Content Creation 101: the ultimate guide to designing your website
Hello everyone! Today's episode of Content Creation 101 is crucial because we're talking about having a personal website. Unfortunately, most of the resources I found about content creation talk about only social media profiles and building a community on other platforms. But it's also true that you're in the hands of others' algorithms. Your content can be the most powerful and excellent. Still, your audience will only see it if it matches the algorithm rules. So, I'm telling you everything you need to know about having a personal website. You can see this post as the ultimate guide to designing your website and taking a further step in your content creation journey.
Why a personal website?
You have total control over your website: from the name to the design to the look of the content you put in. So, you're creating a unique platform for your audience where they can come into your world. Of course, your presence on social media is crucial. Still, your website is on another level of engagement because you can create an immersive experience for your audience. The effort is more significant than for your social media accounts, but it's worth it. You're in charge of different things, but you can use your content smarter across various channels, including your website.
Also, you'll have a chance to build an e-mail list for a newsletter where you share exclusive updates and events or deepen your relationship with your audience.
Since you have total control over your website, you can create whatever your business needs. And that's something no social media platform gives you.
The starter kit for designing your website
This paragraph is more technical but essential to give you the ultimate guide to designing your website. When you start designing your website, you need to find a name. I chose my name and surname to create an immersive experience in my world and interests. Still, you can select whatever speaks about your business and what you want to communicate as a personal brand. When I needed to pick a name for my website, I asked myself what I wanted to create for my target audience. Also, you can check if your name is available using NameChk.
Once you come up with a website name, you need to buy a domain and use it to create your website. I've tried WordPress and Blogspot, but I needed to be happier. So, I moved my domain to Squarespace and found my holy grail. Squarespace is a website builder where you can create your dream website from a customizable template or from scratch. Last year, I still needed to learn much about coding and website design. Still, my experience with Squarespace was so smooth that I created my dream website in a week or so. I love it so much because Squarespace has everything you need in one place: a logo maker, a website builder, a mailing list manager tool, social media integrations, an online shop manager, and a great community to chat with and have support. So, you can start with a blog and extend it to an online shop in the future so smoothly!
If the website design task overwhelms you, you can reach out to me, and I'll help you with the design process. In this case, 1-to-1 Consulting with me is perfect for you.
The essentials for a terrific personal website
So, it's time to spill some tea and tell you the essentials for a terrific personal website. But first, you must work on yourself and make some decisions before even playing with design tools. This step will make your life easier during the next phase of your website designing process because you'll already know your goals.
What is your website about? A blog, a shop online, or do you want to sell some services?
What is your main passion? Fashion, wellness, or travel, pick a niche.
Pick a name. Double-check it with NameChk
What is your target audience? Try to imagine a person, give her a name, and imagine her life with all the details. This will help you figure out how to drive your content and what to include. Then, go to Answer Socrates to see what your target audience is looking for on the internet and check if it's relatable to your brand.
What is your tone of voice? Do you want to be an aspirational brand or a relatable brand? This step will help you decide how to communicate your content, what font you'll use, what color palette, and your social media strategy.
What is your color palette? I'd pick 3 or 4 colors maximum that speaks for all the steps above. Then, you can use the different shades of those colors to give some movement to the website. Coolors is perfect for coming up with incredible color palette ideas.
What is your font? Take some inspiration from FontBrief and Fontjoy to discover font pairings.
What is your aesthetic? Make a vision board of what you want to show on the website. You might wish for all neutrals, super colorful, or luxury feel. Go on Pinterest and download all the images you like that might relate to your website project.
Next, I suggest you draw your dream website with pen and paper. Imagine the home page. What do you want to include? Next, go to your favorite websites and try to look at them, asking yourself, "why do I love them?". Imagine the following pages, how you want to access them, and draw everything. You don't need excellent drawing skills, but this step will help you visualize better the look and experience of the website.
If you want to examine the website design process in depth, feel free to reach me via the Contacts page or 1-to-1 Consulting service. I'm happy to chat with you and make your dreams come true. Anyway, I'm planning to talk further about websites and other essentials for the content creation journey. So, stay tuned!
