If you have some information, skills, or products that you are personally interested in and would love to share, then chances are that hundreds – or even millions – of people around the world would like you to hear about it. You should definitely create a website.

A website of your own is by far the most effective method of sharing what you have on a global scale. Better yet, a website of your own can easily be developed into a community around your interests – a place to trade ideas, take feedback  and, perhaps, make money on the things you create.

These days, a website sits right at the center of building a ‘brand’ and ‘authority’ around who you are and what you know.

If you’ve never considered yourself an ‘authority’ on anything before, don’t let that word deter you. It’s just a fancy label for “a person to go to, to find out about something”.

The bottom line is, if you create something that others want to consume, then you are already an authority in the eyes of those consumers.

What should I create a website about?

You should create a website about something you are passionately interested in. Why? Because the secret to a successful website – one which draws a large audience to it – is to keep it stocked with fresh content.

People are usually after some information or a solution when they visit a website. If you, the website owner, keep up a regular schedule of introducing new, relevant content to the site, your audience will keep coming back for more. This is how an audience is built.

However, creating content is not a trivial task. It takes time to plan, research and write articles and record videos. It takes time and money to source or develop products to sell. Without a passion for the topic or niche of your website you will soon find it a chore giving you little in return. It wont be long before you stop creating content and your audience stops coming.

Passion should be what drives you.

What Kind of Website Should I Make?

You should create a website that your audience expects to see.

It’s quite important to present your information in a design your audience can grasp in just a few seconds. This is because they will intuitively understand the type of website that they have come to and know what they can do here.  If your website is too confusing to navigate – or the design is too “way out” – then they will leave and look for another website they can use.

The kind of website to set up is quite simple: create a ‘Shopping’ website if you create and sell products; a ‘Review’ website if you promote other people’s content or products; and a ‘Blog’ website if you publish your own information about your interests or skills.

Once you decide on the kind of website to make, you can then look for a design that fits one of these basic categories. One of the reasons I recommend WordPress as a website platform is that there are thousands of different ‘themes’ (website designs) to choose from. They are easily installed, and you can try out many themes very easily to see which one works for your information and your brand.

Should start blog?

This is a question I’m often asked. The short answer is yes. Even if you are in the business of selling products rather than disseminating information, you should start a blog on your website.

A blog is an excellent way of infusing your personality into your website. It is a place where you can communicate who you are to your visitors. Blog about yourself, your company, your interests, feedback you have received, and even your future product plans. Keeping people engaged is the key. If you audience can see you care enough to reach out to them on a regular basis, they will remain loyal to you – and they will play their own part in widening the community you are building around your website.

Remember, people are more likely to buy from people and brands they can come to know and trust.

(And, by the way,  blog is also an excellent way of introducing new content to your website, even if the rest of your product site changes very little).

Of course, if you create a website to give out information or teach skills rather than selling products, a blog is a great choice. By regularly publishing content in your area of expertise, you will be achieving your goal contributing to the global community.

Just because your website is a “blog”, it doesn’t have to look like some boring list of posts. If you think about it, even a newspaper or a magazine website is a kind of blog – regularly publishing information, created by expert authors. They have simply designed the website around this information to look like a magazine.

These days your blog design can be a vibrant and media rich as you want it to be. Create a website with a pizzazz that reflects the content and, you, its author!