Should I do my website myself, or pay someone to do it for me?
That depends on a number of things. If you’re looking for a simple online presence, you can create one easily with Weebly, which is the web designer I recommend for do-it-yourselfers:
Create a free website for your business with Weebly!
The basic Weebly account is free; you only have to pay if you want your own domain for your Weebly site or need more advanced hosting features (or want an ad-free site). Paid accounts run from about $4 to $25 per month, depending on features.
If you want to use your own domain name (the www.myname.com stuff), you can purchase your domain from Weebly, but my recommendation for a domain registration service is Namecheap (that’s who I purchase all my domain names from).
The other free option I recommend is to set up a WordPress account at WordPress.com; however, you’ll be limited to the themes they provide, and you won’t be able to install additional plugins to add to the site features. Note that WordPress has a much steeper learning curve than Weebly, so it will take you longer to get up and running if you’re not already familiar with creating and maintaining WordPress sites.
If you do decide to set up your own site, there are many learning options for Weebly and WordPress out there, in both video and text format. You might want to consider a membership on the learning site I’ve set up here, WPWS Learning (currently under development), which for a small monthly fee will provide tutorials, a Facebook-like community of users, and a forum where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members and me.
If you decide to have someone else create your site for you, I currently recommend the following sites for finding WordPress freelancers since they’ve been around for a long while and provide mechanisms for protecting the developer and purchaser:
And for graphics design, art, and logos:
I specialize in creating niche online communities/social networks, online knowledge bases, and e-learning sites rather than small-business or personal sites (like a Facebook site oriented).
Disclaimer: I’m a Weebly affiliate, which means I’m compensated for any purchases via the Weebly site using the above link.
