Websites are great for sharing both business and personal information with other people in an efficient and professional manner. Potentially, the whole world can see engaging articles and interesting photos and videos you post. But in some cases, you may want a little privacy, at least for a while. Then the solution is simple – creating a private website.
Usually, private websites can be used for:
- Your personal journal;
- A wedding or family site to share photos and sensitive information with family and friends;
- For a site under construction when it is not ready for the public;
- A teaching tool for registered students and educators;
- A fully private or semi-private website for marketers where they restrict content (paid or unpaid) to make users want something more;
- A collaborative website for people working on the same project.
There lots of reasons why you may want to privatize your site, or at least some pages, from the scrutiny of the outside world. If you are looking for suggestions and strategies on how to do it right, read this article where we discuss how to make a private website for your business or personal use.
How to Make a Private Website
Want to make a private website or a family blog to share updates with your out-of-town relatives and friends? Technology has made creating a website or a private webpage possible for almost anyone. Most web hosts and website builders allow you to create a website using customizable templates and then select certain privacy settings to allow access only to the users you identify.
Here are the steps you should follow to create a website or a blog and make it private:
- Choose a domain, platform, and hosting;
- Select a customizable template and a plugin to add functionality;
- Take the necessary privacy and security measures;
- Share the URL of your blog and a password with people you want to see it and start posting.
How to Make WordPress Site Private
Thinking about creating a WordPress private blog? The point of blogging is sharing your content, but there are some circumstances when you may want to make WordPress blog private.
There are different approaches to managing access to your WordPress website – you can make all pages completely public, you can restrict access to the whole website, you can create private page on website, and you can use passwords to protect specific posts and pages and allow access only to users with proper credentials.
Here are some tips on how to make WordPress site private.
- Making blog private by choosing the option “Discourage search engines from indexing this site,” you will prevent the major search engines from indexing it into their search engine database, but it will be accessible through the direct URL.
- If you want to make the entire blog private, select Settings on your WordPress dashboard, scroll down to Privacy, and then choose Private your web site settings. Now, only you will be able to see your blog.
- If you want to share your website with certain people, you should click on My Sites on your dashboard, then click on People and choose Add. Now you will be able to add emails of people you want to invite to enter your website.
- You can assign each person a role that will determine what they can do or see on your blog. For example, a Viewer will be able to read your posts and leave comments, and an Administrator will be able to access your blog and make changes, including deleting the posts.
- If you don’t want to make the entire blog private, you can make private only certain posts. When choosing publishing options for your new post, select Visibility, and then select Private. You can also add a password.
- Use plugins, such as Private Content, Absolute Privacy, Elegant Themes, and others to add an additional layer of privacy. Unfortunately, you can’t install plugins on free WordPress.com blogs. They are available only for WordPress.org sites.
How to Make My Website Searchable
For most businesses, creating high-quality blog posts that are visible to all users and search engines is the most effective way to reach marketing goals, for example, increasing traffic, generating leads, and building a brand reputation. But in many cases, a password-protected private blog can be a useful tool, and you can use plugins, such as WP Wishlist and Member Press to make premium content available for customers via login.
How to make my website searchable? If you have a private WordPress website, you will need to make changes in your searches settings to allow Google and other search engines to index it. You will need to uncheck Private web search setting and choose the Public option. You should also uncheck the option “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.”
Search engines will need several weeks (4-6 or more) to start indexing your site. But you can make additional steps to speed the process and make your position higher in search results.
- Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console;
- Include structured markup for different types of content on your site using Schema.org;
- Optimize your content for specific long-tail keywords;
- Write unique meta titles and meta descriptions;
- Make your site mobile-friendly and optimize your images for screens of all sizes;
- Add social share buttons to allow users to share your content on social media.
If you need more tips on how to increase your website visibility and search engine ranking, check the article How To Reduce Blog Bounce Rate.
The Final Word
We hope we have answered your questions, and now you know how to make a private website for free. With so many blogging platforms available, anyone can easily create a private website for personal or professional use, although the selection of the most suitable platform for your specific needs may become a headache. So it helps to read comparisons of the most popular platforms, for example, Blogger vs WordPress, and compare their features to decide which of them is right for you.