Wasn't it a good year? croons Scott Walker in my head, all day on December 31. Of course it was. But I'm still barrelling into 2024 with oodles of resolve.
One of my goals: Rebuild my personal website, DeborahCarver.com, which fell off the internet in 2023 because I wasn't paying attention to acquisitions and billing and administration and whoops! The whole site (which hadn't been redesigned since 2015 anyway) just fell off.
Personal websites are deeply important to me because they're one of the last remnants of the truly free web. On your own website, you're not beholden to social platforms, and algorithms can be an afterthought. You have control over your personal brand and business—all while proving that you have the chops to work online.
So I'm rebuilding my site from scratch, and I'm inviting you to build your personal website along with me.
And for the next few days, existing Content Technologist subscribers can nab 50% off the annual membership.
Let's Build a Website in 2024
Let's Build a Website will be a free weekly livestream every Wednesday at 6:30PM Eastern, wherein I build a website in real time. If you want to follow along for free and get notified of upcoming streams each week, subscribe on YouTube or Twitch.
And if you want to build along with me, I'm running sharing my notes, transcripts and hosting some community features over on the Let's Build a Website Substack.
I've recorded a few lo-fi preview episodes for the past few weeks, so if you're interested, take a look at how I built a placeholder landing page; the development of our project plan; or just me riffing, admittedly bleary post-holiday, on why websites are important. These lo-fi preview episodes are a little more free-wheeling than what I'm planning for the new year, but they'll give you a sense of what it'll be like to build a website each Wednesday alongside me.
Want to get started? Sign up by January 3 with this subscriber-only link for 50% off the year-long course. By the end of 2024 you'll have:
- A new website that you built yourself
- Templates and best practices to help you maintain your new website, sustainably
- A deeper understanding of digital ecosystems
- A place outside social media platforms to host your writing or other digital endeavors
The Content Technologist newsletter resumes January 4
If you're just here for the professional development and deep thoughts on content strategy, that's on the way as well. The Content Technologist newsletter will resume January 4 on its new twice-monthly schedule.
Wasn't it a good year? Sure, sure. But '24 has its own promise. Let's use it to make the internet a better place, filled with kickass websites.
Cheers to the new year!
–DC