TECH NOW: How to make your own website for free Jennifer Jolly, Special for USA TODAY
Published 12:02 a.m. ET Sept. 22, 2013
What do Hostess Twinkies (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/12/twinkies-makeearly-return-wal-mart/2511927/), Yahoo (https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/08/22/yahoo-topsgoogle-for-site-visits/2684059/) and even wristwatches (/story/tech/personal/2013/09/04/future-for-samsungsmart-watch/2764007/) have in common with a personal website in 2013? They're all making a comeback. That's right, in this social-media-savvy age a more personal-personal site is more "stand out of the crowd" than Facebook and more "beyond 140-characters" than Twitter. (Photo: Jennifer Jolly for USA TODAY)
Clearly, I'm not talking about those old personal sites that showed off your mad coding skills à la Angelfire or GeoCities, way back in the Stone Ages of the Internets (circa 1995). Today's hottest turn-key website builders do the work for you, often for free.
For small-business folks and others, a personal website is a great way to tell your story. It can help showcase value, infuse personality, and even shed some light on your talents and passions in a different way from Vine or Pinterest. It can also help you better manage your online reputation, and give you a boost should someone Google your name. Think of your website as something akin to the new digital business card, where people you've just met can find out about your talents and passions. Here are four services that will let you set up a virtual homefront for free. TUMBLR (http://www.tumblr.com/) Yahoo's recently acquired Tumblr service allows for the easy creation of a simple, slick website with a variety of themes to choose from. The downside to Tumblr is that you don't have a lot of choice in how your content displays, but if you're not picky or you just like the looks of Tumblr's themes, the simplicity of setup and use can't be beat. By joining Tumblr, you're also becoming part of a larger community, which makes it easy to share and comment on content other people are posting on Tumblr. This can be a big plus if you know people on Tumblr, but if you aren't interested in the community aspect, you might want to look elsewhere. Post or browse Tumblr on the Web or through their app for iPhone (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tumblr/id305343404?mt=8) or Android (http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tumblr). Complexity: Very easy Cost: Tumblr is completely free, with advertisements
A screenshot from Weebly. (Photo: Jennifer Jolly for USA TODAY)
WEEBLY (http://www.weebly.com/) Designing your site on Weebly is as easy as dragging and dropping elements you want on your page. Select a theme and your new website is done. We specifically like Weebly because it provides a nice balance between ease of use and customization options, letting you create a site just the way you want it without getting bogged down in the technical details of running a website. Another thing we like is that Weebly doesn't add advertisements to your content — something that the rest of the services mentioned here could have, at least on their free options. But you won't find ads on Weebly, even if you're using their basic, free service. Post photos, videos or text from the Web or from Weebly's app for iPhone (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weebly/id511158309?mt=8) or Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weebly.android&hl=en). Complexity: Easy Cost: The basic service is free and has no advertisements, but Weebly charges for advanced features.
TeddyTroops is a site that was created using Jimdo. (Photo: Jennifer Jolly for USA TODAY)
JIMDO (http://www.jimdo.com/) Similar to Weebly, Jimdo is a super easy service for creating and managing your own website. Jimdo offers different themes and customization options than Weebly, but we would say the two services are more or less equivalent. What does make Jimdo stand out from the rest is how easily it handles e-commerce, so if you're thinking about running a Web page for your small business, Jimdo provides ease of use as well as a way to sell your goods right from your website. JimdoBusiness does come at a cost ($240 a year) but you're unlikely to find a simpler solution if you're interested in ecommerce. Complexity: Easy Cost: The basic service is free with advertisements, but Jimdo offers a number of additional features (most notably e-commerce options) for a fee.
Jennifer Jolly's WordPress site. (Photo: Jennifer Jolly for USA TODAY)
WORDPRESS (http://wordpress.com/) A great many of the professional websites you read (including my own at jenniferjolly.com (http://jenniferjolly.com)) are run on the WordPress platform, which provides a comprehensive set of blogging tools. And with WordPress.com, you don't have to worry about the complexities of having your own Web host or server: WordPress will do all the work for you. WordPress has more than 200 themes to choose from or you can completely customize your own design — though all of these options can make it more difficult to get your website set up. WordPress is not for the complete newbie, as it takes a degree of technical ability to learn it. I can get stuck on advanced features, especially quickly uploading higher-resolution video, because you have to go through three or four steps before it all looks the way I want it to (uploading to YouTube, etc.). Still, I love WordPress for being the most versatile, customizable platform there is, which is to say that you can really make your website your own. Post on the Web or via app for iPhone (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wordpress/id335703880?mt=8), Android (http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.wordpress.android), BlackBerry (http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/78913/? countrycode=US) or Windows Phone (http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/wordpress/5f64ad85-f801-e011-9264-00237de2db9e? type=phoneapp&id=5f64ad85-f801-e011-9264-00237de2db9e). Complexity: Medium to difficult, depending on how much you're customizing Cost: WordPress.com is free for basic use, but charges for extra features. Other simple sites we like include Wix (http://www.wix.com), which is especially good for its uber-helpful customer-service support, and Zerply (http://zerply.com), which is a great tool for résumé enhancement. Now that you have several ideas of where to go to put together a great new personal website, our next Tech Now will help you whittle down what to put on it. Be sure to share your ideas and links to your own sites. Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy award-winning consumer tech contributor and host of USA TODAY's digital video show TECH NOW. E-mail her at
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