So you want a personal website? A couple of friends have recently asked how to setup a personal website/CV and email address. This is how I would go about setting up a personal website in 2019.
Keep in mind this is the cheapest option and will require some technical knowledge (or a willingness to learn). I believe the technical knowledge is important as will give you an introduction to how the web works and opens the opportunity to tinker with a bit of code. If you want something simple and quick (and happy to pay) - go straight to Wordpress or Squarespace.
Choose a domain name
Pick a domain name and a TLD (i.e. domain suffix) i.e. thomaspearse.com or thomaspearse.co.nz.
It is generally considered that a .com TLD has the highest chance of being ranked well by Google and is generally good value. Alternatives could include a .co or a .net if your domain name is already taken.
The domain name has to be available for you to register or you will have to negotiate buying it from the existing participant (which is likely not worth it - think $1k USD +).
Choose a domain registrar
I’d pick an international registrar with a good reputation. I personally use Moniker as they have a wide selection of products, good interface and a wide variety of products.
A .com domain name is c. $10 USD/year and most providers accept recurring credit card payments.
Choose web hosting / website platform
The easiest way to get started is to signup for an affordable/free website builder. A website builder provides software to customise and design your website and comes bundles with server hosting which stores your data and configuration.
Popular website builders include Weebly, Wix and Wordpress.
All of these platforms have a ‘free’ plan however some of these providers require a paid subscription for a custom domain.UCraft offer custom domains for free.
If the provider doesn’t offer a custom domain for free, you can still use these services however you may find your traffic is redirected from thomaspearse.com to thomaspearse.wordpress.com. Consider if this is a big deal for you.
My recommendation is to use Wordpress and signup for cheap Wordpress host (or ask a friend to borrow their hosting) (there may even be free providers?). Wordpress enables you to a good level of website customisation, without being too difficult, however still allowing you to get down in the details if required. It is very popular and there is plenty of support, themes and plugins if required.
Once you have chosen a website builder or webhost you will then need to point your domain name to your web hosting platform. You can do this by pointing the domain records in your DNS settings (usually with your domain name provider) to your mail provider. If your mail provider does not provide DNS, you can use a free provider such as Cloudflare.
Mail provider
In order to setup a custom email address (i.e. hello@thomaspearse.com) you will need to choose a provider of mail hosting. There are a few options which are free including Zoho. The best options are paid including GMail.
Most providers have either a smartphone app or webmail interface you can use to do your email with.
When you select a mail provider you will need to configure your domain name to point emails towards the mail provider. You can do this by pointing the MX records in your DNS settings (usually with your domain name provider) to your mail provider. If your mail provider does not provide DNS, you can use a free provider such as Cloudflare.
Where to next
Get customising and creating content.
Building your own website gives a great taste of how the web works, various web technologies and concepts and can give you an introduction to coding. In addition it is great to have a permanent place, globally accessible, to publish and develop your own brand of ‘me’.