How To Get a Website Up and Running (and stay sane!)

I started building a website at the end of January 2020 and posted my first blog post shortly afterward. I really enjoyed seeing it take shape and am absolutely awestruck that I did it!

I am not a technical person, not by a long way. I am sharing these insights to show how someone like me, with no technical skills and really not much of a clue about websites can get to the stage that I am now on my second website (this one)!

This site includes affiliate links – if you buy through my link I may get paid a commission but the price remains the same for you. Thank you for your support.

Why I decided I needed a website

The first time I tried to build a website (about 18 months ago),  I was in the world of Network Marketing and really wanted to sell retail, having lost heart with the team-building side. (I persisted for 10 years but found that new recruits generally didn’t last long – partly my bad, partly just how it is.)

There was someone in the business who had retailed over $1m of (beauty) products single-handedly – okay it had taken a long time, but I thought ‘that will do for me thank you very much!’.

One of the best things about Network Marketing is that people are prepared to tell you what they are doing to be successful, even if they are not in your own team. I sent this chap a message and asked him how he did it. He replied saying he had a blog and got most of his traffic from that using ‘long tail keywords’. Great! I thought this will be my route! Especially as I love to write.

My first website

So, I set out full of hope that I could do the same! I watched a few YouTube videos, bought a domain name, got the hosting sorted, and signed up with WordPress. My site was the Divi Theme because apparently, it is so easy to use that your cat could build your website blindfold!

That’s as maybe, but could I get that site built? I ran into problem after problem. To be fair I did overcome many of them but then got absolutely stuck and couldn’t move forward.

I reached out to a couple of local website designers that I know and asked if they would be prepared to teach me so I could get up and running. Naturally, I was more than happy to pay but they both said ‘no’. (To be fair I don’t blame them!)

The third person I asked also said ‘no’ but offered to build it for me to a point that I could easily update it. That sounded promising until he said it would cost $70 per hour and take a considerable length of time to complete. In any case, that wasn’t really what I wanted as I knew I would get stuck further down the line.

I’m not normally a quitter, but I gave up on that website as I was in danger of taking a sledgehammer to my laptop otherwise.

A new business idea

Towards the end of 2019, I took the decision to leave the world of Network Marketing  (having just said I am not a quitter lol).  Ten years was long enough for me to decide that it was time for a change! The more I looked around at what home businesses were out there, the more I liked the look of Affiliate Marketing. The only niggle I had was – I bet you can guess – you really need to have a website!

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A lucky discovery!

Then one day, something came up that seemed to answer every problem I had when I was stuck with my first website.

In the massive sea of content that is out there, I had no idea how I managed to stumble across this training platform with my name on it! (Now I do – the people that run the program are experts at getting on the first page on Google.)

I was waiting to find that the price was going to be in the thousands, but it wasn’t and I could even get started for free! This was perfect for me because I had even more doubts about my website building ability than when I first started out.

Wealthy Affiliate

Don’t worry if Affiliate Marketing isn’t necessarily your thing – if you need help building a website, step by step, with the opportunity to ask questions as you go, read on (but keep an open mind to that very interesting and lucrative world!).  This is what’s on offer with the free membership program:

1. State of the art, ultra-powerful, and secure hosting will allow you to grow your business plus a free website with a choice of themes

2. Strategies to attract traffic and Jaaxy Lite membership (Keyword research tool)

3. Advice on selecting a profitable niche

4. Training in building your website – this is done alongside building your website so you follow the order of the training and consequently don’t get overwhelmed.

5. Help from an incredible community, many who are experts and genuinely want to help

6. Thousands of free to use images to just pick and upload to your site from the platform

7. Content creation platform to make sure you have the right minimum amount of words, headings, etc including spell and grammar check.

8. Templates to copy for legal requirements such as Privacy Policy and Affiliate Disclosure

I am absolutely convinced that if I had started with this platform with my first website, I would have been able to keep on making progress and wouldn’t have given up on it. Anyhoo, on the plus side…

My websites built with Wealthy Affiliate

The difference between the progress made with my very first website and the two created with training (including the one you are one right now) is night and day. I am so proud of what I have achieved but in a million years I couldn’t have done it without the fantastic training on Wealthy Affiliate (unless perhaps I paid someone $70 per hour and still didn’t learn how to do it for myself!), and the help from the community.

Who is Wealthy Affiliate membership for?

I would say that Wealthy Affiliate membership is for anyone in any of these categories:

1. Needs help building a website
2. Wants to have a go while paying nothing
3. Wants to learn how to be an affiliate marketer
4. Want to know the best options for picking a niche
5. Has a product to retail online

6. Is an experienced affiliate marketer looking to network with others at the top of their game and stay up to date with the latest training

There is a premium membership if you want to take things to the next level, but my advice is to start with the free membership – the value is off the scale and you will have the chance to decide if Platinum membership is appropriate for you.

To read my in-depth review and access the joining instructions, please click here.

Have you ever nearly smashed up your laptop in frustration trying to build a website like me or have you had other challenges? I would love to hear about them in the comments.