Not long ago, the internet was a luxury, reserved for the select few. Today, anyone can establish an online presence with under $10 USD. And nowadays, with tools like WordPress and Wix, you don’t even have to know how to code. But do you really need your own website?
Here are four reasons to have a personal website:
1. You get to control your personal brand
77% of employers say they google candidate’s names as part of the hiring process. For most of us, they won’t find anything meaningful – probably a few tweets, or articles you’ve written. By having a personal website, you get to control your narrative, and what others see when they search you. You get to show recruiters the REAL you, and I think that’s a very powerful thing to be able to do.
2. It’s a useful way to show your creativity
The thing with a CV/resume is that, while you can add some design to it, you are somewhat limited in the amount of creativity you can show. They have to be straight to the point. Websites give you the opportunity to show your creative side, and this could give you a competitive advantage. If you are in the art or design industry, your personal website would be the place to show off your portfolio.
3. Not to mention the money you could earn
This is probably the main reason people set up personal websites. Blogs are increasingly becoming a source of income. An example of one of the highest-earning sites is Neil Patel (neilpatel.com), who earns more than $300,000 USD a month from one of his blogs.
You may not earn that much, but imagine if you earned $2000 a month, just from writing a few blog posts a week! Other ways to monetise your website are affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and ads, the intricacies of which are beyond the scope of this post.
4. Contact
You’ve probably experienced this – you suddenly think of an old friend you last spoke to years ago, so you google them, but you can’t seem to find their contact details. If only they had a personal website with all their contact details!
5. Stand out
Self-explanatory: most people don’t have a personal website.
So what should you put on your website? You could start a blog about yourself or anything you have expertise in. If you are in the creativity field, it could be where you keep your portfolio of work you have done. If you want, your personal website could also double as an extension of CV. You could describe your work experience in more detail, with images and infographics. For some inspiration, see some personal websites below:
- Sean Halpin – seanhalpin.io
- Rafael Derolez – derolez.dev
So, how do you go about making your website?
Subscribe to my blog – darrendube.com where I will tell you how in future articles. (First 100 people to sign up get a free book)
Previously published at https://darrendube.com/web-development/personal-website