When
I was in college, I learnt one thing that every single person should have a
USP, a Unique Selling Property. I believe, all of us have this unique property.
Some are good in sports, some in studies, some in singing or dancing or
performing arts and some are good in writing. Now, the question arises, if you
are good in creative writing, 'how can you get most out of it?' Not just in
terms of money, it gives the writer satisfaction 'being heard' and 'being
praised'. I believe, making a blog, or a step further, making a website is the
best you can do for getting your voice heard. In this article, I will be
explaining how I made my first website and in general, 'How to make a website?'
STEP-1:
The first and foremost step is to do
some practice and look for the ways to get viewers to your site. There are
numerous number of websites which provide you free of cost Blogging accounts
which you can use for a start. Some of these websites are:
- WordPress: The first and the foremost name which comes to the mind when we talk about Blogging is definitely none other than WordPress. It provides you with the privileges to use its Admin Panel for free. You will not get the option to use Adsense or other affiliation services and plug-ins on your free account.
- Blogger: Blogger is also a very good option. I also started from making a blog on Blogger (my blog: Frankspot). It provides some options which WordPress doesn't. It gives you the option to put ads on your Blog and earn revenue.
- Hubpages: It is another popular medium for Blogging where you can get readership a bit easily. You will get the option of using affiliation programs here too.
STEP-2: Second thing is to build your free blog, put in some
widgets, discover the opportunities, get affiliation approvals and try each
& everything, for instance:
- Affiliation Programs: Google Adsense, Infolinks, Chitika etc.
- SEO Optimization: Google Webmaster Tools, Bing Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics etc.
- Blog Directories: Technorati, Indiblogger etc.
- Social Network Integration: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ etc.
STEP-3: Post regularly on your blog and keep a look on the Visitors
Counter and wait for it to go above a certain limit. In my case, I decided this
level to be at 80k mark.
STEP-4: Then, you are ready to take the next big step by purchasing
a domain, a hosting account and some plug-ins. I purchased my domain and
hosting from GoDaddy and I paid nearly Rs 3,000/-. What I purchased was the
economy plan and you need not go for the costlier ones as this plan is
sufficient for a blogger like you and me.
STEP-5: Design your website, choose WordPress as an Admin Panel,
link the social networks, choose essential plug-ins & install them, do SEO
optimization, blog directory registration and other registrations you did for
your free blog.
What I just explained is a recipe
for getting a Website up & running and switching from a free blogging
website to your own full fledge website.
Why should I purchase a Website?
Well, this is an obvious question
that why one should spend money on making a website when one can get a free
blog. The answer to this lies in the fact that if you are blogging just for the
sake of blogging, then, you don't need to purchase one. But, if you want to get
the following benefits, you need a website:
- Put price on your Content
- Make your voice heard in a better way
- Earn respect online
- More than many options of customization
- Better affiliation programs integration
