They say that stranger’s soul is incomprehensible, but we can’t entirely agree with the statement.
Most often we just don’t want to notice the obvious, pretending that it’s too personal matter or something of the kind.
In fact, a human soul is not as dark as it seems. It is always ready and even willing to reveal its secrets to the confidant. As a rule, web community members having their own websites are open for communication, socialization and other things like that. Besides, personal websites serve as a kind of virtual CVs for their owners. Most often, if you are as sharp as a needle, seeing a person’s website, you’ll easily tell even more about site owner than he/she wanted to say.
Here's the list of my favorite personal websites. I have recorded the site's main design elements recorded in .GIF so you can have more details. The websites are ordered according to the time I discover them – they are by no means a “ranking” list.
So you are inspired and wanted to build a personal website yourself? Cool! Let's walk through the things you need to do. There are, basically, only 3 steps to start any kind of websites –
On Internet, your domain is your identity. It's how people find you and the name others pass along. For your personal website – you'll need a good domain name. Most people use their own names as the domain for their personal website; others might go with something catchy or meaningful. Here are some suggestions and free domain name generators in case you need help.
Next, you need a good web hosting company to host your personal website.
When we talk about web host, we basically refer it to the company that lease out computer servers and networks to host your website. There are four types of web hosting services – shared, VPS, dedicated, and cloud hosting. While all these hosting will act as the storage center for your website; they differ in amount of storage capacity, control, speed, reliability, functions and features, as well as technical knowledge requirement.
If you are new – just start low and go with an affordable shared hosting provider.
These days I use Name Cheap to register and manage all my domain names. For personal website hosting, I recommend using Hostinger Single – mainly because they have the cheapest single website hosting (starts at $0.80/mo) and an easy-to-use website builder.
Once you have the website domain and hosting ready, the next step is to make the website itself.
There are many considerations in web designs but as a beginner my advice is to take baby step.
WYSIWYG Editor
Try output something and get it onto the web. The fine-tuning and modification can come later after you have learned your skills. One easy way to design a website is to use a WYSIWYG web editor like Adobe Dreamweaver CC. Such editors work just like a normal word processor and allow you to design your site visually without handling too much technical details.
Website Builders
If HTML and CSS are not your thing, or you simply want a simple personal website for your interview, then perhaps a drag-and-drop website builder is the better choice.
Most web hosting companies provide a drag-and-drop site builder for free. If you don't care much about the outlook or UX of the site, you can create a functioning personal website in half and hour using those free tools. Alternatively, you can skip the web design process by using a paid all-in-one website builder like Wix and Weebly. The best thing about these paid tools are made for non-techies. They are usually easy to use and come with hundreds of pre-designed templates. You can simply pick a pre-design theme and apply to your website in just a few clicks.
Here are some examples of websites built with Wix. You might also want to check out Wix built-in templates here.
For those who are unfamiliar with website builder, I recommend reading these tutorials on our sister sites:
I can't really teach you what kind of content should be added to your personal website but to help you on brainstorming – ask these questions to yourself –
Always remember that for personal websites, you are the brand. Make sure you take this seriously and send a consistent message in your branding. This could take the form of your site logo, business cards, or even something that seems as basic as your email signature.
Don’t worry though as these are things that can be easily (and quickly) handled by using any of the good brand-building tools in the market.
There are many options you can choose from to build a personal website for free. Wix has a free account that lets you use their website builder, while 000Webhost has free web hosting available.
Personal websites are not really a necessity but since they are a great place to share more about your passions and likes, there is potential for them to become commercialized and earn you some money.
The best thing about making a website for personal use is that they're yours to do with as you please. Some ideas of what to share are a personal blog, some examples of your work, information about things you're passionate about, or even your personal branding.
Having a well-done, professional profile will help you stand out from competitors on recruitment forums. Aside from the freedom to fully customize it, you are also showing initiative and basic HTML skills in building the site.
This depends on what you aim to use your website for. As a recruitment aid, a CV isn't out of the question but details which are too personal such as addresses and contact numbers should be redacted.
So, do you like my collection? Which one seemed the most creative to you? What do you think is the most important in personal sites?
Please share this post and your opinion on Twitter (tag me at @WebHostingJerry). I hope this compilation will help you to create your own personal website according to all modern tendencies.
