Why every woman needs her own website

Need a space to express yourself? Consider having your own site. Here are the tips and tricks to create one successfully. Having a website is no longer the domain of the business world. More people are finding that having a site is a great way to share what you are passionate about or interested in with friends and family, especially those living abroad. People have set up websites for specific events, like a wedding, where couples can share their plans for the Big Day and post pictures or videos after the occasion. Others use personal websites to showcase their travel experiences, or share their hobbies. Carolyn Holgate, MWEB Connect GM, says the explosion of social media has led to people sharing everything from causes they are passionate about to their culinary successes and more. “Personal websites have become a popular way of expressing one’s self. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have given the average person the confidence to create and upload content which talks to their interests, talents or hobbies,” says Holgate. However, launching your site on your own can be challenging as you need: •    technical know-how to build the site, •    sort out the registration of the website name or URL, and •    make decisions about where you’re going to host the site. You can hire a web developer and graphic designer to build and design the site for you, but this can get costly. Other options Alternatively, you can use a blogging platform, but it doesn’t give you a lot of control over what the site looks like or what features and functions you can add. To make life a little easier, MWEB, as part of its Uncapped Website Hosting solution, has introduced a DIY website building tool called Website SelfBuild. “The challenge of setting up a website is something we’ve been working hard on so that the barrier to entry for consumers to own and create their own space online is a lot lower. The Website SelfBuild functionality makes it quick, simple and affordable for you to build and maintain your own website,” she says. Website SelfBuild is an easy-to-use software tool that enables customers to quickly develop a website from scratch and customise it to suit your preferences. The software has 750 ready-made design templates, which you can change at the push of a button. It also has wizards to help you through the process and even provides options for Flash intro animations. Stay updated Keeping your site up to date is just as easy. “The creation of the site and adding content to it is all done through a web browser which means you can post updates from wherever you are,” she says. Once your website is designed, and populated with your information and pictures, you can publish it to your chosen, unique URL. MWEB will register a co.za domain for you for free, and the annual domain fee is paid by them for as long as you remain an Uncapped Website Hosting client. If you want to own other domains like a .com or .mobi , you can also purchase those from the company. Along with your unique site URL, you’ll have your own personalised email address under the same name allowing you to send and receive communication about the site. Growing traffic? MWEB’s uncapped hosting and traffic feature means consumers don’t have to worry about how much bandwidth their sites use. “Many people don't realise that they have to pay for the increased bandwidth when they increase the size of their site, or when the number of visitors increases. With our Uncapped Hosting, you don't need to worry about increasing costs as you develop your site or as it becomes more popular,” says Holgate. Website SelfBuild makes launching your own website a simple process, enabling you to share your thoughts and ideas with people from all over the world, Holgate concludes. “With MWEB’s Uncapped Website hosting, everyone can have a website.”