It’s easier than ever to put up your own website. But who should be interested?

If any of the following describes you:

Business owner,

You are planning to start a business,

Employee,

Have a hobby,

Or are opinionated about any subject

If any of these are true, you should strongly consider starting your own website.

Owners of an existing business: every day, more people are online than the day before. If you do not have something to offer them, your business will suffer.

You are planning to start a business: start on the right foot and make a website an integral part of your marketing plan right from the start.

You work for someone else. As an employee, you should be aware of the two different kinds of websites that might be helpful to you.

First, as an employee you should start a personal site in which you demonstrate your expertise. It doesn’t matter what field: accounting, plumbing, remodeling; almost any field would work. A blog is perfect for this kind of site. When you go looking for another job in the future, you can point to your site as proof that you know your stuff.

Second, if you are employed by a medium to large size company, you can start a site dealing with some aspect of the company. One possibility would be to chronicle the history of the corporation. Work on it in your spare time (not “on the clock”) and eventually let your superior know about your project. This will position you as a knowledgeable employee and set you apart from everyone else.

Hobbyists: a website is an optimal way of letting the rest of cyberspace know what you are up to.

Social commentator: if you feel strongly for or against some topic, a website can help spread the word far and wide.