Starting a Website

There are tonnes of good information on the web about starting a website but here I’d like to share my own experience, in hopes that it will give you a different perspective.

Initially, when the idea evolved, a few questions popped-up in my mind:-
1. What do I want to write about? (Topic)
2. Use the free blog service or paid ones? (Free vs Paid)
3. What would I call my website? (Website Name)
4. Which domain and hosting service should I use? (Domain and Hosting)

1. Topic

I have many IT websites bookmarked on my browser from news to reviews; despite not having any IT training, my family, friends and colleagues seek my help to fix their computer problems – software fixes, virus infections and firewall issues. These indications led to the realisation that I was drawn to IT. So naturally, I decided to focus my blog on what I love to do.

Write about your passion – it always easier to write about something that inspires you. If you are willing to spend hours of your free time on something although you feel dead tired, that’s probably your passion.

2. Free vs Paid

On one hand I didn’t want to spend so much to start my website (if it was free better still ..haha); on the other, I was considering doing this full time in the long run. At the end I decided to go with the paid one since it was more in line with my objectives.

Began with the end in mind. What are your objectives? If you intend to write casually – then go for the free ones (e.g. with blogger.com, wordpress.com, tumblr.com, etc). If you intend to make a career out of this – I would encourage the paid ones. Why? When you google for something, you seldom see a free blog site appear as your top result. And also, the price for domain and hosting sevices these days are very affordable – USD2.5 to 8 per month.

3. Website Name

I wanted a name to reflect what I will write, easily remembered and yet catchy. After much thought, I decided to go with softwareandsuch.com. Besides writing about my experience fiddling with software, the name allows me to write about other IT related stuffs.

In item 2 above, if you are a casual blogger – then choose a name that you fancy. If  you are more serious, consider your possible readers – what will attract them to your blog? Like your personal name, it will be your website’s identity and readers relate to identity.

4. Domain and Hosting

When I got down to this, it was so overwhelming. I was browsing for hours looking at the kazillion services avaliable out there and it gave me a headache. So how did I choose? Stay tuned – details in my next entry.