How can you use your personal website to build your professional network?

For long term viability it is probably best to use your full name. The exception is when your name is very hard to spell. On the other hard few people will be typing your web address in the browser, people will be clicking on a link from your social or some other source. Your career focus can chance in the future, so if you pick "RNAexpert.com" and then shift your career focus it will work against you.

Generally speaking, it’s easy to start a website on any platform you feel comfortable with (there are plenty of beginner-friendly options). But first thing first: If you don’t have a personalized domain name, you can’t have a proper personal website.

By showcasing your expertise, projects, and contact information, your personal website can serve as a professional portfolio that attracts potential collaborators, employers, and industry connections.

Build a designer-made, industry-specific website without any design or coding skills using one of the best user-friendly website builders. It comes equipped with built-in marketing tools to improve your SEO and increase online visibility. Upgrade to an ecommerce plan to start selling online and manage everything from site updates, email and social campaigns, to orders in one convenient place.

Unless you are someone with web design experience, it is best to just use a provider that has available templates. These templates will work well on both desktop and mobile, which is critical. Avoid using too many stock photos, it makes the website looking sterile and fake.

Here are some ideas when creating content... Optimize for Mobile: Capture the vast mobile audience by ensuring your website shines on both desktop and mobile devices. Speed is Essential: Keep page loading times under 3 seconds to retain visitors and boost your Google ranking, as speed is a top factor for user experience and search visibility. Streamline Navigation: Users favor easy navigation, aiming for a three-click rule to find what they need swiftly. Simplify your site's layout to enhance usability and attract more search engine traffic. Make your site a magnet for users and search engines! ??

Before starting think about what is the purpose of the site. Is it to be an information resource for people in the biotech industry? Or is it just an personal ad for you? - People don't generally like to spend a lot of time looking at ads that they don't have to look at. If the site is meant as a resource, treat it as such, look at it from point of you of your customers to make is as useful as possible. Include a lot of relevant text for search engine optimization.

The website is just a part of your personal brand. The other parts is social media (linkedin, twitter,...). Up to date content is best served on the socials, but you can post the same content on your website as well. But this view is pretty outdated, people don't go to personal websites for up to date info.

If you have big goals for your website, you could build a forum section on it. It will have to compete with big forum sites like reddit, but it might work because: Your site might be extremely focused on one topic and lack the large number of trolls and spammers present on the big forum platforms.

This is very important to do when you are starting out because you already have people interested in what you have to say. It will also help with the amount of eyes see the content that you are speaking about instead of just sharing your thoughts with your network in person.

To grow your network on your personal site: Create compelling content to showcase your expertise. Optimize your site for SEO to increase visibility. Integrate with social media to drive traffic. Offer newsletter subscriptions for updates. Collaborate with professionals for wider reach. Engage with visitors to build a community. Use analytics to understand and refine strategies. Post regularly to keep the audience engaged. Participate in forums and communities. Host webinars to attract and connect with a broader audience.

Question whether you actually need a personal website. LinkedIn is a great place to build your personal brand, share stories and insights!

I had my first personal website when Geocities was still giving free HTML hosting and now I still have my personal website but it is no longer the key resource for my networking purpose. To network you have to be at the place where people you want to connect “hang out”, and LinkedIn is one of those places. I keep my personal website for some serious thoughts and journaling (I don’t do often these days)!