How to make a website you love in 2024

As a creator and small business owner, your website is your online home. It’s where you’ll share your story, promote your products, educate through helpful resources, invite visitors to your email list, and much more. It’s no wonder 71% of all small businesses have one, and in our opinion, it should be 100%!

Making a website for your creator business doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need to hire an expensive developer. You don’t need to waste days learning an ‘easy’ website platform that winds up being not so easy. And you don’t need to pull your hair out either.

Best of all, you can set up your free website in less time than it takes to binge a season of your favorite show on Netflix.

Even if you could make your website in record time, aren’t there other ways to share your work? It’s true that YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms are popular ways for creators to grow, but a business website is still irreplaceable for these three reasons:

#1 A website lets you add the nuance that ‘swipe culture’ ignores

If a social media post is a single ingredient, your website is the whole cake. It gives you a way to share your story and product lineup with prospective customers in one cohesive ecosystem that you control.

When we surveyed over 900 creators, we learned that creators sell an average of 10.95 products. It would be chaotic to constantly promote that many offers from a single social media account, and a website gives you space to provide more context, connecting all your creative work together.

#2 You own your website – no algorithms, third-party ads, or distractions

Unlike social media platforms that can disappear overnight or simply fade out of style, your website is yours forever. While visitors are on your website, you’ve got their undivided attention. There are no competitors vying for your audience’s focus and you don’t have to bend to the whims of an app that has its own agenda.

#3 Your website lets you get discovered in search results

96% of Americans rely on their own research when making big decisions, and of those, 46% use digital sources like search engines.

Imagine your target customer is searching for a particular product or service that you offer. When you have a website, you can be the one they find. 62% of potential buyers will ignore a business that they can’t find online, so if you don’t have a website, you’re potentially leaving thousands of customers on the table.

According to YouTubers Jonathan and Ashley Longnecker, “your website should be the hub, and everything else in your business should be the spokes.”

There’s nothing wrong with growing an audience on different channels – in fact, we highly encourage this – but a big social following isn’t a substitution for a customized website that’s entirely yours.

In this guide, you’ll get a step-by-step walkthrough of how to build an impactful, beautiful hub for your business. You’ll learn:

• All about domains and website hosting
• How to choose the best website builder
• Strategies for planning your website content
• How to build your homepage, sales pages, and additional website pages
• Website design tips and techniques
• What to do before launching your site

This guide is for website beginners and anyone whose site needs a refresh. You’ll see that the examples are from Podia’s website builder because our website tool is free forever and super easy to use. That said, the advice applies no matter what platform you decide to use.

Throughout this guide, I’ll build a website alongside you to demonstrate exactly how the process works from start to finish.

I’ve always had an interest in road trips, so I want to make a website that helps people take the perfect road trip vacation. I’ll offer a 1:1 road trip planning service and a free road trip packing list as a digital download.

Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ll make together. You can check out the live site at https://yourbestroadtrip.podia.com.

If you’re ready to get started, grab your free Podia account, refill your coffee cup, and settle in. It’s great to have you.