Having strong personal branding today is one of the key requirements in the online presence, especially if you want to be relevant in the job market. That is where personal websites come in.

A personal website helps you on your self-promotion journey. It can serve as a digital resume or portfolio, showcasing your skills, experience, and achievements to potential employers, clients, or collaborators. 

Just recently, in one of our latest articles, we talked about personal websites, their importance, and also gave some inspirational examples. That’s why in this insight, we will focus more on the process of creating a personal website, giving you some tips and advice on how to get started.

Define your purpose and goals

The first thing one should do before starting is knowing what you want. You need to ask yourself key questions that clarify your purpose and the goals you want to achieve before creating your site. For that, you must have a certain vision in mind. You just need to know it clearly and then move on with implementation. 

Questions like these are some that you need to consider:

• Who is your target audience?
• How do you want to be perceived by them?
• What content do you want to share with your audience?
• What kind of engagement do you expect from them?

Think about it and come up with some things and qualities that make you distinctive from others and then start planning and designing your website accordingly.

Select the right website builder

A bit earlier, we mentioned that when making a website, you might either want to design from scratch or choose a pre-made template. On that, we will discuss here in more detail.

When creating a website, there are multiple methods which you can choose from. Firstly, the known traditional method is to build a website through coding, a way which nowadays with the emergence of no-code platforms has started to become notably less used, because of its time and cost-effectiveness compared to the no-code development method. 

Especially when it comes to non-technical users who don’t know much about coding and want to come up fast with a website, the best way is choosing a no-code website builder platform. 

There are a lot of good options in the no-code website builder market, but to cut it short and not get into much detail, we recommend Webflow as the optimal choice.

You might ask why Webflow?

We believe it is one of the best no-code platforms offering the most design freedom and customization, able to be used by all, be it beginners with no coding knowledge or tech-savvy professionals with programming experience. The Webflow team has prepared top-notch content for learning Webflow, which we think is a major advantage to other no-code platforms.

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Pick your domain name and hosting service

Securing a good and relevant domain name is an important step in making your website memorable to others. Especially as it is the first impression you’ll make before the visitors see your site design.

The domain should always be something relevant and relatable to what you are going to post about, and in the case of personal websites, the best choice is your name. If your full name is long, then try to use a shorter version of it. Otherwise, if you do not feel comfortable with having your name as your domain, try to use something that relates to you so people will remember easily. 

Also, if another person with a name similar to yours has already claimed that domain, you could add the initial of your middle name or your father's name to get a domain that is distinct to you.

When it comes to site hosting services, you do not need to worry as most of the website builders have it included in their basic plan. If not, then you can check a domain registrar and buy your domain where you’ll pay an annual fee of around $7 to $15 USD.

Choose a design that fits your personality and your brand

Before choosing your design, you might want to look out for inspiration by looking at other websites in the industry of your profile and see what is trending.

After you get a glance at some of them and obtain a few ideas, you may continue with your design by adding some “flavor's” from yourself to make it distinctive and unique from others. That is, if you want to build a website from scratch, otherwise you can choose a much simpler and cost-effective way by choosing a pre-made template of your liking, which you can still modify to fit it even more to your taste and preferences or leave it as it is.

When designing your site or selecting a template, make sure these tips are implemented:

• Ensure your design is clear, visually appealing, and user-friendly 
• Be mindful of the negative space; don’t over-include information
• Include buttons for all of your social media, and also a contact page
• Make it easy to navigate and incorporate beautiful interactions and call-to-action buttons
• Your website should be responsive and optimized for any screen size and device type

It is also important to keep a consistent design across pages and incorporate multimedia elements such as images and videos.

Develop high-quality content

Filling your page with good content is what helps you create credibility and authority in your field aiding you to attract visitors, build trust with them and retain their visits. That helps in keeping your site traffic high, improving your search engine rankings, and building your online presence.

On that note, the first content you need to prioritize is the content for your homepage, about us page, services/products page and contact page. These pages provide essential information about your website and help visitors understand who you are and what you offer.

Since a personal website serves at the same time as a portfolio of your work and achievements,  when showcasing your work on your homepage it is important to display the work you are most proud of, and not over-include information as we mentioned before.

To boost your credibility even more, you must include testimonials. Quotes from people you worked with and particularly if they are well-known professionals or companies, will help you build trust with your audience and increase the chances for your future clients or managers to hire you.

Optimize your Website for Search Engines

Optimizing your website for search engines is crucial for improving your website's visibility and attracting organic traffic. To achieve this, conduct keyword research and incorporate relevant keywords into your content, meta descriptions, and title tags. Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly, loads quickly, and has a clear site structure with easy navigation. 

Moreover, regularly creating high-quality content and building backlinks can also improve your website's ranking. Monitoring of your website's traffic should be constant in order to make the necessary adjustments to your SEO strategy based on the data and to ensure that your website is performing well. 

Promote your website

The next immediate step you need to take after creating your website is to get your website seen by others. That is essential in reaching a wider audience and building a strong online presence.

To do that here are a few tips:

• Leverage your social media platforms by adding and sharing your website to your social profiles
• Use paid advertising and email marketing campaigns 
• Engage with your audience by responding to their comments and feedback
• Ask friends in your online community to backlink your site, that will help both with publicity and your SEO ranking
  

Conclusion

Having a personal website is more important than ever in today's digital age. It provides a platform to showcase your skills, accomplishments, and personality to potential employers, clients, and collaborators. 

By implementing the tips discussed in this article, you can create a website that represents your personal brand and attracts potential employers or clients. So, if you haven't already, now is the time to start building your own personal website. Don't wait any longer to establish your online presence and take control of your personal brand.