How to Create Your Own Professional Website to Establish Your Online Presence and Brand

If you are a professional and want to begin to establish your online presence, a great way to do so is by purchasing your own domain name. If you are a seasoned professional or a soon to be college graduate it is about time that you have your own official website. The most popular domain is .com so you will likely want to purchase "yourname.com." It is up to you if you want to include your middle initial in your domain. Some famous people such as Samuel L. Jackson do, whereas others like Bob Saget do not include their middle initial. If you have the extra cash, perhaps you can buy both and have one redirect to the other. If you have a common first and last name you may find that the .com is already taken. If this is the case you will need to have a different domain extension such as the relatively new ".me" or ".net".

In order to determine if your name is still available or if it is already taken you will need to visit a domain registrar or WHOIS lookup. These sites will allow you to view information regarding if the domain is available, who owns the domain, and when it is purchased. Some domains are registered privately so it is not possible to figure out who owns it. Once you determine the status of "yourname.com" you will want to purchase and register it. There are numerous companies that allow this to occur with the most popular being Godaddy, 1 & 1, and Moniker. You will also be able to privately register the domain so that others cannot see your address and information. This may be an additional fee depending on the registrar used. You can usually save several dollars by finding coupon codes online and entering them in at checkout as well. There is also a mandatory fee charged by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) which is currently at 20 cents. Even with the ICANN fee you should be able to purchase a domain for less than $8 for a year.

Once you purchase the domain you will also need to purchase hosting. Some services will offer free hosting, although most of them have ads on them. If you are looking to create a professional website having advertisements is a big no-no. It is not necessary to purchase hosting from the same company that you bought the domain from, although you certainly can and this may make the process easier. If you don't, there should be a setting to change the DNS server. The hosting company should provide you with clear instructions as well. In any event you will need to make sure that the domain is properly hosted.

Now that you have purchased a domain and have hosting you need to set up your website. It is common to use FTP clients (software) to access the hosting controls. Some web hosting providers may also have built-in online FTP clients although these are not recommended, they do work, especially for just a few files. You will likely want to use software to design and build your website. A popular but expensive solution is Adobe Dreamweaver. Another option is Microsoft Frontpage. If you want to great graphic files two solutions are Adobe Fireworks and Photoshop, although Paint (accessible from Start, All Programs, Accessories on the Windows Operating System can do some basic tasks). You do not necessarily have to use any software programs to build the site; you do it using code such as HTML or PHP although this is not what beginners should do.

Another option to design and build the site is more basic and gives you far less flexibility would be to download a website template. Templates contain files needed for your website but are the same for everyone. You would need to edit and modify the template to enter in some basic information. For example, you may want to add an about page to your website, a contact page, and a resume page. You can add some brief info to your about page and perhaps point to other websites you may be a part of, own, or a blog. Your contact page does not actually need to be a page at all and could just be a link to open your email client. Your resume page is important and could link to a PDF or Doc file containing your resume. You will want to create your resume in a software program such as Microsoft Word and then save the file as a PDF. This looks more professional and makes it so that people cannot edit your resume. If you are a new professional your resume should only be one page.

If you want to add some personal flavor to your website you can upload your picture, create a logo with your name, and even add music. A great way to add music is by using playlist.com. The site allows you to select from a way array of songs that will then stream and play for visitors of your website. Remember though, if your personal website is professional and designed to showcase your resume and seek a job to not make it too personal. Having a professional website can also give you the ability to have your own email such as "yourfirstname@yourname.com." Having this alone is likely worth the few dollars needed to be spent on domain. It shows to employers that you are professional and is a great addition to your resume. Having your own professional website can be a great way to boost your presence, your personal brand, and land yourself a job. Make sure you purchase "yourname.com" before someone else with the same name, or even someone else who knows you and wants to profit does.