CAN I BUILD MY OWN WEBSITE? SHOULD I?
What’s worse than not having a website? Wasting time and money on the wrong website.
If you’ve ever tried to build a website you’ll know what we’re talking about. It’s a project that, for many people, can spiral out of control, taking up time, money and even your sanity.
A huge part of our job as designers is fixing websites that were built by non-designers. Sadly, we also have a fix a lot of websites that were built by people who call themselves designers - but just aren’t very good at it. It’s a hard truth, but it’s still a truth.
Many people think it’s going to be easy to build their own website. They spend weeks and weeks labouring over things that could take mere hours or even minutes for a pro. Other people get ripped off by companies who claim to be good at what they do but aren’t or, worse, outsource to people in other countries for a fraction of the cost they are charging the client.
Frankly, it sucks.
So, here are some questions and tips to help.
The most important and mind-bending thing to know before we start is…
your website is not about you.
Sorry, but it’s not. Your website has to represent you, but it is all about your customers. You are not going to be the one using it, nor do you have to be convinced about anything. So, what would they want to see? What questions would they ask? How easy is it going to be for them to navigate around? Are they going to get annoyed using the site, or is it going to be a pleasure to visit? Will they find what they are looking for in under 5 seconds, or will they click a bunch of links that bounce them all over the place - including away from the site itself (AAAAARGH).
Building or redesigning a website isn’t easy.
It’s a time consuming exercise and a little bit of planning will go a long way to ensure you or your designer can create a powerful marketing asset to grow your business.
1. What do you need your website to do for you?
Each business is different and your website can cater to almost any purpose or any goal. But this is the trap - people try to do too much, and the resulting project starts getting bigger and bigger. A website should have one overriding purpose that is simple and clear. Anything that is not helping your website achieve that purpose should be thrown away.
For your website to make an impact, it should:
Communicate your message quickly and succinctly - both visually and verbally
Build your credibility
Sell your services or product without being pushy
Homework:
Write down the following:
Who you are
What you do
Why you do it
How what you offer is unique
2. BUILD A WEBSITE yourself? or get someone to do it for you?
So many people build themselves a website to try and cut costs. Occasionally, it works out. Many times, it doesn’t. A website is such a huge and important part of most business in 2022, and it is something that should be perfect. I often ask clients if they would have people over to their house if they had dirty laundry and dishes strewn all over the living room. They always look horrified and suddenly get it - no one wants to show off a messy, confusing, ugly website.
If you’re thinking of building your own site, ask yourself the following:
How technically minded are you?
Are you skilled at designing and writing?
Are you clear on what you need?
How much of a control freak are you?
How much time do you have, and what is your time worth to you?
Do you know what UX or a CTA or SEO is? If not, are you prepared to research and learn about them?
3. What platform should you build on?
Shopify is geared towards eCommerce, which means it’s safe and secure, and you don’t need to install tons of annoying plugins like you have to on other platforms. At Wild Willow we strongly recommend Shopify for our e-commerce clients, and we set it up completely - even down to loading the inventory and setting up the metadata and analytics.
For most small-business projects we recommend Squarespace over Wix or any other similar platform. Squarespace has some fantastic ‘out-of-the-box’ themes for people who want to build their own site. Here at WWD we use Squarespace because we believe it gives business owners more autonomy over managing their own site, it’s very safe, and very easy for even a total technophobe to drive. For this reason, we create bespoke sites using a lot of code inside Squarespace.
We do use other platforms, but these two are by far our favourites.
4. What should you say?
Have you ever met someone who immediately tells you their entire life story, how great they are, how cute their partner/kid/cat/dog/hamster is… and then shows you a zillion pictures to prove it? Yeah - you know that person. Don’t be that person. Not ever. Not in reality, and definitely not on your website.
Here’s the thing…
your customers don’t care about you.
If you want potential clients and customers to engage with you don’t tell them your story, tell them theirs.
Homework:
Ask yourself:
Who do I want to take action?
What action do I want them to take?
What do they need to feel to take that action?
Once you’ve got your answers, write content that:
Makes your ideal customer the hero of the story
Explores their problem
Sets yourself up as the problem-solver
Presents a simple solution
Provides a reason and way to take action
If reading this gives you anxiety, please contact an expert! You have 3-5 seconds to capture a user once they visit your website, so keep it simple. Good web designers will adapt your website to match your target audience.
5. HOW DO I/THEY BUILD IT?!?!
Woohoo! The juicy stuff!
Homework
Write down all the pages that you think should go on the website. Then, for each page, write down its function and the content needed to do that job. The purpose and content should be clear.
Homepage:
The job of the homepage is to make these three things clear to a visitor in 3-5 seconds.
Who are you? What do you do? Why should they do business with you?
About Us:
A good About Us page builds rapport, trust and credibility. Speaking in a more personal tone of voice and showing images of the team are also great to have on here.
Contact Us:
How to get in touch with you. Perhaps opening times, location, emails, contact form.
Our Clients/Our Customers:
These pages build credibility and trust. Name past clients, include testimonials or case studies.
Services summary:
Help visitors determine what service they need. Content should include a summary of your services and their benefits.
Individual service pages:
Sells particular service. Content could include persuasive copy, testimonials and case studies.
Products page summary:
Same idea as the services page. Provide an overview of your products so that your visitors will know which product they need.
Individual product pages:
Sells the product. Sharp images of your product, relevant testimonials if possible, what problems your product solves.
Blog:
Yes, you need one. Yes, you need to use it. No, don’t argue with me about this. If you can’t/won’t do it, get someone else to do it for you.
So, DIY or hire an expert?!
It’s up to you! If, after reading all this, you are excited and confident, then give it a go! If, a week later, you have not made good progress and are not still feeling great, please reconsider if your time can be better spent. Turn-around for a beautiful site should be as little as a few days for a small site to 1-2 weeks for a bigger one (and 4+ for a full stack dev site in the tens of thousands).
If you decide to give it a go yourself, taking the time to work out what you want and who you want to target will make things much faster once you start. There are also some great template shops out there with pre-built templates that can be repurposed for clients with minimal budgets. Sometimes we discuss and use this option with clients who can’t afford our bespoke services. If you decide to use a web designer, ask them lots of questions and talk to them personally. Do not commit to anything or anyone that feels overwhelming and confusing. Ask them if they outsource. Ask them if they include copywriting, SEO, social media set ups, inventory, blogs, and what they think about UX, and why.
Here at WWD we pride ourselves on being a one-stop-shop for clients who are looking for everything from graphic design and copywriting, through web design and build to SEO and e-commerce. We do it all, and we do it WELL. Also, we do it with love. We pride ourselves on being transparent and invested in our clients happiness and success - every other good designer and developer should be, too.
Hugs from Wanaka,