The Creative Career

Jeff Siarto, the new co-author of Head First Web Design (and my boyfriend), shares the best resources for creating or improving your blog, online portfolio or personal website. Listen to the podcast and check out the links below. Start a Basic Blog Although there are many blogging options, we recommend Wordpress.com. It's free to start a blog using yourblogname.wordpress.com. Create a Custom URL To create a custom URL, such as yourblogname.com, you must buy a domain name. These typically run from $10 to $40 per year, although you should generally pay no more than $15 per year for a .com, .net or .org domain. Check out Namecheap or GoDaddy to get started, or look at ICANN's complete list of accredited registrars. You can map the domain name to your Wordpress blog for $10 per year. For more on this, read Domain Registration and Mapping on Wordpress.com We also recommend using a WHOIS Guard-type service to protect your privacy. Namecheap offers a free year with new domain name registrations. Host Your O