Go DIY and Create Your Own Website: Mike’s Tips on Hosting and Site Building Platforms (Premium Post)
This is an article on design and media by Tdot Studio founder Mike Simpson. The full length article is available to premium members (Plus and Pro).
Learning how to build websites and work with web hosting has been an amazing experience. It opened up so many doors for me, from self publishing to website design to marketing my projects in first rate fashion.
I’ve had some ups and downs with it but mostly it’s worked out. I’ve learned a lot about the process and I’d like to share some of my experiences with you.
In this article I will discuss:
- My History with DIY Media and Online Self Publishing
- What I’ve Learned about Web Hosting: Tips and Suggestions
- Why WordPress Beats Squarespace and Wix
DIY Approaches to Publishing and Online Media
I have been a proponent of the DIY approach since high school when I played in rock bands and published independent magazines (aka fanzines). Though I took guitar lessons I taught myself how to write songs, worked with friends, and built bands I was proud of. Later as a high school student the fanzines I put out were a hit. Interviewing bands I admired was a great learning experience and expanded my social world and helped me gain skills in writing, editorial and photography.
In 1998 I was curious about websites and saw an ad in a local tech newspaper from a Toronto based hosting company so I checked it out and decided to sign up.
I used Microsoft Front Page as my first web software. It was inexpensive and let play around. However I quickly recognized the limitations so I got a copy of Dreamweaver, the best rated website design software of the time (owned by Macromedia at the time, it is now owned by Adobe).
In the 2000s I published a few pages to tdot.com which included a web zine devoted to the things I was interested in like music, fashion and street art. This was my creative outlet through the 2000s.
I never quite lost the publishing bug and I founded Tdot Shots, a photography website, in 2018. Many of you may also be familiar with the Instagram page of the same name.
I found that as I learned more about the process, and became less reliant on the host’s support, I wanted to explore website hosting options and get better value from my hosting.
