Creating a Website : The First Question you should ask Yourself

Hello again! Good to have you back. Hope you have a wonderful day today.

Website creation is all the rage at the moment.  Not only is it much easier for non-techies to set up a simple website quickly and cheaply these days with all the open source software available but also the word is spreading about this new hyperspace world both as a marketplace and as a vast publicity generating machine.  So what is the first question you should ask yourself?

Why do you want a website?

That may seem simplistic but it’s amazing how many people don’t ask themselves that question and answer it  properly before they dive into their site creation.  The answer you give should influence the kind of website you choose. Your site’s appearance, tone and very structure will depend upon your reason for setting it up. If you start off on the wrong foot, you will have to backtrack or start all over again and this can be costly in time and/or money. So ask yourself the question and answer it fully before doing anything.

What are the main reasons why you might want to set up your own website?

Self-promotion and publicity: Do you want a website because you have been advised to have one to raise your profile in your given field, be it politics, commerce, or sports, for example?  We are told that you must have a web presence in the 21^st century to be anyone.  Visibility on the web builds authority and influence. The possibilities for networking are infinite and are not restricted to your chosen field.

Monetary gain: Are you intending to make money on the internet by acting as an affiliate or agent for a producer of digital material or software?  Do you want a site to sell your own products, be they digital or physical? Although both types of site would be set up to be monetised, their structure would be very different.

Education: Do you want to use your site as a teaching environment? You may want to teach for free about something you are passionate about.  On the other hand you may want to set up your site as a business.  For any teaching site you would have to think about appropriate specialised software up front.

Recreational: Other reasons for creating a site could be to share a hobby or interest with others and be part of a group of likeminded people.  Again, you might want to use your site as a journal or blog about your life and share family photos and the family tree. Should you go for a plain blog on Wordpress.org for example, or a full-blown website using Wordpress.com?

Whatever your reason, it is now possible to set up a site very quickly and cheaply.  The promise of five minutes I should take with a pinch of salt. If you are already experienced you can probably set up a basic site in five hours.  However,  beginners or newbies will probably need anything from five days to five weeks depending on how quickly they can put the pieces together for themselves, or follow the training program they have chosen.

If you want a good basic DIY package for a simple site which is backed up by the promise of personal answers to any problems you may have, you can’t really do better than Chris Fox’s Google Terminator.

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