Today I am sharing the things you need to know before building your own website. This comes from my expertise and experience as a web site coach with Bluehost & Blue Sky!
Pick your platform wisely before building your own website
You are bombarded with ads daily that allow you to build your website. However, you need to choose wisely with picking your website building platform. Not all platforms are built the same. Often the easy and effortless appeal of some drag and drop website builders aren’t as seem easy as they are marketed to be.
If you are building your website any platform will come with a learning curve. I recommend using WordPress when building your own website.
I recommend WordPress for these reasons
- versatility – WordPress really has the ability to create any website that you would like.
- SEO – Search Engine Optimization. This allows Google to recommend your website to others searching on the web. WordPress is a great builder to improve your SEO ranking.
- Design Capability – Some Website builders are quite restrictive in their design capability. Using WordPress will guarantee you achieve the design you want.
Know the differance between WordPress.com & WordPress.org
Many entrepreneurs choose WordPress.com when building their websites. However, WordPress.org is a much better option for business owners. WordPress.com is a free hosting and website provider which sounds great but it is not. WordPress.com is limited in its design capability . You will also not have your own domain name and the ability to rank with search engines. Your domain name with WordPress.com would look like this : jenniferellsworth.wordpress.com. This is extremely unprofessional and will deter customers. You need to use WordPress.org where you purchase your domain and set up your website with a hosting provider. This will allow you to build and customize a professional website that will attract business.
Choose A hosting Provider
This is where your website lives online. Just like how you pay to live in your house, You need to pay your hosting provider for a place for your website to live on the internet. There are many companies out there like BlueHost and GoDaddy.
Know the structure of a website
Your website should run like a well oiled machine. Knowing the structure of a website will help you build and maintain your own online presence.
WORDPRESS- CMS – WordPress is a content management system. All websites are built with code. WordPress allows you to build your own website without coding by providing you with a user-friendly interface. WordPress is like the brand of your car.
THEME- You will need to choose a theme for your WordPress website. The theme is what determines the capabilities of your website. The theme is like the engine of the car. The better the theme the better your website will run and look. I recommend ASTRA or Hello elementor as your theme.
PAGE BUILDER- The page builder of your website is where you have all the fun. This is where you are able to design the front of the website. Your page builder is like the awesome paint job or new rims.
PLUGIN- Plugins are additions to your website that allow your website to perform above its typical capabilities. Plugins on your website are just like an app on your phone.
Know how to perform basic maintenance
After building your own website you may think you are all done. However, websites are never complete. If you do not know how to preform basic maintenance your website will become deprecated. Below are links to two articles that I will walk you through how to complete basic maintenance on your website.
How to update themes and plugins
Have clear expectations of building your own website
Of course, building your own website is not going to be easy and will be a large learning curve. I highly recommend hiring a web designer, however, that may not always be possible for start-ups and entrepreneurs with other financial obligations.
- Building your own website will take time away from your business and will take 2x longer to build than a web designer.
- You will get exactly what you want. Only you know what is exactly in your head. Building your own website will allow you to create exactly what you want.
- You will be overly picky about details that do not matter and no one else will notice.
Now that you know what you need to build your own website is this a job that you will tackle? If this all seems too overwhelming then that may a good sign to hire a web designer while you sit back and take care of the things that actually matter in your business.
You may also check out my YouTube video where I explain what you need to know before building your own website.