Planning to step onto the web?
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If you've recently made the decision to build a new website it doesn't matter if its your first or 100th time, the biggest choices you probably have to make are How & Where?
Starting with should you hire someone to build your site or self build?
If self building is your choice, are you planning to use a web builder / Contents Management System (CMS) platform or write your own static website? Though bear in mind if you plan to hire someone else, you'll still need to make decisions on what kind of website you want and how its built.
Oh dear, looks like the big choice of How & Where just threw up even more questions as you start to break it down.
Web Builder / CMS platforms
Now we personally don't have any affiliation or preference to which web builder / CMS platform you should choose, unless of course all you require is a self built static website as we'd highly recommend using our own Jasmine Web Starter obviously.
Though if like us you receive regular contacts through email, contact forms or socials from legitimate companies (and the not so legit ones!) then you might be under the impression we should all be having WordPress sites built for us!
But all joking aside we can't ignore the fact that a huge percentage of websites online are built using WordPress. Which for many will actually be the perfect fit for you whether self built or built for you, but before you follow the masses or bow down to peer pressure and jump online to start creating, the question should be... Is WordPress always the right choice to build your website on?
Lets explore the options.
DIY
Self building your website is definitely a great option for many especially if you have the time, ability, resources or are lucky enough to employ someone within your company to do your web work for you.
Obviously people make the decision to self build for varying reasons, though a common one is budget especially for new start-up businesses. But the notion that this is a cheap(est) option can often be a misnomer depending on the platform you use and how you use it. That's not to say you can't get those "from £1 / $1 deals" or have "your business online in 3 quick and easy steps", but from what we've been hearing it appears that's not everyone's experience.
In our experience (though there are many more options available out there) three of the main one's we constantly receive questions and help requests about (in no particular order!) are Wix, SquareSpace and WordPress. These can vary from which platform we would recommend, being stuck mid build, unsure about adding / updating - contents, software or security. To moving an entire website to a new platform or hosting company, often due to costs. With one of the most common requests being about moving their Wix / WordPress site to SquareSpace, or their Wix / SquareSpace site to WordPress.
The growing number of these kind of questions and requests makes it quite clear that the web builder / CMS platform option is definitely not always the easiest or the cheaper option. No matter what the clever marketing people lead you to believe. As it seems people often jump into using a particular platform without checking if it will be the best fit for their requirements.
So make a list of your requirements and ask yourself will I be constantly updating contents, have a huge collection of images, a large catalogue of products or will your website be a small affair that won't need updating that regularly. As these things will help you determine whether you're in need of a contents management system or not.
Hiring
Its also possible to hire someone to initially create your website using one of the many web builder / CMS platforms available. Though we do recommend that you do your research and find a legitimate local business, preferably one you've been recommended, or have seen evidence of their work.
If you're lucky enough to have the budget to employ someone, then great, but before you do you need to be aware as to whether they are offering you ongoing support and maintenance, or if once they have handed over the website to you it'll be your responsibility to maintain and update it. If so are they offering you or a member of your team training on how to do this or will you be left to figure it out alone?
So what does it take to get online this way?
No matter whether its you or someone else that uses a web builder / CMS platform to build your new website, its always good to be aware of the process and work involved in doing this. Plus some of the options it can offer you, especially if you are going to be the one responsible for the website going forward.
Choose a Platform
We've already mentioned three of the big names in web builder / CMS platforms are SquareSpace, WordPress and Wix all of which offer good comprehensive packages, with great theme libraries. Though a good idea before you jump into using any one of these builders is to view a few videos about it first. This will then give you insight into using the said package and see if your knowledge and current skills match.
Account & Domain Name
When you're happy with your choice of platform to get started you'll need to open and pay for an account, plus a domain name if you don't already have one.
Choose a Theme
Once you have your account and domain name set up you'll need to see what themes and other options that it offers, some of these will be free within your signup package, but be aware that many of the themes and addin / plugins on these platforms come with additional costs.
Learn your Theme
After you have picked your theme (free or paid for) part of getting up to speed using it is to understand how to build a layout with its components.
Go Create
Once you are familiar with your theme the hard work of creating contents and uploading it begins, this will include writing copy, designing & creating images (graphics or photography). Though if you don't have access to images most platforms offer stock image libraries which contain many free to use images.
Accessible Themes
Themes should come fully accessibility compliant (A11Y), but they do allow you to change and add your own chosen colour schemes or custom fonts. So if you do make changes you are then responsible for testing that your website is still A11Y compliant. You can find out how to test your published website in our Accessibility on the Web Sprout of Wisdom.
Update, Reset & Moving
Depending on what theme, addin / plugins you have used they may have been created by a third party company, which means you will need to keep abreast of software changes and updates from multiple companies and make sure when they are applied they don't break / reset any of the changes you applied to your site e.g. colours or fonts. If in the future you wanted to move platforms, then you would need to export your data from your current one. But then you would need a new theme, addins / pluggins and stock images on your new platform as these are not transferable across platforms.
Hosting
You will also need to check if your chosen platform and package includes hosting costs, plus be aware where they are hosted as Wix and SquareSpace are not hosted in the UK. But Wix makes use of a CDN to bring contents closer to your users, and SquareSpace serves all uploaded images through its Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Depending on which WordPress version you are using it can be hosted in the UK and a CDN can be added or part of the hosting package. Websites that are hosted on WordPress.com get the benefits from Jetpack’s CDN for image optimization. Self-hosted WordPress site owners can also take advantage of Jetpack’s free image CDN, or other CDN's like your hosting provider.
Its also a good idea to note that depending where you live, where your website is hosted may effect your business if you plan to handle money transactions or take and store customer information of any kind.
Building a Static Website
This is such a flexible way to get started on the web as they can be hosted for free or at little cost, and then with the addition of a CDN the pages are brought closer to your users making your website fast and performant for them to use.
The possible down side to this type of website is the update loop/cycle may potentially be more work. That being said simple text changes or image updates can be taught very easily with modern tooling and workflows, however, say a change is to every page and you have ten's of pages this is going to take some time. So as the site grows you would probably need to look into CMS options but this is addition not start again approach.
With less software involved these types of websites have much better security and can service a much higher customer viewing numbers.
Quick round-up
Hopefully we have given you a quick view into some of the options open to you when setting out on your web journey. Its certainly a lot to take on especially if this is your first time.
So we recommend taking some time to write down a short list of your website goals, plus think about the resources you have or will need e.g. the skills of the person that is going to be updating the website going forward.
Then take a look at all the vendor websites out there to workout if you will be able to achieve your required goals using their solutions or not. If you are still unsure have a chat with an independent web developer, to see if they can help you align your website goals. Most, if not all good companies should be happy to answer pre sale questions or provide free quotes.
Good luck in bringing your project to life, and if you have time we would be very interested to hear about it once its live. Plus you never know we might just reach out with some tips to help you reach that next goal with your website project!
In the meantime if you have any questions please feel free to ask us.