My Experience With HTML Code, Wordpress, and Squarespace

This week, I spent some time learning some beginner coding skills on Codeacademy and then on Squarespace and WordPress. I want to share my thoughts on platforms as a beginner and how digital marketers can use all 3.

Codeacademy

I signed up for Codeacademy's free course on HTML and spent around 2 hours progressing through one of the lessons. There are four lessons in which Codeacademy states that it takes about 9 hours to complete. My initial thoughts were that it was quite fun; Codeacademy makes it easy for a beginner like me to learn some basics. Their instructions are self-explanatory, and I didn't find myself running into too many issues or getting stuck. Due to having a relatively limited understanding of code, I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the experience was while teaching an essential skill for marketers..

It started me off with a blank webpage, and by the end, I had created an elementary web page, but a webpage nonetheless.

I then went on to add headings at different levels. <h1> is the largest size of the font from this class, and as the number rises, the size of the font decreases. About Brown Bears, Habitat, and Media are all <h2> which makes them more extensive than the <h3> headings, but smaller than the <h1> main heading.

Next, I studied how to add descriptions and add lists with bullet points or numerical descriptions. When righting lists you have to start with <ul> for unordered lists (bullet points) or <ol> for orders lists(numerical). For the description, you need to add <p> followed by the text under the heading you want and between the <div>. It confused me here because I didn't understand why you couldn't just add text with bullet points instead of the list.

To end the lesson off I was taught how to add images and videos by either adding <img> or <video> to the code following by a link in quotation marks. For the videos, I also had to add the size of the video and the control panel. When I lay the lesson out like this, I'm impressed at how much I learned from the one class. I'm setting a goal to complete the rest of this course and then research others that I can do in my spare time!

Word press

I then wanted to take my newfound skills in web design to see how it would apply to a website like WordPress or Squarespace. I found that WordPress and Squarespace do a lot of the back end work for you. They have achieved success because they've created a platform that allows the average user to create a decent website without needing all the skills. This doesn't mean my newfound skills are useless though, HTML can still be useful for creating emails or when the website designer doesn't have all the customizations you wish for. I plan to keep working on my HTML skills to be equipped as possible when entering the job market.

From the template given to me by Word Press, it was looking like a professional website before I had even started. Compared to the blank white sheet that I had started with on HTML was rather refreshing. From playing around on the platform, I customized almost everything to my liking, which I enjoyed. I also liked how it had areas preset for Blogs, About us, and contact information because this is something every website should have, so it's good to know they recognize that. I'm going to have to check out where I can find a lesson about learning more about the software as a whol

Squarespace

Squarespace was quite similar to WordPress, but in my opinion, it did have a better overall feel, and my experience playing on the website felt smoother. When comparing WordPress to Squarespace, they are very similar. It also automatically gives you a sleek website template with links to about, news, and read me. When I created my free account, I was asked what I was interested in with a list of options to choose from. As you can probably tell, I choose sustainability for mine, and I was very impressed with the template. It even gave me a mission statement and some information about the company that isn't even real. I thought this was a little strange, but it's nice to give the user an idea of what to say/ where to put it. Overall I had an enjoyable time navigating through both software and want to learn more.

How can digital marketers benefit from all 3

When dealing with clients as a digital marketer, it's essential to have a cohesive understanding of your clients' software. This allows you to communicate better with the consumer while offering them a better overall experience. Sounding knowledgeable about the software your clients are using can give them confidence that you know what you're doing, which can be the difference between them choosing your service or not. That is why having a good understanding of all three is one of the best decisions a marketer can make. Even if you don't end up using one a lot, it'll undoubtedly end up coming in handy at some point.