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How To Create A Free Personal Website

Creating a personal website of your own can do magic for your venture and personal brand identity. In fact, having a personal website can allow you a platform to showcase your creativity, beyond your CV/Resume. It’s an added personal touch that really allows you to break the standard norms and get you out there in your niche market. It gives people access to contact you and avail your services in a better way. 

All in all, the internet is not a luxurious commodity anymore. It belongs to the people and as people of the internet, everyone must know how to utilize it at best. Hence, creating a personal website helps us to create an online identity that is unique and accommodative to changing requirements. 

We talk of websites and their importance, but where do you get started? To make your own personal website, you need to follow certain factors that end up determining the quality, look, and usability of your personal website. Let us look at these steps in detail:

1. Pick A Suitable Domain Name

When it comes to an online presence, you can easily make blogs on websites like WordPress and Tumblr. However, the usual go-to preference is having a self-hosted website, which frees you from the hassle of dealing with a subdomain. You can have a domain name of your own. It helps to achieve a more personalized look. 

Before you decide on your preferred mode of hosting, you should first make a clear-cut decision about what you want your domain name to be. A good-looking, concise domain name sets you apart from a crowd of people and helps in setting up a more professional theme. So, when you decide on a domain name, make sure it’s direct and minimalistic. The most preferable of all domain names is usually your name and .com at the end. 

2. Criteria For Choosing Any Web Hosting Services

It is important to keep in mind that certain ground rules and factors should be taken into consideration before choosing a Web Hosting service. You may already be asking yourself how to pick the best website hosting service if you need to build a website for your e-commerce or simply want to launch your personal projects. We have you covered. 

It’s important to weigh out the similarities and differences between various services to choose which one best accommodates your needs while simultaneously taking your goals into account. Hence, you must follow through with certain factors. 

  • Uptime

You must ensure that the website hosting company you choose provides the highest level of availability. It can be frustrating when you try opening a link and it doesn’t open. Hence, Uptime is an essential criterion. This is usually measured in percentage. Therefore, the better the service availability, the higher the percentage. 

  • Loading Speed / Quick Responsiveness

Google will give faster-loading pages more priority. Hence, if the loading speed is not efficient or up to the mark, your personal website doesn’t have much of a point in existence. The audience is growing weary and tired easily. Search Engine Optimization shows that loading speed affects the traffic a website receives. Therefore, ensure that the website hosting service you choose has a fast, efficient loading time.

  • Traffic Limit 

Certain website hosting services may have a cap set to the traffic they can hold. This tends to be a monthly traffic limit. Keep this in mind and research thoroughly before you opt for any web hosting service. 

  • Security

It’s not an easy task to put your website in the hands of someone else to host. Therefore, you must make sure that the service you choose can properly safeguard its clients by providing a system of information dismissal and backups.

  • Upgradation

Today’s hosting plans come in various forms. but if you’re a beginner, the likelihood is that you’ll usually wind up with a shared hosting plan. If so, make sure that you pick a service provider who will allow you to upgrade your server in the future.

It will be far more beneficial to utilize a hosting company that allows you to increase your package as opposed to switching hosts and moving your complete website, again and again. 

  • FTP/SFTP

Most hosting companies will offer a file manager, although they tend to be pretty basic. This will allow you to be able to manage and move large numbers of files on the server safely, especially if you have access to FTP/SFTP. 

  • Content Management System

You must look for a service that offers either a simple installation of an open-source CMS like WordPress or its own user-friendly, accessible CMS. This is of much importance, especially if you want to produce material frequently. 

There may be other factors, such as additional benefits, a free trial run, and providing back-ups. If you stick to these factors, you may find yourself a mode of hosting that’s inclined to your needs and requirements.  

3. Mode Of Hosting 

Once you’ve decided on your domain name and acknowledged the necessary factors to look out for before choosing a web host, it is finally time to get your domain name and your preferred hosting service. This is perhaps the only step in this process that can cost you the most minimal charges, especially with the numerous options of plans that hosting services provide nowadays. 

Keeping in mind your budget limitations and needs, you should choose the hosting service. One such service that works amicably well on a professional level is SuperByteHosting! Fast and Unlimited Web Hosting, VPS, Dedicated Server, Reseller Hosting, and custom hosting services are all provided by this India-based company.

While there are many good hosting services that you may avail of, this specific service is affordable and trusted, providing you with the security you need for your personal website. In fact, SuperByteHosting offers ample choices of hosting services, such as:

  • Linux Hosting
  • Windows Hosting
  • Cloud Hosting
  • WordPress Hosting

Hence, we can see that SuperByteHosting is quite versatile in its approach and open price comparisons, it is also quite cheap. Their Varnish Cache-powered web application accelerator guarantees your personal website’s top speed at all times. 

SuperByteHosting also allows you to pick a domain name in order to create your online identity — for quite cheap, with minimum rates of Rs. 700 per year! A good hosting service will ensure to provide you with an SSL Certificate add-on. 

4. Further Customization 

Once you have your website hosted, you may wish to customize it according to the aesthetic your identity pertains to. You can choose themes, customize your menu, and improve your site with plugins and other widgets. It is completely up to you.

Conclusion

The aforementioned steps will help you set up your own personal website in no time! It is still important to note that despite these factors, you yourself are the master of your choices and the decisions you make. Web Hosting Services have ample varieties of packages to choose from, and you may opt for any of them as per choice, need, demand and budget. 

It’s the age of digitalization and the internet belongs to everybody. Hence, to build your image and identity, a personal website is of much help, and hopefully, by using these steps, you can proceed forward with your personal website dreams.  

