Tips for Creating an Awesome Website!

 

There are some many great websites out in the stratosphere!  If you are thinking of setting up a new website or want to update your existing site, I have a couple suggestions!  I’ve been blogging a couple years now and I wanted to share some hard-earned knowledge with you all!  Blogging can be such a wonderful way to connect with other women and I am so thankful for the wonderful friends I have meet through dandelion moms and my author site.  Hope these suggestions help you get started on your venture into the world of blogging!

 

 

Find a Good Hosting Platform:

Back in August 2013 when I was working on creating dandelion moms,  I decided to use HostGator for several reasons.   Their prices are really competitive, they are very reliable and there isn’t a lot of downtime.  Plus they make it really easy to install WordPress.  And when you do run into any problems, they offer wonderful customer support so if you have a question they will walk you through it. Every HostGator agent I have spoken with has been really patient and always willing to help me get my questions answered.

 

 

 

The HostGator C-Panel Is a Step Above!

HostGator has a lot of built-in features in their C-Panel to help you.  I love the AWStats feature which is where you can check your daily stats such as Unique Visitors Per Month, Visits per Month and other important details you will need if you are working with companies. The C-Panel also lets you know your most popular posts, and what parts of the world your audience comes from.  I have found it rather interesting that our second largest market is China! I would not have known that if I didn’t have access to the HostGator AWStats feature!

 

• HostGator provides:
• 24/7 live support via chat, phone, and email – you’re not alone. They are there to help.
• One click WordPress installs – no messy downloading and uploading of files.
• One click and start easy to use website builder – drag and drop tools that make building a site super simple.
• Design services – don’t want to build your site? Let their pros do it for you.
• Marketing services (SEO and PPC) – want to generate traffic? Their in-house experts want to help.
• Domains – HostGator is your one-stop-shop for domains!

 

Design a Great Site:

Search Other Sites   I would recommend looking at other website and see what features they have – what catches your eye, what colors do you respond to, and also what are some features that you don’t like.  All of this information will help you when designing your website – whether you design it or have the HostGator designers do it for you – you want to be able to provide concrete examples of things, colors, designs you like.

What is Your Website About: Think about what you want the message to be.  People should be able to easily get a feel for what your website is about.  Are you sharing stories with other parents?  Or is this more of a personal blog and you want to start documenting your life to share with friends and family?  The clearer you are in your mind about your message or what you want the blog to be about – the easier it will be come design time!

Keep It Simple:  Don’t overcrowd your website with too much information.  I know when I go to a website that has too much “stuff” on the top, on the sides, I can get a little overwhelmed.  I think it is easier on the eyes (and brain) to have a simple and clean design.  And this can be more difficult since you have to really narrow things down to the necessities.  We are still working on cutting down on our headings and I can tell you from experience it can be tough!

Have Fun!  My web designer and I went through several ideas before we decided on the look for the new dandelion moms update!  It can be fun to try out new looks.  We tried this one:

 

 

and this one:

 

You can see we played around with different font styles, colors, blocks of colors, etc.  Do the same to get a feel for what feels right to you.  When you see the one – you will know!  I can’t stress enough to look around at others websites to see what aspects of their sites you like and make it work for you and your style!

 

I hope these tips have helped you!  You learn more about HostGator and  sign up for 30% off web hosting services here.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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