What I need to get a website - Insights for business owners avoiding tech overwhelm

I’m a designer. And for me it means designing / planning / calculating a tool, that has the specific purpose of use and specific place of work. I see a website as a tool. Initially, it means that the tool has its logic, that is measurable.

Truly, the website creation process can overwhelm busy business owners, adding to their existing responsibilities. This feeling often leads to delayed decisions and imprecise choices, ultimately affecting their business.

‍

But if slow down for a moment, everything can be understood and sorted out. In my opinion:

• For you, as the business owner, the most important is to see what part requires your input and responsibility, and what part you can delegate to an expert. 
• Next, separating one big project as website creation, into a few stages - you will receive levels to effectively control each stage, and this is much less stressful.

‍

Now let’s get to the core - the Creation.

So here we have the next stages:

1. Design
2. Build
3. Launch

‍

1. I believe that the design is the soil.

The processes inside the design stage, and their value could be not obvious. But I intently used the word “soil”. Everything begins with the soil; it's impossible to nurture a plant to its full potential if the soil is inadequate. No amount of watering or care can compensate for poor soil quality, as it is the foundation for healthy growth and development.

I want to dedicate more letters to the design. But I’ll keep it till the end. And first I’ll tell about 2 other stages.

‍

2. Build (development)

There are a few ways to build a website:

1. Coding - this way belongs solely to the experts - developers. And it’s always about custom design. I don’t have so much expertise to talk about coding, so I’m stopping here.
2. No-code tools - nowadays we have a variety of them. Literally, anybody can create a website using them. But I’d continue and separate 2 subdivisions for using no-code tools:
   • Custom design - it gives you uniqueness and specialized features.
   • Templates - the easiest of the ways to get the website. Here you can even skip the design stage.

These 2 ways of website build can be mixed. The expert can export the no-code website to the code. And he can add a code to the no-code example. It depends on the goal that is stated. And the expert can explain to you the options for your particular case.

‍

Practical Q/As:

1. What is the cheapest? - A template.
2. Can you use a template and create the website yourself? - Definitely yes. And here it means editing website content: text and images.
3. Can you change the template yourself: add / delete / change the position of some elements? - Often it is complicated for an inexperienced user. You risk ruining the template.
4. Why change the template? - Changes to the template make it more brand-like and more useful for your business. And honestly, rarely real content lays perfectly on the template. So it requires one of 2 variants
   • Change template
   • Change content

Here are a few no-code tools, that I met in my practice:

1. More complicated:
   • WordPress
   • Webflow
   • Framer
   • Squarespace
   • Shopify
2. More simple:
   • Wix
   • Canva

Many specialized web tools offer website templates, including domain providers, client management systems, project management systems, marketing management systems, etc. You can explore this aspect further. However, I prefer working with specialized tools that provide me with creative freedom. Therefore, I won’t spend more time discussing other tools.

‍

The person, who builds a website in most cases is called a developer. The responsibilities of the developer include:

• The website works without errors. All links, buttons, and forms provide correct results.
• The website looks nice on all devices: desktop, tablet, mobile. The look can change, but it stays nice.
• They prepare a database structure, called CMS (I’ll talk about it in a moment)
• They can integrate additional external instruments, like plugins, integrations, payments, or analytics.
• In most cases, they can help you launch the website.

‍

CMS - Content management system. It is a dynamic structure that functions as a database. It could be a database of blog posts, products, services, testimonials, apartments, etc - when you have a number of similar elements with different values. People use CMS because it eases the process of editing and organize them. The developer will build the structure for you, and you can manage it yourself: adding / editing / deleting items. Without CMS, all these is done manually and requires the help of an expert.

‍

3. Launch

To launch the website you need 2 things:

• Hosting - means where your website will reside.
• Domain - the address of your website.

Websites are hosted on the servers. In my practice, I've only met cases where the website stays on the servers from the no-code tool. But there are other options, such as traditional web hosting providers or cloud hosting services.

Keeping the website on the server of the no-code tool could be more expensive. But it also has its advantages. The first of which is the convenient instrument of website maintenance right at your hand. And the next one is that it also includes opportunities to secure your website and improve its performance.

‍

Practical notes

1. You pay for the hosting. And for the no-code tools, payment depends on the type of the website. Examples:
   • With static content
   • Website with CMS
   • E-commerce
2. You pay for the domain. In comparison, this payment is rather small. 
3. In most cases, you pay for them separately.
4. You pay for them continuously while using them.
5. You can indeed change hosting in the future. You’ll need help from the expert though.
6. You can indeed change the domain name

‍

Regarding the domain (website address), if you are using the no-code tool, you can use its subdomain. For example, my website on Webflow could have an address: olenakitsak.webflow.io. This is free. You can start with this option, for example, to test the website and business. But if you take your business seriously, you will eventually want to purchase your own unique domain. Considering that this is unavoidable and often the smallest expense in this field, I highly recommend buying it and launching the website with the original name.

