Why You Should Have a Personal Website

Social media platforms come and go. Algorithms change. Accounts get suspended. A personal website is the one digital space you fully own and control. It's your home on the internet — a place where your work, writing, and thinking can live permanently under your own domain.

Getting one set up is more accessible than ever. Here's a clear path through the decisions.

Step 1: Choose a Domain Name

Your domain is your address. Keep it simple:

  • Use your name if it's available (e.g., jonasvdc.com)
  • Stick to .com if possible — it's still the most trusted extension
  • Avoid hyphens and numbers; they're harder to share verbally
  • Keep it short and memorable

Register your domain through a reputable registrar like Namecheap, Porkbun, or Google Domains. Expect to pay around €10–15 per year.

Step 2: Choose How You'll Build It

This is where most people overthink it. Here are three honest options:

Option Best For Technical Level
Squarespace / Webflow Beautiful design, low effort Beginner
WordPress (.org) Flexibility, blogging, plugins Intermediate
Static site (Hugo, Astro) Developers, speed, full control Advanced

If you just want to get something live quickly and it to look good, Squarespace is hard to beat. If you want to blog seriously and own your stack, WordPress with a good host is the classic choice.

Step 3: Set Up Hosting

Hosting is where your site's files live. Some platforms (Squarespace, Wix) include hosting in their subscription. If you go the WordPress route, look at hosts like SiteGround, Cloudways, or Hostinger for reliable performance at a reasonable price.

Step 4: Plan Your Pages

Don't launch with 20 pages. Start with the essentials:

  1. Home — a clear, welcoming introduction
  2. About — who you are, what you do, why it matters
  3. Work/Projects — what you've made or done
  4. Contact — a simple way to reach you

You can always add a blog, portfolio, or resources section later. Shipping a clean, simple site beats spending months perfecting one that never goes live.

Step 5: Write Real Content

The biggest mistake people make is spending 90% of their time on design and 10% on content. Flip it. A visually average site with genuine, useful content will always outperform a beautiful site that says nothing.

Write your About page in your own voice. Make it personal. People connect with people, not polished corporate-speak.

Step 6: Launch and Iterate

Set a launch date and stick to it. A live, imperfect site is infinitely more valuable than a perfect one that exists only on your local machine. You'll learn more from being live — from real visitors and real feedback — than from any amount of private tweaking.

Your website is never truly finished, and that's the point. It grows as you do.