Creating my website was a little overwhelming (lol). I don’t have much experience with piecing together tabs, design, linking pages, images, etc., so figuring out how everything should look, and function was a challenge. But after a lot of trial and error, I made it work and learned so much along the way.
Choosing a Domain Name
The domain name was one of the hardest things to figure out. I wanted something that wasn’t a boring educational blog but something I could truly own as my brand. It needed to be short, catchy, and feel like me.
I went through so many names:
The list went on and on. I spent days going back and forth, asking friends and family for their thoughts. My mom gave me her side-eye when I mentioned names like CruzMKT.com, saying, "I mean… it’s okay, but it should feel more like you."
If you didn’t know, my full name is Paulina Cruz, and people often call me Pau (pronounced like "Pow," like a comic book punch). After sitting with it for way too long, and being very stressed, trying to think too outside of the box, I asked myself:"Why am I making this so complicated? Why can’t it just be simply Pau.com?"
I thought it over in my head “Simplypau.com… that’s perfect”. I rush to the computer and when I noticed if it was available - I bought it on the spot.
Plug-ins & Google Analytics
Since I’ll be writing blogs and growing a newsletter, I needed Google Analytics to track everything from website views, visitors, time on page, click through rates, etc.
Since I didn’t know how to install it, I asked my friends and family. Everyone I asked told me, "It’s super easy!"—but it wasn’t. Somehow, I had a demo account stuck to my Google Analytics, and I couldn’t remove it. This made setting everything up way harder than it needed to be.
I spent days watching YouTube tutorials and even ChatGPT’ing solutions. Eventually, after some random clicking (and luck), I found an article that showed me how to remove the demo account. After that, everything else was simple.
Website Design & Structure
To keep myself from getting stuck or waste time, I made a framework, or a guide, first. I got most of my content ready so that when I figured out the design, I could just copy and paste instead of starting from scratch. If I hadn’t done this, I’d probably still be deciding where things should go or what to say.
My Design Approach:
I looked at other websites for inspiration, and although I liked the style of most, it wasn’t what I wanted for mine. I noticed some complex tabs, too much information, and images/colors that made it hard pay attention to the actual content.
I didn’t exactly know what I wanted, but what I was of, was the following:
Keep it simple – I wanted a clean, easy-to-navigate website with no more than five tabs (right now, I have four).
Make navigation easy – There are 3-4 buttons at the bottom of each page that take you to the homepage, blog, about me, and newsletter signup. Depending on where you go, it’s easy to get back to other pages.
Choose colors that feel like me – My warm brown color scheme was inspired by two of my favorite things:
My dog, Maya 🐶
Coffee ☕
I wanted my site to feel cozy, welcoming, and not intimidating—like sitting down with a cup of coffee and having a conversation.
I’m not a graphic designer, so figuring all this out took time. But the more I worked on it, the more I started to understand what looked and felt right. As I grow, I know I’ll learn and add more things along the way.
Lessons Learned & Tips – From Me to You:
Don’t overthink it – Whether it’s your domain name or website layout, keep it simple. You can always tweak things later.
Ask for feedback but trust yourself – Friends and family will have opinions, but at the end of the day, it has to feel right to you.
Plan before you start building – Having a rough idea of what you want before diving in will save so much time.
Tech issues will happen—be patient and prepared – If something isn’t working, keep looking for a fix. There’s always a way, although it might take some time.
Look at other websites for inspiration – Seeing what works on other sites can help you figure out what you like and don’t like.
Pick colors and design that represent you – Your website is an extension of you, so make sure it feels like it. Just make sure it’s not too distracting from your content.
Make navigation easy – If people have to search too hard for things, they’ll leave. Keep it simple and intuitive.
Be open to changes – Your first version won’t be perfect, and that’s fine. You’ll make improvements as you go.
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