I wonder if it was on purpose that all these start with "W"?
So you're thinking about making your own website to promote yourself, your business, or sell something? Great, good idea! Now where to begin?
http://matclarke.weebly.com
http://matclarke.WebStarts.com
http://sites.google.com/site/matclarkeauthorwriter/
http://www.matclarke.wranga.com.au/
Then, last, is a paid option from Bron, who is from my writers group:
http://www.bronwynlevans.com/ (Weebly)
As you can see, all my sites have the company name in the domain, Bron's does not.
You can also create your own domain through Wordpress, which I understand is quite good. I have a second blog on wordpress, but that's it. There are also other web hosting companies where they will set up a page for you, or if you have the ability, allow you to set it up yourself. That's what I did with "Wranga". It was put together using an Adobe program I learned back in 2005. And then uploaded to my site using a FTP program. Complicated? Yes!
Out of all the sites listed above, I found "Wix" to be the easiest and quickest to learn and then setup. Also, the more manageable to alter and correct. It also comes with some great designs and has a great ability to add functions or take them away.
Second, is Weebly. Still fairly easy to use, and also has many templates to choose from. But because it took just a little more effort than I was willing to put in, I only did a single page.
Same with "Webstarts", except a little more clunky again.
I suggest you try each one out and then decide which is best for you. Possibly even a good idea to create a bogus website first to test it out. Not necessary, but if you aren't sure of what you want, then could be a good first move.
Wix, for example, allows you to change many things once you decide on a template, but not the template itself. So decide carefully. Also, it uses your email address in the domain name, but from what I read you can change that.
In the end the decision is yours what you do, or just use them all. It's free after all.
Oh, and if you wonder why I haven't mentioned the Google Sites, it's because I found them clunky. However, if you don't mind fiddling, then at least you're insured a very high place on the list when someone searches your name / website on Google!!
Enjoy,
Mat.
P.S. Each of the listed websites that were created using the free webmaker tools, contain a link at the top or bottom right allowing you to visit the free web making site. If you can't locate it, then just type www. then wix or weebly or webstarts, and then .com
P.P.S. I noticed that Webstarts does not work properly on Windows XP.
Other blogs: http://matclarke.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/my-blogs-in-list-form.html
So you're thinking about making your own website to promote yourself, your business, or sell something? Great, good idea! Now where to begin?
There are many options for free websites. They then have options to pay for the site and receive more benefits. There are also companies that solely have you trial a website you create, then offer a payment plan after 2 weeks if you wish to keep it. I'm not interested in paid ones, so I mostly cover the free ones, but really the main difference with the two kinds is that with a paid site you get to choose your domain name, while the free site will often include the company name. The second main benefit is that you are able to run a "shop" from your website with the paid option. But, that is not something I cover, since again, this is not what I want to do. I instead run links to Amazon and Smashwords.
Here are examples of the two kinds of choices of domain names.
Paid: www.(your name or business).com
Unpaid: www.(your name or business).weebly.com
Here are some free web domains I created:
http://matclarkeauthor.wix.com/novelisthttp://matclarke.weebly.com
http://matclarke.WebStarts.com
http://sites.google.com/site/matclarkeauthorwriter/
http://www.matclarke.wranga.com.au/
Then, last, is a paid option from Bron, who is from my writers group:
http://www.bronwynlevans.com/ (Weebly)
As you can see, all my sites have the company name in the domain, Bron's does not.
You can also create your own domain through Wordpress, which I understand is quite good. I have a second blog on wordpress, but that's it. There are also other web hosting companies where they will set up a page for you, or if you have the ability, allow you to set it up yourself. That's what I did with "Wranga". It was put together using an Adobe program I learned back in 2005. And then uploaded to my site using a FTP program. Complicated? Yes!
Out of all the sites listed above, I found "Wix" to be the easiest and quickest to learn and then setup. Also, the more manageable to alter and correct. It also comes with some great designs and has a great ability to add functions or take them away.
Second, is Weebly. Still fairly easy to use, and also has many templates to choose from. But because it took just a little more effort than I was willing to put in, I only did a single page.
Same with "Webstarts", except a little more clunky again.
I suggest you try each one out and then decide which is best for you. Possibly even a good idea to create a bogus website first to test it out. Not necessary, but if you aren't sure of what you want, then could be a good first move.
Wix, for example, allows you to change many things once you decide on a template, but not the template itself. So decide carefully. Also, it uses your email address in the domain name, but from what I read you can change that.
In the end the decision is yours what you do, or just use them all. It's free after all.
Oh, and if you wonder why I haven't mentioned the Google Sites, it's because I found them clunky. However, if you don't mind fiddling, then at least you're insured a very high place on the list when someone searches your name / website on Google!!
Enjoy,
Mat.
P.S. Each of the listed websites that were created using the free webmaker tools, contain a link at the top or bottom right allowing you to visit the free web making site. If you can't locate it, then just type www. then wix or weebly or webstarts, and then .com
P.P.S. I noticed that Webstarts does not work properly on Windows XP.
Other blogs: http://matclarke.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/my-blogs-in-list-form.html
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