Take Your Website Away From The Lamestream
We Suggest Some Resources for Young People To Start a Website That’s Different.
So you’re thinking of starting a website to build a following. But you don’t want your website to just look like any old website. You want it to have a different look, a different feel, and be something you can be truly proud of. These are some ideas I’ve been jotting down about how to make a website that’s truly different:
Web Hosting:
If you’re going to make a website that you actually own, then you need website hosting. Now, there are sites like Blogger, WordPress.com and Tumblr that will let you make a quick website for free, but here’s the catch:
You don’t own anything you put on that website.
It’s their property, and they can do what they want with it: censor it, erase it, make money off it. You’re just feeding a corporate machine to save a couple dollars.
But you don’t want to buy hosting from douchebag companies like GoDaddy (CEO’s an elephant killer) or Hostgator (owned by multinational conglomerate).
There are a few web hosts that are actually Eco-friendly. They use wind-energy to power their servers, or purchase carbon offset credits to reduce their carbon footprint. These are my picks for the best alternative web hosts:
- Hostnine – a small independent company with awesome customer support and a cool indie feel to everything. They aren’t one of the ‘green hosts’, but they make up for with coolness and affordability. You only pay for what you use, which is pretty awesome. Plus you can use a Hostnine coupon code and get it for even cheaper.
- Hostpapa – This Canadian host is Eco-friendly, laid-back and has a great reputation. They also have some coupons codes, just check the same site from the previous link and you’ll find them there (I’m too lazy to do it for you).
- Dreamhost – Dreamhost is big, but it has managed to avoid all the corporate acquisitions and remains independent. Also they are a green web host, with local datacenters and employees.
CMS:
I hope I don’t lose you. But every website has a CMS, and now they are incredibly easy to use. There are only two that you should even be thinking about: WordPress and Tumblr.
WordPress is the most popular, and there are thousands of themes to choose from. That way you can take advantage of all the free content on the web.
A provocative option is Tumblr. If you install it, then you have all the social sharing advantages of Tumblr but without Tumblr actually owning any of your content Popular sites like Me in my place use the Tumblr platform in this way.
If you’re a photographer, it’s a great way to retain ownership of your images as well as increase traffic to your website.
Domains:
The era of .COM is over. The new TLDs (top-level domains) like .BUZZ, .XYZ, .NYC are the new to set your website apart from the crowd. Imagine a name like: PhotographyWizard.NYC (okay, that was lame, but I couldn’t come up with something fast). They cost a little more than .COM domains, but it’s also far more likely that you’ll find the name you actually want for your website.
And Boom! After taking all these steps, you should have a sweet domain name, hosting that says something about you, and an easy to use CMS to add posts and pictures. The rest is up to you. Get creating!!