Why should every student have their own website
Did you know that according to a recent article by job search expert Susan Joyce, 80% of employers will use Google before an interview? What will they find?
Will this potential employer find a bunch of social media profiles with photos of your awesome spring break trip with friends, or will he find a targeted search that highlights what you want him to see?
Employers don’t look that far – you are probably one of hundreds of applicants. But what they want to see is something special – and if that “something” matches your resume.
This is why creating your own website as a student is a no-brainer. When you graduate from college, having your own website becomes your home – an online resume, a gateway to “you” and a place to showcase your work.
Why every student needs a website
You might be thinking, “I have a LinkedIn profile, isn’t that enough? No. This is just a starting point.
You need a website because you need a base for yourself. What would happen if LinkedIn went the MySpace route? What would happen if Facebook went bankrupt? When you depend on other sites, you are at their mercy. If you created your website as an undergraduate or graduate student, you now have your own part of the online real estate world that you can keep forever.
Here are some potential benefits of creating your own website:
1. You own your own online brand
When you create your website using your name, Google will probably rank that website as the best result for your name (unless you have the same name as a celebrity, in which case you might struggle). So you can control your brand online, as most users only click on the first two results – and probably only browse to the first page.
Studies show that the first result in Google gets 32.5% of clicks. Your website must be there if people are searching for your name. The second result gets only 17.6% and the third 11.4% of clicks. It should be the most attractive social media profile, such as LinkedIn or Twitter.
This is how you control your brand.
2. You can find a new job more easily
Since 80% of employers will Google your name, having an attractive website helps employers show that you care about your business. With the right website, a potential employer can learn more about you, see examples of your work, and get a sense of who you are.
If your resume and other social profiles match, it will be easier to find a new job, even if you get your first job once you finish your studies.
3. You can brag
Your website is the real place where you can showcase yourself and show what you stand for.
Think about it – even if you’re in college today, a good website will have:
- A photo (or several photos) of you
- Resume page
- A place to share your achievements
- Links to your other social profiles
- Contact form
All of these are great ways to show what you’ve done. You may have done many exercises (show pictures of these exercises as well as what you learned). You may have done volunteer work and had some great experiences. You may have a file Secondary activity That you want to highlight and this shows that you have an entrepreneurial spirit.
4. You may want to do more in the future.
When you have your own domain name, you can use it for anything you want. Today, it can be a great foothold for finding a job after college. It can be a website of tomorrow that forms the cornerstone of your business.
The truth is that the web is growing with about 55,000 new domains (your website URL) per day. If you want to own your own name online, you need to buy it ASAP. Buy a domain really cheap – hosting Offers you a free domain name when you sign up! So there is no reason to wait to create your own student website.
Creating a website for students is easy
It may sound intimidating, but creating a basic student website is really easy. It takes about 15 minutes, and you’ll be ready to go.
There are three main steps we’ve simplified below, followed by creating your site’s content.
1. Buy a domain name
Your domain name is your URL. For example, the domain name for this website is dofinpro.com. Ideally, this should be your full name. If you can’t get your first and last name, try variations with a middle name or middle initial.
To buy your own domain name, this is the first question to ask when creating your Hostinger hosting account. We recommend hosting They make it easy to create a website and get a domain name! In addition, it is only 2.99 € per month!
2. Set up a web hosting account
The next step is to find a web hosting account. This is the server that will host your website. Think of it as an online hard drive somewhere. You don’t want to use your own computer, as it is usually not well set up to host a website.
We recommend you hosting to host your site. They regularly offer special offers and now you can create your own website for only €2.75 per month. Trusted by some of the biggest bloggers and publishers on the web.
The important thing to remember is that you can cancel or modify your hosting at any time, and you will keep your domain name. So don’t think you are limited to this solution.
3. Install and configure your website
Finally, you need to install and configure your website. Hostinger’s web hosting account, which we talked about above, sets up your basic website for you. All you have to do is customize the look and create the content.
Dictate appearance by subjects. There are many free themes, which you can find by going to Appearance -> Themes, or you can purchase a premium theme. When people talk about having someone build a website, they’re usually talking about paying someone to create a custom theme for their site. You don’t need to pay, there are plenty of free and inexpensive options out there.
4. Create content for your student site
Once you have a theme, you need to create the content. The main content pillars should be:
Welcome page / home page: You need to think about the first impressions of potential employers or readers who come to your site. What do you want them to see? A good way to introduce your site to visitors is to show them a professional picture of yourself and give them some basic information about you.
resume page: As it should be, you can create a resume page that highlights your work experience. As a student or recent graduate, you can also include volunteer opportunities and clubs you’ve attended.
industrial content: It may seem odd for a student to put up their own website, and it’s not mandatory. But if you have something to share regarding the sector you want to get into, it can be very helpful. For example, maybe you wanted to get into web design and worked as a freelancer while in college. You can create a blog on your website where you share information about freelance web design. This can help show potential employers (or even future clients) that you mean business.
contact information : Finally, be sure to include a contact form so people can contact you, as well as links to any relevant social media profiles. This is important – there may be other people out there with the same name as you, so make sure you have a link to your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles.
How do you maximize the impact of your website?
The Internet has become one of the pillars of everyone’s life. You can use it daily (if not hourly) to keep up with the news, connect with friends, and research potential employers. Well guess what, the person hiring you does the same! However, it will connect you to the Internet.
Once you’ve created your website, you’ll need to focus on maximizing its impact. This means connecting it to all of your social profiles, and having all of your social profiles connected to your website. By building this relevance wheel around your name, you will be the first Google search result when someone searches for your name.
This means that you need to make sure that your profiles are up to date on the following major social media sites:
- FB
- Youtube
By having an updated profile, that is
- Use the same profile picture on all social networks and on your website
- Try to use the same color schemes if possible
- Link properly to your personal website
- Remove any potentially controversial information from your social pages (including text messages, comments, and photos)
If you do all this, when people search for your name online, your website and social networks will appear in the top Google results, and your potential employer will be impressed.