Five Things Teacher Should Have: The Studio Website

Note: As I've been getting the ball rolling on a bunch of business-related stuff this week, I got to thinking about what advice I would give new teachers, and I ended up coming up with a list of five things that I think every new teacher should have (or at least look into). For the next few weeks, I will be blogging this series along with my regularly scheduled posts! I hope that this advice can be of help to some of you.


I have a confession: when I started teaching, having a website was the farthest thing from my list of needs. Sure, I thought it would be nice, but I didn't think it was entirely necessary, and (I justified) it would just be another expense. However, as time passed, my opinions began to change for two reasons:

1. I received e-mail after e-mail asking the exact same questions

2. I realized that I always checked out the website before using the services or purchasing the products a business offered.

Having decided it was time to do something, I set out to find an economical and easy to maintain webpage. I have some basic skills with HTML, but (to be honest) I didn't (and still don't) have the time or energy to invest in building a webpage from scratch. Additionally, I wanted something that would give me a professional domain name, for a low cost, without any ads.

Impossible, right? I thought so, too. However, I've discovered that this isn't the case.

I built my website through Webs.com. Webs allows individuals and small businesses to create webpages for free with a domain name like rebeccawmusic.webs.com (which do have ads) or upgrade their package to a custom domain name (mine is www.rebeccawmusic.com) for $19.95 a year (that's about what I charge for one lesson)! Editing is simple, too, just drag and drop. Weebly.com has similar features and allows you to have a free spot on the web (just like Webs does) or upgrade to a pro account with a custom domain name for $3.99 a month (assuming you sign up for a year).

In this day and age, there are so many options and choices for creating webpages - even for those who are not technologically savvy! Take the time to look into it, because even setting up a webpage with just your contact information, a short bio and a photograph or two, goes a long way in making you look like the professional you are!