Coding: Let's End the Stigma
Since I started my first blog for #wwudigimark, I've shown you all about the different forms of content, search engines, online advertising, and so much more. Today, let's talk about the behind the scenes of how websites can function. That's right, coding! You might be intimidated by coding, but it's important to get your hands dirty in coding to improve your value as a digital marketer. Through Codeacademy, I had so much fun building my own website through the HTML course. Even worse, there is so much out there saying girls can't code because it is only for the smartest men. Well, that is so wrong! From this blog and the sources I hyperlinked (that you should definitely check out if you haven't) I can help you go from this confused, intimidated feeling to confident and educated.
With that being said, if you aren't feeling like this (like you just won the Stanley Cup) after reading this blog, I probably failed.
By being able to edit the copy directly via the HTML through CSS makes you more effective and efficient. If you don't know how, you would always depend on a developer and end up distracting the development team. Furthermore, it is crucial to consider the size of your business, which ways you need your website to function, and your coding abilities when setting up a company website. Today I will be exploring three platforms that can help create and manage your website: Codeacademy, Squarespace, and Wordpress.
Codecademy
Codecademy is an online platform for learning how to code and expanding on your coding skills. There are a lot of courses offered by Codeacademy, from HTML, Javascript, Python, and plenty more. For this blog, I am taking the course on HTML. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. Before we get much deeper, let's first discuss the anatomy of an HTML:
- An opening tag <p>
- The content ("Hello World!"
- A closing tag </p>
An HTML element is the tag and the content between. To grasp this idea better, let's break up the elements of this HTML:
- HTML Element: a unit of content in an HTML document formed by HTML tags and the text or media it contains
- HTML Tag: The element name, surrounded by an opening (<) and closing (>) angle bracket
- Opening Tag: The first HTML tag used to start an HTML element. The tag type is surrounded by opening and closing angle brackets
- Content: The information (text or other elements) contained between the opening and closing tags of an HTML element.
- Closing Tag: The second HTML tag used to end an HTML element. Closing tags have a forward slash (/) inside of them, directly after the left angle bracket.
You must use the <body> and closing </body> tags for all text you want displayed on your website. To expand on this with an example, HTML elements can be nested inside other elements, the correct term being a "parent" and "child". Below is a detailed example of this feature.
By completing this section, I made a whole website including headings, images, alt text, videos, and italics/bold text. Here is a few screenshot of the website I coded!
Codecademy is a valuable tool to teach yourself how to build websites from ground zero. With so many courses available, you can fix up rusty skills, teach yourself new ones, or get better at coding overall. Seriously, I was intimidated by coding before I got onto Codecademy and got my hands dirty.
What if Coding is not for you?
Don't click off yet! There are alternatives out there like Squarespace and Wordpress to get your website started without complicated coding.
Squarespace
Alright, I'll say it again. If you haven't heard of Sqaurespace through a promotional ad on social media... I am shocked! Through podcasts like Jenna & Julians and Rhett & Link's Ear Biscuits, I have heard time and time again of the easy website building platform called Squarespace.
Features of Squarespace:
- Blogs
- Forums
- Webinars
- Help guides
- A domain name
- e-commerce features
Here are a few examples of pre-made templates that are easy to customize to your needs!
WordPress
WordPress is a SAAS (software as a service) platform similar to Squarespace that helps you customize their website templates to your liking. Some key features of Wordpress is the ability to build a website, obtain a domian, plan and create your website, optimize SEO, and track analytics. There is an option to pay a monthly subscription for Self-hosted WordPress. This feature has a lot more complexities, like the WordPress software you download onto your web servers. This option is best for large companies that need larger websites that are easy to edit or update.
Here is an example of various themes/templates WordPress has available for use:
WordPress in its host format is very similar to Squarespace in its aim to be easy to use and simple to use for those who have no web development experience and minimizes the opportunity to 'break' the software. However, WordPress is overall known to be more challenging to use than Squarespace, often requiring more configurations. Think of WordPress as a step up from Squarespace, but not yet near a page like Codecademy where you would craft your entire page from scrap.
As with Squarespace, WordPress also hosts a fair number
Lets Compare: Codecademy, Squarespace, WordPress
Differences
Codecademy:
- Exclusively educational services/programs
- Large range of courses involving coding topics
Squarespace:
- Easier to use than WordPress
- Great option for beginners
- Includes fully coded website templates that can be customized
- For users without web development skills
WordPress:
- Themes can be customized if users can code (more functionality than Squarespace's websites)
- Need a little bit more experience with coding/web development
- Open-source platform
Using All Three Platforms as a Digital Marketer
Essentially no matter what level of coding skills you have, there are options to meet you where you are. If you're new to coding or looking to touch up old skills, Codecademy is a great start. Even more, lets say you're a college student looking to gain skills for the workforce: Codecademy! At the end of the day, whether you're in the process of learning to code or need a quick functional website-you can always start on Squarespace. Once you're more comfortable with the concept of using coding to build websites from nothing, you can move on to WordPress. The company's Self-Hosted program could be a valuable asset for your own business.
Business Marketing Major
4 年This was so well written and funny Erin! Great job