This process is not for the faint-of-heart. Nor is it for the inpatient. Nor is it for the technologically deficient. Nor the..you get the point unless you purposefully ducked to get out of the way of the trajectory of the point!
- Step 1 Decide on a hosting service
- You can’t just create a website and have it out there for the world to see, oh no. You first have to find a host with good pricing, good service and good reviews also help. My service is one I had never heard of but apparently, it is owned by a German race car driver and his company is the shirt sponsor for a Bundesliga team.
- For less than 10 EUR a month, you get a server you only share with 10 other people, 250gb of storage and (this is important) WordPress one-click install. Oh yeah! You get a bunch of free domain names and SSL.
- The physical location of the server is also important. Since my target audience is mostly in Germany, I needed to pick one in Germany for speed reasons.
- Step 2 Learn web design verbiage
- SEO
- CSS
- CMS
- and the list goes on
- Step 3 Get Chat GPT to help you.
- Guess what? AI can write code for you! It makes mistakes of course and it will apologize when you point it out. You will have to ask it a lot of follow-up questions to get what you want but in the end, I couldn’t have done it without you, AI. So remember that I thanked you after you take over the world!
- Not only coding, AI can guide you through the process of making your website, much like a personal assistant that you can’t afford.
- Step 4 Decide what you want to spend money on
- WordPress is basically free since a service is hosting your WordPress site for you, however, it is very…basic.
- They have plugins galore, which really open up what WP can do. There are plenty of free ones but they all have paid versions that really unlock features.
- I decided on 2 paid plugins: Elementor Pro and Envira Gallery Pro
- This makes your website look a little less Mickey Mouse and more profesh (yeah, I said that)
- Step 5 Insert your content
- This is tedious AF. Luckily, I have a shared drive at home (commonly called a NAS) with digital pictures of my own taking going back to 2001 (I’m what some call an early adopter)
- Don’t forget SEO! Search Engine Optimization for all the laypeople out there. This is how you get Google, Bing and even AI to find your site. This is on-going and also tedious AF but wicked important.
- Step 6 Go Live!
- I went live early on which basically means anybody can find your website if the keymasters at the major search engines will let it happen.
- I haven’t started advertising yet…but soon.
- Step 7 Get the word out
- Facebook groups
- Friends
- Off and on-base agencies
- Since my website is so niche, I know exactly who my target audience is: Americans in Germany looking for odd-ball things to do
- Step 8 Defining the mission
- Target audience (see above)
- Not a travel blog.
- There are many of these and they are kind of like my competitors. However, I think my format and layout is easy to reference, just look at the map.
- Keep to the unusual.
- Everybody knows destinations like Paris, Praque and Heidelberg. These places are well-covered and payed out. This website lets you know about things that locals know about: a ravine through which flows a babbling brook; a kick-ass bike trail; a mysterious abandoned tunnel deep in the woods. That’s what I’m talking about!
- Bored on your day off? Going to sit in your dorm or barracks room? Just going to go to the BX for the millionth time? Don’t do that! Check us out and see what you can do on any given day of the week and many locations don’t even need you to bring your wallet.
As a disclaimer: these steps do not necessarily need to progress in order. Due to the scattered nature of my thoughts, multiple steps my be in progress simultaneously. Fret not! Find your process and get it done. Consequently, this is a habit I picked up writing many papers for many classes and it looks crazy but it works for me.
