Building a website is for developers only? The answer is NO. It is too expensive and complicated to make it by yourself? Not any more. Some years ago you couldn’t have imagined creating your online business without a developer and a web designer. It was a tiring and expensive process.
Luckily, things have changed recently. Creating a website doesn’t require any developer skills and you don’t have to know anything about programming or web design to make your site, blog, or online shop.
But let’s be clear! We still need developers and web designers when we want something complex and unique. When you want a completely customized website that is built according to your needs, you need a developer to make a website from scratch by using some of the program languages.
Before you start making your site, there are some things you need to do in order to be well-organized. Put on the piece of paper everything you need for your website. Make a list of some very important questions. The answers to these questions will help you know what kind of site you need and how should it look like.
- What is the main goal of the site?
- Who are the clients?
- What keywords and phrases do you want to rank with?
- Who is your competition?
- What makes you different from your competition?
- What is your unique offer, a unique selling proposition?
- What kind of design do you like?
Now that you answered all these questions you can move further. There are two essential things you need in order to start building your website: Domain and Hosting.
What is a Domain?
A domain is a unique internet address for your website. It is what people type into the URL bar in order to access your website.
Tips for choosing the right domain:
- Stick to .com domain, it is the most popular and many people instinctively type .com in search engines. It is easier to brand and promote and it can be used to create almost any kind of your site.
- Keep it short, simple, and memorable. Your clients need to recognize your brand immediately, so make it easy to remember and simple to type.
- Use keywords for your domain name. In that way you help Google find out easier what your site is about.
- Avoid double letters because it is easier to misspell, and especially avoid hyphens because it can make your site look spammy.
- Don’t wait too long. When you find your ideal domain, buy it immediately because someone else can be quicker and you will lose it. Confirm its availability and purchase it through a domain registrar, such as domain.com, godaddy.com, etc.
What is hosting?
Choose a host from your website. Every site needs one. It’s a server where all of the data is kept and available to the public at all times. Good hosting can influence a lot on the speed of your website which is very important for your ranking on Google.
Some hosting companies include a free domain name when you buy hosting from them. They also offer easy WordPress installation. You literally need one click for that. Just follow the steps.
On the other hand, Squarespace and Wix have their own web hosting included in their web builder platforms’ monthly prices. It can be useful for your business too, and much simple for you.
As you can see, there are different website building platforms, and by choosing them you can choose hosting more easily.
Website Building Platforms
There are so many ways to build a website, but which platform is ideal for you to choose? If you’re just getting started and researching a little bit, you certainly come across WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. These are some of the most popular website-building platforms.
First of all, WordPress is Content Management System (CMS). It has a backend system that can handle a variety of content, such as email lists, subscriptions, video links, and so on.
Read how to make a WordPress Website
Wix is a basic drag-and-drop website builder that is easy to use, but it has a higher cost, is not ideal for larger projects, and it is impossible to transfer your website out if the need arises.
Squarespace is a content management system (CMS) that is all-in-one. It also has predetermined templates that can be customized according to your needs. Squarespace is a visually beautiful website builder that makes constructing stunning websites simple, but it comes at a higher monthly fee and lacks a migration feature.
How Much Does a WordPress Website Cost?
WordPress is the world’s most popular free website platform. About 42% of all the websites on the internet use this platform, which makes it one of the best, easiest and cheapest solutions for your website. But it doesn’t make it less valuable than other platforms. Our website for example is made with WordPress 🙂
WordPress is, as we have already said, a free, open-source platform that includes thousands of pre-made website designs, and extensions. It’s incredibly adaptable, and it integrates with practically every third-party tool and service available to the site owners.
The cost of building a WP website depends exclusively on you. You choose if you are going to use some premium versions of page builders and plug-ins.
Now, when you chose the platform, you should think about the structure and the appearance of your site. It is very important for a site to have a clear and intuitive interface so that a first-time visitor can easily navigate through your site and find needed information.
Website Structure
This is one of the most important parts that has to be done well because it can be very complicated to change it later on when you have a lot of content. Think about the main product and service of your website. What is the main theme, the root of your site? Do you divide it into categories and subcategories, or do you have different services that you want to turn into details later? All of that should be clearly presented on your home page, in your header first, and then in its body.
Keep in mind that people don’t want to use more than three clicks in order to get to the content they need. So, make it simple and clear.
It is time to make your website wireframe.
What is a website wireframe?
It is a drawing of your website structure. It is a prototype of your web page that focuses on content and layout, where you want to position pictures, text, videos. It doesn’t usually have colors, it is like a blueprint of a house.
Take a look at your competition. Analyze how their websites look. What is it that your website needs to have in order to present your products or services in the best possible way?
Be sure to have enough white space (it is a space between the elements on your website) so it can be crystal clear that all the sections are divided in the right way to tell their own story.
Now you can step into the next section that is very important for your brand. It is a visual identity of your brand and website. You need a style guide. A style guide is a reference document that collects and presents all of your website’s design decisions. This covers the color scheme, typography, spacing, icons, graphics, and the rest of your site’s visual language. Make the visitors of your site have a unique experience. Let your brand speak for itself, show them your creativity, show how reliable and competent you are.
The style guide includes:
- Logo
- Typography – fonts no more than 2
- Colors – use No more than 3
- Buttons
- Icons
Think of your brand to learn what it stands for. Look at the brand’s history and determine the company’s vision, mission, and values. It’s critical to go deeper into the brand so that the style guide you create visually and emotionally represents the company.
Getting the needed resources:
Logo – A logo is a symbol of your company that can consist of a text, a picture, or both, that represents the visual identity of your business, organization, brand, or product. It should show what your business is about and what are the values of your brand. It should be simple and clear to help people identify what your business is about at first glance.
Be very cautious and think twice before you decide about the logo because people will identify you with it and it is not a good idea to change it often, because it can influence the prosperity of your business.
Hire a good designer for that. Make a couple of versions and be sure that it is readable no matter how small it is. Luckily, if you don’t want to spend so much money on a good designer, there are some fantastic websites that can create your logo instantly. Just choose the colors, fonts, style and with only one click the software will make a unique logo for you.
It has to be simple, with one or two colors maximum. Choose wisely the colors because they can have a huge subconscious impact on people. Color psychology is really important in marketing. It can tell a lot about your brand – eg. red color portrays love, friendliness, and strength, but can also be demanding and show aggression, so be cautious with it; orange is a color of motivation and enthusiasm for life and it brings comfort and creates a sense of fun or freedom…
Read more about logo creation and color psychology
Content – content is one of the crucial elements of your website, blog, or webshop. We are talking about blog posts, articles, product descriptions, pictures, and videos, or simply everything one high-quality website needs. Be sure that all the elements of the content are well organized and make a fantastic composition.
A good text with related keywords can attract a lot of traffic to your website organically. Its length and high quality will make the visitors stay longer on your site. Make the content of the site related: create different categories and tags in order to help people find what they are interested in. If you want to sell a product or a service you need good text that really sells, you definitely need an experienced copywriter for that.
You also need an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) specialist to make your site visible for search engines and drive people to our website.
You can learn all these skills by yourself. It takes time but it is very useful to be familiar with all the aspects of your digital business. There are so many courses, books, and ebooks you can find on the internet. We have prepared for you many blog posts that will help you learn about all that.
Pictures – be sure that all the photos you have on your website are of high quality. Compress them to be of smaller size because it is very important for the speed of your site. Use only the pics with the license (for commercial use)