After you purchase the domain, there are a few settings to configure in order to connect it to the website. If this is a well-known provider, it is easy to do. In most cases, whoever built your website, can easily take care of it. In any case, the domain's customer support will assist with the setup.

‍

Important: To maintain your website in the simplest variant you’ll need:

• an account to the no-code tool where your website is built, 
• an account with the domain provider
• You need to keep them good. Because you will require them to let other experts help you with maintenance.

‍

3. Design aka Custom design.

(and here comes my favorite topic)

If you have read this far, I’m happy to acknowledge your readiness to invest in your website and your business!

‍

So what does the design mean? Probably, many people will think about visually appealing, when they think about the word “design”. It is correct, but lacking understanding. Because the design covers 2 areas:

• Appearance
• Performance

Basically, the result of the design stage is a blueprint of how the website should look and behave. The design is provided to the developer, so he can build the live website accordingly.

You need the design if you want to receive a tool, customized specifically to your business. Of course, it gives you huge benefits! But yes, custom tools are more expensive than ready-to-use templates. What to choose, depends on your current situation.

‍

Custom design is always about being in accordance with your current version of Yourself and your current set of Needs and Goals. Let’s list what are those benefits:

• your unique brand, and increasing your awareness
• reflecting your values, and speaking to your audience
• precise features to achieve your current business goal
• perfect path for your clients to interact with you and order your products/services

‍

Interesting, you can’t create the design without the designer. But also the designer can’t do it without you. It makes sense only with united efforts.

1. Only you can provide information about your business: advantages, audience, competitors. Only you can set a goal for the website.
2. Based on the given information the designer can prepare a strategy and visual implementation. 

‍

Design can be divided into 3 stages:

1. Analise
2. Wireframes (UX)
3. Hi-fi design (UI)

‍

1. Analise is the stage that requires your input the most. The designer could have different instruments and frameworks to help you find answers to the questions regarding your business. The simplest is the brief.

It is indeed hard to answer the brief. However, you are not obligated to know all the answers. But the more information you can provide, the more precise tool you’ll receive in the end. And the more you feel the result is success.

The analysis phase could last from a few days to a few weeks. But being fulfilled properly it will significantly reduce the need for your input in the next stages.

‍

2. Wireframes outline the structure of the website and its functionality. The designer will visualize it graphically. You will see what pages, what sections are there, where are call-to-actions, buttons, and forms, see each step the user takes along the way.

After these 2 stages, you will know how your website will work and why. Of course, the designer will ask for your approval after these stages, to be sure that both of you are “on the same page”.

‍

3. The final stage is the hi-fi design - high fidelity design. This stage summarises and implements the results of the previous two. These are what is done during this stage:

• The designer will dress the functioning carcass of the website with colors, fonts, and imagery - that creates that attractive image that you were thinking of at the beginning of this chapter. 
• The designer can prototype the animated interaction for some elements: links, buttons, accordions, carousels, scrollings, loadings, etc.
• The designer can prepare adaptations for different devices; tablet and mobile.

While it's important to note that not all 'can' options are mandatory, they significantly streamline the developer's work. It's good to know that making changes during the design stage is easier and faster. It lets you see what will be built beforehand and gives you more control over the process.

‍

Note: It is possible that 1 person does both roles: the designer and the developer. It is very common for no-code website designers. 

In case, there are different people/teams, then the designer will prepare a proper delivery to the developer. The file with the design should be clean and tidy, main components and style guidance should be easy to recognize. As for me, I always add a video review where I’m describing in words and showing in the file how all the elements are supposed to look, behave, and transform.

‍

Website content

I have to talk about 1 more topic: Who will prepare content for the website?

‍

There are different forms of content. They could be created by different specialists. Often, specialists have expertise in multiple categories. So for each case, you may need to find specialists individually. What could they be:

• Website text - called “copy” - Copywriter
• Icons and illustrations - Graphic designer
• Logo and brand style - Brand designer
• Animations - Motion designer
• Movies - Video editor

So one more time - there could be multiple individuals performing these tasks, some of whom may have expertise in multiple disciplines. And of course, you can prepare the content yourself.

‍

Note: The whole design and its content are inseparable. The design of the page declares the size of the content. If you change the size it will affect the page design, it can ruin it. So if many people work on the project they need to be aware of the design requirements.

‍

Summary

In this article, I aimed to provide you with a bird's-eye view of the creation of a website:

• it covers the stages design, build, launch.
• it explaines details that are useful to know, even if you're delegating the creation of your website to an expert.
• it shows your inevitable part in the process - outline your expectations for the website, set the starter data, which the designer can process.

Of course, this is a general overview. As someone with a specific business situation, you may prefer more tailored information. Feel free to book a free call with me to discuss your needs further.

I hope this article helps you navigate the unfamiliar territory of websites and assists you in deciding your next step towards scaling up your business with a website.