to start a website without resorting to those cheesy, drag and drop, built for designer websites. Bootstrap is beautiful, fast, and one of the best solutions in the business. Bootstrap is built with the idea of being “mobile first”, fast, and responsive. Bootstrap sites are guaranteed to look great on every device. The pros use it, so why shouldn’t you? And guess what? It’s free.
Not All Hosts Are Created Equal
Some hosts are better for things like WordPress blogging, other hosts allow you to use more advanced database technologies like MongoDB (good luck with that one) or NoSQL solutions. Do your research! Don’t get trapped by paying hundreds of dollars for a host contract with a company that won’t even run Wordpress or refuses to let you use NoSQL solutions.
You Can Even Get a Free Domain Name
Not even kidding. Believe it or not, there’s also website that tries to sell you otherwise free .tk domain names for $29.99. Don’t fall for that.
You Don’t Have to Be a “.com” Like Everyone Else
.actor, .pink, .plumbing? Why not? There are hundreds of new top level domains (TLDs) being released. The .com era is ending. Grab ’em while they’re hot!
Featured photo credit: Pixaal via s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com
