Do you still have your very first website?

[terrapin719]

[tknoppe]

[angienewton]

[lisamariemary]

What a wonderful and fun set of questions, Retta!!!

Ok, such a bummer - the internet archive doesn't have my geocities - weird. And bummer. Well, it has it as it is in its current rendition - which was a vote-beggar for me and some other gals for a top sites list: http://www.geocities.com/patsmomlisa/ I think they were gals I'd met on Ryze or something.

What that really had started out as was the original My Very Own Mail. So wish the archive had it!!!

The archive does have a pretty early version of the actual My Very Own Mail, for our viewing pleasure! Hahaha! http://web.archive.org/web/200310181928 ... nmail.com/

Ok, dorky as all get out, but, I have to say - I still love those darn ABC blocks-cursor-chasers!!! Hahaha - I know, they're annoying. But really - can you resist playing with them? LOL

Awwww! There's an adorable picture of Sammie on the About page! I miss that sweet sweet girl! (Yes, she's hormonal and sorta grumpy now...)

I think I started the site originally (on Geocities) in about May 2003.

It is my 'mail for kids' business. And literacy/education-promoting site.

Since I've had it hosted on Yahoo all this time, and using the handicap of their sitebuilder (which is super fun and easy, btw) ....I haven't learned as much as I could have. I started out learning html, then discovered their sitebuilder - which is drag and drop. It's made some of the pages really messed up and it slowed my learning down considerably. I've been meaning to change hosts for a while now, but, the comfort of the familiar (though it is often uncomfortable) of Yahoo is hard to walk away from.

I know I need to JUST DO IT. For Heaven's sakes - it is 13bux/month for only one site.

I've learned all kinds of other, non-web-design things since then, though - all kinds of marketing stuff, SEO, networking and since digging into the backend of blogger and wordpress - even some web design stuff again.

Seriously - this site is my baby - I could go on and on all night about it, and the travels I've made online since then - it's like those songs through high school - you knew at what point in your HS days you were when each song came out/when each song was popular. And this site has been with me almost all the way through my time online. So it's my gauge - just like those HS songs...and it's my baby. And I could really talk forever about it.

So that is why I am now choosing to shut my mouth on this topic and 'hand the mike' over to someone else!

Thanks for the great topic, Retta! I hope you're gonna share, too!!!

[nar321]

No, my first site was created and owned by the developer because I was stupid enough to host everything at the same sitei.e. domain name and web hosting plus he created a lot of the content too. Never sold anything in spite of all of this. I also at that time was paying $200 a month to be in a private Forum which also did me little if any good. There's one born every minute(suckers, that is)

[ConnieFoggles]

[Oregon Coast Guy]

[TorontoCarol]

My personal blog at carolbremner.com has been there since 2004, but it's gone from a blogger blog to a wp one and looks a lot better now. But I still don't update it as often as I should.

[mellymom3]

[terrapin719]

I guess I should answer my own questions too -lol- I love seeing what everyone started off with.

My first website is still online and has grown and changed in so many ways. was my first online website. I had a lot of guidance and help from friends on what niche to build my first site in.

How old is it? Amazingly, I've had Stitching the Night Away online since 2001! I can't believe it sometimes myself.

What's it about? Cross stitch and crafts. Including some of my own designs offered for free.

How has it grown? It's grown in so many ways! I've added to it over the years, articles, patterns, information, gadgets and gizmos! There's a blog on a subdomain .... which I've been thinking about moving into a directory folder instead.

What did you learn from creating it and having it all this time? So much! I learned about ad placement, practiced HTML, and learned that color and graphics really do matter a lot! A simple change in my design tripled my Adsense income last year.

[mellymom3]

wow! tripled your adsense income? that is perfect. The first website I created was in 2001 as well. It was called KDB Business Services. I was a VA. After about a year of barely making enough money online to pay for hosting and advertising, I deleted the site. Now I kinda wish I hadn't....

Good for you though. It definitely pays over time.