I posted before, that if you want to start a business, you should get a website. I want to add, that even if you are just job hunting, it’s not a bad idea.
To get things started cheaply
Register for a gmail account
Register for a domain name
Choose a hosting option
Decide what to put on
1. Register for a gmail mail account (cost:free)
Use your business name, or a professional looking verson of your name (CompanyName@, Firstnamelastname@, Firstname.Lastname@, Firstname.Initial.Lastname@)
Why? Gmail is free, and has some useful features, like being able to set it up to send email as if it was from your domain. Use your business name, or a professional name.
2. Register for a domain name. (cost:$8-15/year)
Are you using this for a professional face to your job search? Try to get a version of your name. Shouldn’t matter if it’s .com, ,net, .info, (or .me if it’s personal). If a domain name with your name is available, I would suggest snapping it up!
If you are looking at a business, and haven’t come up with a name, I like this “Dot-o-mater” website name generator.
Namecheap.com is a good source for registering your domain, because of the flexibility that url forwarding and email forwarding offer for you. Office Live and Google also offer domain hosting options, but you have to weigh out options, versus “putting all your eggs in one basket”.
3. Choose a hosting option.
A. Free Site
Webs.com and OfficeLive both have good offerings of templates and options for free. They both allow you to use your domain name at no additional charge.
B. Blog
Wordpress.com and Blogger.com both allow you to use your blog with your domain name. Wordpress charges $15/year, and restrictions on advertising, but the software is great. Blogger has no such restrictions, and provides “widgets” that make it easy to setup advertising.
4. Decide what to put on it.
A Business
If you are starting a business, make sure you look at other sites that do similar things, and make contact and action information as clear as possible.
B. Personal
If you are building a site for personal branding, make sure you include links to your social media or linkedIn profiles, put your resume on a page, as well as available in a PDF.
UPDATE: 3.8.10 - http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/development/best-web-builders-create-free-website/
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