I do lots of things: I write, host podcasts, take photos, and more. I wanted a way to provide a simple overview of my work that I could link to from my Twitter and Instagram profiles, and put in my email signature. Dave Mark, who is the executive editor of The Loop, and co-hosts The Dalrymple Report podcast, with Jim Dalrymple, mentioned Carrd to me. It hosts single-page websites that you can use to present a profile, a product, or literally anything that doesn’t require a full website.
I have a website, of course; this one. But when someone follows a link in a profile to a website with a couple thousand articles, and a dozen pages, it doesn’t succinctly say everything I do. On my About page, I list many of the things I do, but it’s a bit wordy. And I also wanted a more personal domain, so I chose mcelhearn.me.
Carrd, on the other hand, cuts out the cruft. I opted for a pretty classic design: some words, a link to my website, and three icons, with links to Twitter, Instagram, and email. Below them is a list of podcasts I produce, with their artwork and links to their sites (and I’ll be announcing another cool podcast soon, so I’ll add it when it goes live). Below them is a list of my most recent books, with their covers, and, finally, a form through which anyone can send me email.
It’s fully responsive, has a couple of dozen templates, and has a design interface that is quite flexible, though it takes a while to fully understand how elements fit together. There are three tiers, priced at $9, $19, and $49 a year. I opted for the second one, Pro Standard, which allows me to use a custom domain, and has some other useful features. With these plans, you can create from three to 25 sites, using custom domains or hosted on carrd.co.
I may use this service for some other simple websites; it’s flexible and fun to set up. If you need a digital business card, or any other single-page website, check out Carrd.
(Yes, that’s a referral link, which will save me a couple of bucks on my next renewal. Thanks in advance if you do sign up for the service through my link.)