Building your Website - Where to Start

It's not that hard to create your own basic website. Photo by Ilya Pavlov on Unsplash

Now that you know you need a website for your business you’re chomping at the bit to get started on creating it--right? 
My recommendation is that you hold your horses!!! I am one of those fools who rushes in and has regrets later (and before you do too much tut-tutting I just want to point out that fools like me have strengths too, we get shit done).  I desperately want to be one of those people who restrains themselves while they perfect every part of their plans (I’m improving, honestly) but I’m not, and I did exactly what I’m advising you not to do. I grabbed the first website-builder platform I found on google search, wrote some very hurried and poorly planned copy and boom, my website was online.  So my website situation was a bit like a speed-dating relationship and it’s working out okay, but I probably could have done better if I’m honest.

So how do you decide between building your own website or getting a Web Developer to build it for you?
One of the major determinants of this will be financial. If you have bucket-loads of money and you can be as free with it as confetti then hire the best Web Developer possible and get yourself the most beautiful and functional website that you can. I’m not trying to throw shade at Web Developers here by the way, you can get a huge range of prices and specialties among web-development professionals who will deliver what you need for your business.  I would definitely employ the services of a graphic designer and web developer if my business required it.  

The more complex needs your business has the more likely it is that you’re going to need a website designer to build your website for you.
You should start by thinking about what sort of website you need, for instance, do you need a shop, are you wanting to automate some processes like invoicing etc?  Knowing what your needs are as well as your future plans will help you narrow down your options.

Some things to consider when you are choosing a Web Designer are:

• Who will own the website?
• Who can update your website content? 
• Will there be a charge for updating  web content?
• How much will the whole website build cost?
• What are the ongoing costs of maintenance of your website?
• What happens if you want to end your relationship with your Web Developer? (we want pre-nup)

For more information about how to choose a good Web Developer, this blog should fill in the gaps for you.

If you’ve decided that you can, or have to, build your website yourself then you have a plethora of options to choose from for your website builder.
If you want to make a measured decision to select the best platform for your needs and not the speed-dating style selection I made then I suggest doing your research.  There are heaps of articles with information out there about the pro’s and con’s of different platforms.  I’ve selected this article to share with you because it ranks the most popular ones and tells you everything you need to know about what sort of website they’re appropriate for. 

​You will find that Wordpress is the most popular web-building platform and often used by developers. 
The drawback with this, and the thing that made me avoid it, is that it takes a bit more technical nouse to build on this platform (though I think this is improving all the time) but ultimately it is probably worth pushing through the pain and doing it anyway.  I didn’t, but hindsight being 20/20 and all that, I would totally choose it now.

I chose Weebly for mine which ranks at number seven on the Best Website Builder in 2019 chart.  And, like I said before--it’s okay. It is easy to use with drag and drop functionality, has a good selection of templates and I have had minimal problems trying to achieve what I want on there.  The downside is that it can be a little restrictive and apparently can be a bit problematic with SEO (if you don’t know what that is, don’t worry, I’ll write a blog about it in the future--you're welcome).

Where do you start? 
Well, regardless of whether you’re building your own website or employing an agency or web developer you will still will need to gather some resources.  I did a poor job of this initially but once again a small amount of getting yourself organised ahead of time will pay big dividends in the end.  

You can build your own website with beautiful professional looking logos
I had a graphic designer create my logo and when I replaced the absolutely shit one I had initially made with the beautiful one the designer made I felt so much more pride and legitimacy in my business.  If you’re strapped for cash and you can only afford a small amount of outsourcing then I’d recommend spending it there.  

You’re  going to need some high-quality photos  
Do not use shit photos on your website. We’re not arguing about this, just don’t do it.  If you don’t want to employ the services of a photographer to create a good selection of photos for you then at least get some high-quality stock photos online.  I can’t remember where the one on my home-page came from but in general I use Unsplash for their free photo library.

You’re going to need a domain name too 
That's the www.yournamehere.co.nz address, the address of your website so choose wisely.  This article will tell you everything you need to know about selecting a good web host where you'll be able to buy your domain name and host your website. It's sort of like choosing a theme for a party and then a place to host your party.

 What will you write on your website? 
How will you tell your customers what you do?  How will you make it sound interesting? This is where you need to really juice yourself for every drop of creative writing /marketing expertise that you’ve got.  Here’s some help to get you on your way by way of another article not written by me. If you’d like to have a fairy godmother turn-up and take the pain out of writing your boring and ineffective web content then you should:
Hire a top-notch copywriter who knows a thing or two about writing web content. 
I know of a great one--it’s me.  Contact me here to get started.  Tell your friends.  Follow me on Facebook here, or keep an eye out for the next handy blog so that you can learn all the tips and tricks to DIY it!