Annual Website Review: The 10 Steps To Follow

So, you want to follow through with an Annual Website Review to monitor your business, start-up, and website operations. Where should you start? It is an integral part of any company, irrespective of whether it’s an established business or a new venture altogether. Website reviews help a lot. It is an important aspect of digital marketing strategy. Businesses ought to change as trends and themes in customer behavior and market behavior change. Therefore, a website review is essentially a procedure for evaluating the performance of your website in relation to various criteria, which are prone to change. As your firm grows and consumer preferences shift and transform, your website should as well. 

Performance evaluations help to promote and impact internal communication and professional development. To stand apart from the rest of the crowd, especially your competitors, to stay ahead of the game, and to continue to be innovative, it is important to conduct such reviews. There are certain steps to follow when you opt for an Annual Website Review. This article will guide you through these steps and provide help on an informational basis. 

Step 1: The Audience

The target audience must be considered while evaluating any website. The right audience matters the most, and to pertain to the right audience, you must identify your audience and what exactly appeals to them. Factors to keep in mind are how to address the audience, what issues pertaining to them, and how exactly are you planning to assist them. 

Upon research and acknowledgment, examine the website from the perspective of the target audience. Technical pizzazz and glamour may be eye-catchy, however, your website requires ease of navigation, making it easier for your audience to go through your website.

Step 2: Precaution And Improvement In Security 

Any website is prone to get compromised. Hence, security is an important measure. You may consider including Software Plugins as one of the solutions when you complete your website review. Numerous websites are compromised every day as a result of obsolete and archaic software. Sites are often scanned by potential hackers and bots for future, potential website attacks. 

Adding HTTPS and an SSL Certificate also proves to be of great benefit. Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, exchanges visitors’ personal data between your database and the website. Information is encrypted with SSL to prevent third parties from penetrating your website and reading vital information.  

Step 3: Thorough Content Analysis

A thorough examination of the website material and content must be conducted. At times, specific topics or sections of content require updating. Examining content areas consisting of contact details, personnel information, a list of employees, the goods and services you provide, and any news or related events helps the audience viewing the website easier access to what you’re willing to offer. 

It must be made sure that there are no broken links, lackadaisical, backdated information, or errors of any kind that are up on your website. Is the content still presented in the most effective manner for your audience’s perusal? Is your branding up to date? Have your website graphics undergone any changes recently? On a side note, you should also review your web statistics, analytics, and SEO. 

Step 4: Website Redecoration 

A redesign, redecoration, or a new fresh look for your website every few years is a reasonable expectation for the majority. Visitors are able to discern an obsolete design style and some may base their selection or purchase decisions on that fact alone. 

Hence, despite perfect and well-formulated content, if your website design is outdated and not up to the trends and styles of the status quo, it’ll fail to appease your audience. Consider your competitors and the look and feel of their websites, and learn what exactly is it that needs to change on your website. A new look may prompt more traffic to your website. 

Step 5: Reconsider Hosting Choices

The hosting service that you opt for may continually, on a periodic basis update their service and add features that best suit your needs. However, if your current hosting service is up for renewal, you may wish to pursue other hosting services that are specifically accommodative of your website needs. For changing domain names or servers best suited for you, you may choose to upgrade to any latest hosting services. One of them is Super Byte Hosting

Step 6: Expirations And Renewals 

You must make sure that you renew each of your domain names on the schedule. The domain name for your website is your most valuable asset, and letting it expire could be disastrous. 

In fact, spending a little more time contacting tech support to sync up renewal dates proves to be beneficial.  

Step 7: Keep Up With Competition 

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer — this goes for any company, service, or new startup. Inspection of the websites of your rivals to see if they address any subjects that would be equally important to your visitors is part of formulating a quality website review. It helps much more than you think. Keeping up with competition allows you to better yourself and perhaps, even, learn more. 

What are the updates that your competitors have made on their websites that may also work for you? What can you learn from it, and what can you implement from it? It’s not that you are required to make additions, but it is better to be aware of the market than to lag behind. 

Step 8: Device Cross-Testing And Compatibility 

When browsers are updated, problems may tend to occur on websites even when your website is equipped with expert programming and design. 

Therefore, testing should be done on all popular browsers and devices. This must be done frequently and once again, on a periodic basis. Websites are prone to crash and not work at regular intervals, hence, a check-up and cross-testing allow for safety and precaution. 

Step 9: Service Under One Supplier 

For practical reasons, keeping domain registration, hosting, SSL, web security, and email with just one vendor and one account is recommended. 

If you have resources that are spread across several service providers, you should focus on the evaluation of the situation and look for possible consolidation opportunities. If any service requires updating or renewal, look into it and address it, as quickly as possible. 

Step 10: Checking Back-Ups 

Backups are very crucial for any website. Hence, you must make sure that both the website itself and the data attached with it are fully backed up. This ensures an extra layer of security, in case of any compromises. Make sure these backups are operational and that you are able to easily retrieve them. 

You can backup your website by downloading a copy and burning it to a CD or DVD. If you wish to frequently update and add additional data to your website, plan monthly or quarterly backups for easier updating.  

Conclusion

There are other steps that you can take into consideration when it comes to the actuation of an Annual Website Review. The aforementioned steps can be modified and adapted according to your website and company needs. A basic outline should be marked upon, before actually going forward with a website review. Know your analytics and your statistics and move forward with an attitude that will prove beneficial for your business venture. It is important to note that any review requires one adjustment at a time. Hence, maintain a well-balanced pace and work on one improvement at a time.