Starting a Website is Not as Hard as it Seems

Hey there.  I have been in the blogging game for the better part of 5 years now.  5 years... that still shocks me, you know.  When I started off, it was just something that I wanted to do.  No real plan.  No real path to take.  Just open up a new blog post and write.  If you go back and see some of my very first posts, you'll see that they are very unorganized, have little to no tags, and simply put, just all over the place.  I'm not saying that's bad, I'm just saying that when you jump face first into the blogosphere without a plan, you tend to make more than a few mistakes while you learn.  The good thing is that you don't have to make those amateur mistakes.

If you concerned about how to make a website, you don't have to.  There are MANY online sites that you can check out that will walk you through making a website.  They'll walk you through finding a layout that works for you.  Whether you just want to convey your everyday thoughts or want to build an online store.  The greatest thing about the internet is that you will find a way to make it work for you.

The only thing that I struggled through the years is my blog design.  If you plan on keeping your website for years, you definitely want a good looking web design for you website.  I started off with a simple template, but grew tired of it.  It felt generic.  I tried to make the site look more professional and stumbled on a few other designs that worked for the time being.  It wasn't until a good friend of mine then stepped in and offered to create the design for me that I really felt happy about my website's look.  It's not bad, I love it, and I've learned to modify it some, so it's a design that I can see myself having for quite some time.  If only I knew how to design a website, I'd be able to do it myself when I started off as opposed to messing around with my website layout and have a friend come and rescue me.  As long as you have a design that you're happy with, you won't have to meddle with the look as much as I did.  I regret not getting a great looking design right from the start, though.  

Once you have the look and feel of your website, it's all abut content.  If you're looking to start an online shop, your design should be able to display some of your top selling or currently on sale items.  It's all about placement when it comes to a store.  Same deal with a blog.  You want to showcase some of your best work.  How you do that will all depend on your style.  You can have a page set up for your most visited posts, a list created, or you can simply add a "tag cloud" and have your visitors click a tag and go straight to posts with said tag.  Personally, I have a 10 top posts of the month that I keep on my right side bar.  The posts that appear there surprises me from time to time.  A post from many months, if not years, ago will pop up there.  I love it when it does.  It makes me feel like content written many moons ago are still being visited and still somewhat relevant.  

Anyways, there's my simplified version of getting your ducks in a row before starting a website.  I don't really like to "dictate" on how things should be done since I know that everyone has their own learning style and some of us like to learn through trial and error.  But if there is anything that you take from this, know that having a simplified plan before starting will save you from many headaches down the road.  Good luck, friends!  Later!

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