A personal website often seems like a tool for creatives only (freelancers, photographers, actors etc). This is not the case. In the ever-increasing digital world, personal websites are becoming the key for young professionals, no matter the industry. Creating a personal website is still one of the best investments of time and money you can do now to get yourself ahead.

To put you on the path to professional success, this step-by-step guide will explain how to make a personal website from scratch, covering everything from defining your message to acing your design.

1. Define the message you want to get across

Know your why? Ask yourself why you’re creating this personal website and what the aim of this site is for. By determining your goals, everything starts to fall into place like the content you want on the website and the structure that will best serve you and your purpose.

We know it can be overwhelming to think about all this information straight away so here are a few questions you should consider before creating a professional website:

• How do I want to be perceived? How do you want to present yourself on the website to future collaborators and potential employers? 
• What skills and characteristics do I have that set you apart from others in my field? The internet is a very populated and noisy area of the digital world so think about what you can add to your site to stand out.
• What is the end game of the personal website? What are you looking to achieve with this?

Take your time pondering these questions, there is a lot to consider at the very beginning of creating a personal website. These questions will act as a guide and avoid any uncertainty and problems in the creation stage. The answers you get from these questions will act as the fundamental foundations of your brand. For those unsure, a personal brand distinguishes you from the others. Clear personal brand identity will ensure an organised and neat message to those viewing your website.

2. Look at other personal websites for inspiration

We advise, before creating your website, that you browse the internet for inspiration. Have a look at other personal websites of people in the same or very similar industries are you, to see the quality and level of content they are sharing.

When looking for inspiration, remember to take note of the website design and the content. Is there a particular layout that could also work well for your site? Have they added a powerful mission statement? Perhaps you spotted a colour scheme that matches your personal brand? 

Write down your findings and save all relevant information you want to keep. This way you will always have something to refer back to when you’re creating your personal website.

3. Choose the template for you

Once you’ve browsed a selection of personal websites in your industry, you’ll have more of an idea of the type of website you want. To narrow it down further and put yourself on the right path, you can also browse through pre-built website templates that meet the brand you want to achieve. With every KamBel template, you can adjust the design as you please to achieve the brand you want whilst ensuring a positive experience for your users and achieving the finest website navigation.

It is a good idea to pick a template that already matches the style you want and the aim you have with the content you will share. For example, you need to consider whether you’ll be creating a one-page website or a multi-page one. You wouldn’t choose the template containing one page if your goal is to have multiple different pages covering a range of information. Choose the template that fits your requirements.

4. Add your authentic content

At this point, you have a clear awareness of your personal website why. Now that you’ve chosen the perfect template and visualised how the website will look, it’s time to consider the how.

Before you find yourself engrossed in web design, you need to identify the kind of content your personal website requires.

So this is the time to grab a pen and paper and write a good old list. Make a list of all the content your website should/needs to contain. Here are a few features that almost every personal website should include:

• Homepage: A homepage is often the first page on a website that people see. So it is important to ensure it makes a positive first impression, so we advise you to strive for the perfect homepage design for your personal website. This is where you make it clear who you are and what you do with an eye-catching design and strong statements about you. 
• Bio: The bio section is a short introduction to yourself. This can be featured on your homepage or you can create a dedicated ‘About’ page, where you can all out on the level of information. Your bio must highlight professional information as well as your personality. This is a great place to show how you are unique and how you stand out from the crowd. Share additional information like your hobbies and interests – you could be sat on pure gold information by holding back – share everything interesting about yourself.
• A portfolio of your best work: Often creatives can use a personal website to act as an online portfolio, to showcase/ show off their best work. We advise you to make sure you curate your portfolio so that you’re only sharing the work you’re most proud of. Even if you’re not a creative such as a photographer, model, artist etc, that will want a portfolio of their visual work, you can still showcase your work online. For example, if you’re a marketer, you can share the most successful campaigns you’ve achieved and the stories behind them. The purpose is to highlight your role and the end outcome. 
• Images and videos: We love visuals here at KamBel, we find they create a more personalised atmosphere for the viewers whilst making you seem more relatable. Images and videos are quality material in showing off what you can do. 
• Blog: we’ve said it before, starting a blog is a great way to share valuable information. You can provide insight about literally anything for those that are seeking FREE content. This can be anything from product updates to an obstacle you have personally experienced in your industry. The list is honestly endless when it comes to the content you can write about in a regular blog. 
• Testimonials: Adding actual quotes from the people you have worked with is a great way to improve your credibility in your industry. You can encourage the people you’ve worked with or for, to write substantial testimonials that highlight your best qualities. 
• Contact: It is so important to ensure all your website viewers can contact you if they have questions. You must include all the relevant contact information on your personal website. We also advise adding any social media accounts that are relevant to your work. For example, if you’re an artist that posts regularly the latest artwork, it is important to add that account to the website. Add all the social media accounts that are relevant i.e., LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube etc.

