Are you thinking about building your first website? If yes, fantastic! It’s a great way to showcase your business, connect with customers, and establish your online presence. It’s also a tick in the online “credibility” box – showing that you’re a real business, properly trading.
But before you dive headfirst into the world of web design and building, there are a few things you should consider. And these matter whether you ask someone (like us!) to build it for you, or you decide to build it yourself.
Your brand is king
Let’s start with one of the most important things: your brand. Your website is a digital reflection of your business, so it’s crucial to have a clear idea of your brand identity before you start building. Most importantly, when it comes to designing a website, you need to decide whether you’ll have any brand guidelines. Will you have a colour palette? Do you have a logo?
Your wider brand identity is also important. Do you know what your brand values are – will you have any? Who is your target audience? What message do you want to convey? While these may not seem immediately necessary for the look and feel of your new website, they will significantly impact the content you put on your site. Corporate brands will use matching corporate imagery. If your branding is “fun and friendly,” you’re not going to want to plaster your site with stock pictures of people in suits at board meetings. It just doesn’t fit.
Having a strong brand foundation will guide your website’s design, content, and overall feel. Trust us, it’s much easier (and cheaper) to build a website that aligns with your brand from the start than to redesign it later.
Choose your platform wisely
There are countless website builders out there, from options like Wix and Squarespace to more powerful platforms like WordPress. While Wix and Squarespace are great for getting started, as their barrier to entry is pretty low, they might not be the best choice for a website that’s going to grow. These platforms often lock you into contracts and can limit your options for customisation and scalability.
If you think your website has the potential to expand, it’s worth considering a platform like WordPress. It offers more flexibility and control, which will be better for you if you’re planning to grow. WordPress does require a bit more technical know-how, so the barrier to entry is a bit higher than with Wix or Squarespace. This is one of the reasons that many business owners who are self-building choose not to opt for WordPress. While WordPress can seem daunting, it is probably a worthwhile time investment – over 40% of the web is on WordPress, and it’s not because it’s pants.
As a general rule, we’ll nearly always run a mile from the own-brand website builders from the likes of GoDaddy and others like them. While they are generally somewhat easy to use and get started with, they really aren’t worth the time investment when you could opt to use an alternative like Wix or Squarespace. Wix and Squarespace are still limited, but they have a big following, modern-looking themes, and offer better value for money. If you really want to use an online builder, go with them instead.
Do you know what you want it to look like?
If you’re building your first website yourself, sketching out a basic layout can be incredibly helpful. Even a simple drawing can clarify your ideas – we often recommend people sketch out a rough layout on a piece of paper. Make sure you allow plenty of space between elements; overcrowded websites are a clear sign that they weren’t built professionally, and they make your entire site feel cluttered and overwhelming.
If you’re hiring a web designer or developer, providing them with your likes and dislikes will greatly help them understand your preferences – it’s a question we ask of our own clients. Send them examples of websites you like and dislike. Explain what you like or dislike about them – this gives them a starting point and saves time in the long run. In our case, it also helps us avoid completely missing the mark on the design we produce for you.
Additionally, it can be helpful to take some time to research your competitors’ websites. What do you like about their design? What could be improved? Use their websites as inspiration, but remember to put your own unique spin on things. No one likes a copycat. Use it as inspiration, nothing more.
Mobile-first design is essential. With more people browsing the internet on their phones than ever before, it’s crucial that your website looks great and functions well on smaller screens. It’s much easier to scale up a mobile-friendly design than to try and squeeze a desktop-friendly one onto a tiny screen. So, whether you ask someone to build your site for you or you opt to build it yourself, make sure everyone is thinking about those mobile users.
Be clear about your goals
This one is especially important if you’re working with a web designer or developer. And we’re not talking about your immediate goals – i.e., why you’re building a website right now.
What about in three years’ time? Are you planning to add a shop later? If you are, it’s crucial to consider this from day one. Shoe-horning a shop into an existing site that hasn’t been planned for is always a headache. Also, consider whether you’re going to introduce payment processors, subscriptions, member-only areas, etc.
The clearer you are about your goals, the better equipped your web developer will be to create a website that meets your needs and is as future-proofed as possible. Building with future growth in mind will save you time and money in the long run.
Plan for maintenance and updates
Once you’ve finished building your first website and you’ve got it live, the work isn’t over. The web is constantly changing, so websites require ongoing maintenance, especially if you’re using a platform like WordPress. This includes updating plugins and themes to ensure your site is secure and runs smoothly. Keeping your website updated will also help ensure its longevity.
Decide how you’re going to handle these updates. Are you confident in doing them yourself? Or would you prefer to hire someone to manage it for you? There are plenty of web maintenance services available if you need help (we offer one, just sayin’).
On that note, one of the advantages of using Wix or Squarespace is that they don’t require technical updates from you – the platform takes care of it on your behalf.
Finally, it’s worth noting that a website will perform best if you keep at it – try not to “set it and forget it.” It’s worth starting a blog to give people a reason to keep coming back. If you’re not sure why a blog would be beneficial, well, we’ve got a blog on that…
Talk to us
We’re nerds, so we find building new websites fun, but we get that, for many, it’s downright terrifying. If you consider these factors as your very minimum starting point, it can help make the process less painful.
Think this all sounds great, but you’re still stuck on where to start? We don’t just build websites; we also give our advice away for free. Drop us a line and take advantage of our free advice offer. We can go over things in a little more detail and help you put it into context for your situation. People think we’re pretty good at this (check out our Google and Facebook reviews if you don’t believe us).
P.S. Make sure to add your new website’s link to your Google Business Profile and social media pages!