A lot of people choose not to have a website because they believe they have nothing to put there. I believe they think this because they equate “having a website” with “having a blog”. But this isn’t the case! An IndieWeb site for example is nothing more than having your own domain where you have published something to it. That something could be anything! Sure, a lot of websites do have some sort of “blog” component where the site owner publishes new content at some interval but this is not a required characteristic for a website. There is in fact a lot of really fun things you can do with a website without ever needing to post content in “blog” format. In fact, the IndieWeb itself is not about blogging, it’s about you.

So what can we put on a website if not a blog? Blogging is afterall, time consuming and expectation-laden. So instead, let’s do some simpler, more fun things that I believe almost anyone has to share.

  • About: Start with an “about” page! There is no standard format, just write whatever you want to share about who you are, what you like, what the site is about, really anything!
  • Blogroll: A “blogroll” is a simple page meant to share and link to other sites on the web that you like. If you’re on the Internet, there has got to be places you enjoy going. Typically this focuses on other indie sites but you’re free to share whatever you like!
  • Ideas: An “ideas” page (typically located at [site]/ideas) is also a simple concept. Just list any ideas you have for your site, for other projects you have, for things in your life or just ideas in general. There is again, no real format. Just what ideas do you have!
  • Notes*: A “note” is basically just any short piece of writing. Notes are to a site, what a post is to a microbloging site like Mastodon or Twitter. The idea is that any silly little 10 word post that you might drop on social media you could also publish as a “note” on your site. So consider instead of having traditional full-length “blog” posts, you could instead microblog directly on your site. Publish whatever you like, no matter how long it is. It doesn’t need to be well-researched or even coherent. It is your site and you can just note things into the Internet void. The concept of a note allows people to effectively “blog” without all the expectation that comes with normal blogging.
  • Now: A “now” page is probably one of the best IndieWeb additions to a site that anyone can do. A now page (typically located at [site]/now) is a place for you to write about or list just things you are up to currently. What are you listening to, working on, reading, watching, learning, thinking about, or just “doing” in general. Everyone is doing something, so you can just put it on this page! It isn’t really meant to be serious so there is no real expectation. Just a fun thing to do.
  • Social Links: A simple feature for an IndieWeb site. Just put some links to other places you exist on the web. Social media sites, email, whatever!
  • Uses: A “uses” page is where you share anything you are using. What software, what tools, what kitchen appliances, literally anything. Everyone uses things, so you can write about them or simply list them out here! (A Uses page is typically located at [site]/uses)

So as you can see, even without a blog, you can share a rich set of things on a personal site. You can update these single pages when you feel like it, and make them uniquely yours as none of them really have any expected format. Make the site yours, the web is ours.

If you've gone ahead and made your site but are looking for more inspiration or things to do, you could read about why I blog, a list of other things to add to your site, using your site as your identity, other website content types and really all other things I write about blogging. Have fun!