5. Customise the design to suit you

We need to make clear that, the design of your website is just as important as the content itself. The website has to look at that part to ensure visitors visit and stay. You don’t want people clicking away from your website because it doesn’t look wow, therefore, missing your valuable content.

Here are the features you need to take into account when it comes to your website design:

• Colour scheme: Colours have a huge impact! Your brand must have a colour scheme. If you do not have a colour scheme yet, we suggest you do some research into colour psychology and how people react to different colours and different colour combinations. You want to pick the colours that evoke the right message. 

1. Are you loud and bubbly? Maybe your website should have bright and powerful colours.
2. Are you calm and shy? Maybe light and calming colours are the way to go.

• Font choice: Similarly, to the colour scheme, the typography you use on your website plays a big part in conveying the message you want to give. Again, to choose the best fonts for your website, we advise you do a bit of research. Browse the internet for some inspiration and get a feel for which type of font suits you.
• Logo: Like the colour scheme and your font choice, your logo is an essential part of your branding. You can a logo that represents you. If you don’t have a logo just yet, we recommend you either create one yourself or hire a graphic designer to design you a unique design. Once it has been created, add the logo to strategic places of your website i.e., the website menu and the footer. 

6. Important: Make sure you’re mobile-friendly

With more and more internet traffic coming from mobile phones, the best websites should look perfect no matter the device or the size of the screen. Websites are ranked on search engine results predominantly according to their mobile versions, so make sure your website is mobile-friendly.

7. Optimise for SEO

There are many ways to promote your site i.e social media and email marketing etc. It is important to note that preparing your website for all search engines is something you can do in the very early stages of creating your own personal website.

Our main search engine optimisation (SEO) tips that can help improve your ranking on search engines are finding the right keywords for your website and adding them throughout your authentic content and picking a domain name that shows Google (and other search engines) what your site is all about. 

Not too long ago, we released a blog called 7 SEO Tricks To Boost Your Google Ranking which walks you through our favourite ways of getting on the first page of Google. Check it out.

If you have any other questions about SEO, click HERE.

8. Always get a second opinion – it’s gold.

Once you’ve reached this stage, intensely preview your website to check that everything is running well and that there are no typos or broken links in sight. Even if you’ve checked it umpteen times, we advise a fresh pair of eyes. Ask someone or a few people to review your website, to make sure it is flowing well and has no mistakes. Once you are satisfied with the result, it is time to hit the publish button.

9. Promote your website everywhere

Once your personal website is up and running, don’t be thinking that is all you need to do. On top of optimising your website for SEO, there are many effective ways to promote your website for free. Here are just a few techniques for getting more people to visit your website:

• Social media marketing is your best friend. Utilise it by sharing your website on all your social channels. You can update your family, friends and followers by posting your latest updates. 
• Add a link to your website and social channels onto your email signature. This is a simple technique that can help increase the chances of people reaching your website. 
• Use email marketing to your advantage. Send out a regular newsletter to your subscribers. You can inform them of all the latest goings-on in your industry.