How I made a website

Welcome to avaclary.com.

This is the website I made in January 2018. These are the questions I asked myself, and the steps I took to get my site on-line.

I will be your guide, 

Questions about Websites

When I decided to self-publish. I knew that I needed a website. This would be my shop window. My storefront. My hub. I plan to sell my books everywhere I possibly can. (as of July 2018, I’ve changed my mind about this decision, after researching marketing and realizing I don’t have an audience yet, so even if the book is available everywhere no one is actually buying it) I wanted to blog too. I’m a writer and I like to write. The website can connect all these parts.

Questions I asked myself about websites.

How do you make one? Do I have to study HTML? CCS? What is this foreign language?

Answer: When you go to WordPress you pick a theme and customize it. That’s your website. You don’t have to create anything from scratch unless you want to.

Can I use WordPress?

Answer: Yes, most web-hosts will set you up with WordPress.

How much will it cost?

Answer: A very basic website  includes the domain, or your web address (www.yourwebsite.com), and the hosting (where all your files sit on a server). In 2018 a website will cost under $100, unless if you want extra services.

How does it get on-line?

Answer: Pull out your credit card and pay up. The web-hosting site makes it easy to get your website on-line.

How did you pick your webhost?

Answer: I checked into the most popular ones, and eventually decided on Bluehost. I have a more detailed explanation below.

That’s not very many questions. In case you haven’t noticed I’m terrible at asking questions. No. I’m being serious. I’m actually worried about this flaw in my personality, especially openness. I’m a private person. (We can discuss the 5 Core personality dimensions some other time.)

If you have questions, maybe I can help, but you’ll never know if you don’t ask. I can’t answer them if you don’t ask me either.

Design your website

Design is important. I’m a visual person, particularly when I’m on-line. Delicious looking photos distract me. Animation gets my attention. Who cares about cost or how it gets on-line. How do I make a beautiful website?

Pinterest has so many stunning designs. I encourage you to search for what you like best. I prefer websites that are minimalist. A striking photo with a little text. Unique shapes. Bright and bold colors.

Design is very much about art. Art is very much about what pleases your eye and what draws your attention. Let your website speak about you.

You can also search on Behance.net where graphic designers post their projects. Or I study the wordpress.org themes and pick for my favorite. You can select one and preview it before you signed up.

I wanted a site to display my photograph front and center, so I picked the Twenty Seventeen Theme.

The rest of my site is mostly words, and that’s because I’m a writer.

Web-Hosting

After researching some options, I decided I wanted to work primarily with WordPress. I had a freebie blog on wordpress.com. It never went anywhere. I posted irregularly and about random things I enjoyed. There was no focus. I loved the little blog, except when I ignored it.

My practice blog made me familiar with WordPress. I decided to stick with it.

Then came a decision on web-hosting. Your web-host will ‘host’ your website on a server. This allows anyone to search for it and visit.

Who did I trust to put my site on-line. I researched the big names like Dreamhost, Godaddy, Webgator, and Bluehost. I read PC mag’s best web-hosting of 2018. I read reviews about webhosting, and then I studied the comments. I checked my top options and GoDaddy’s website did not work properly. I crossed them off the list. If they can’t maintain their own website, how can I trust them with mine?

Pricing is the same everywhere, but I got confused about the regular shared-hosting and ‘WordPress hosting’. What is the difference? Price, mostly, and some background details. Ultimately, that wasn’t important. I could update my own programs.

I picked Bluehost.

Here is my review.

It is easy to sign up, but watch your selections. They wanted me to charge me for extra options and more than a yearly subscription. In January of 2018 I paid a total of $77.28 for my domain and web-hosting. In January of 2019 I’ll have to renew it.

Once I signed up, and paid, I was able to select my domain name: AvaClary.com The process for getting to WordPress was a button push away.

 

I found it very intuitive and I would recommend them. Then I selected my theme, which I’d already chosen ahead of time, and started working on customization.

I tinkered away at the website, made a simple blog post and tested several photo for my header. I was ready to put my site on-line.

Keep at it. Push all those buttons. I still consider my website a work-in-progress.

Ask if you have questions.

For further reading I checked out : Create a website, the Missing Manual by Matthew McDonald. I’m also studying HTML and CSS at Codecademy.com.  Which is a Code Academy, because I find the computer design language fascinating and want to be more proficient. Code Academy has free programs as well as “Pro” and other paid for lessons.