I am pretty sure that reading the title of this post, most of you will think : “Everyone knows how to create a website, especially in 2019.”
That’s right for most of geeks and nerds but you will be surprised by how many people, especially small businesses, are still lost and had absolutely no knowledge about how to get a decent website to showcase their company or product.
Therefore, we created this post in order to help anyone get started with digital projects and to provide advices but also resources and tools to ease the building process of any product. And building a website is, in 2019, still mandatory to showcase a digital application or product. So, we decided to write an article about how to get a website even if this kind of post is far from unique.
If you are a geek or a technical guy, this post is not for you.
Conversely, if you are a non-teckie guy working on a project that will require, sooner or later, to get a website, you might find some interesting tips to bootstrap your website and keep your economy for other expenses.
Definition “bootstrap process” : self-generating or self-sustaining.
I describe, in this post, 4 ways to get a website from the simplest to the most complex technically.
1°) Online site builders : Perfect for non-teckie people
You will find a lot of wysiwyg website builders and integrated tools available on search engines. They all provide embedded hosting and website templates for a monthly fee often between $8 to $20 /month. There is absolutely no technical knowledge required, you just have to know what content (domain name, logo, colors, posts, texts and photos) you wish to add and you are good to go. This is by far the most easiest web to start a website.
However, choose your provider carefully, be aware that if those services disappear in a few years, your site might disappear as well eventually.
*WYSIWYG = What You See Is What You Get
2°) Blog and CMS : Perfect for non-teckie to add content regularly
If you want to have more control and more features for your next website, you should seriously consider Content Management System.
They do not require any technical knowledge except sometimes for installation and hosting (If you want your own).
Wordpress.com offers plug&play CMS as a service, 100% online, already installed, where you can get your website up and running in a few clicks.
CMS offers a variety of plugins, you can easily add new features (such as newsletters, slideshows, etc..). You totally control your pages and contents. You can also administer and change everything in your website. You can also delegate to other contributors or communicate easily with your future visitors. Documentations are supplied and big open source communities can help you if needed.
For every CMS, you can find and download high quality templates available on marketplaces (if you have zero graphic design skills). Google “Wordpress template” for example to find them.
CMS are perfect professional tools if you have ambition for your website and that you plan to publish content on a regular basis and improve its SEO (search engine optimization). For example, you can also get professional help by hiring SEO Agency Vancouver to help you rank higher.
Find below the most known CMS available on the market.
3°) HTML Website Template : Perfect for a small and static website
This last alternative is for those who have basic technical knowledge. If you are not afraid to modify the content of HTML document but you have zero graphic design skills, this technique is definitely for you. The main cons of this alternative is that HTML is difficult to update on a daily basis, it is a loss of time to modify code in order to update or add content. If you wish to update your website frequently or to add new content on a daily basis, don’t choose HTML templates.
HTML based website templates are available on different marketplaces. You can easily find a template, buy it for almost nothing and modify it. The only thing to do will be then to host your template on the server of your choice.
http://www.templatemonster.com/
4°) Hiring Digital & Web Agencies
If none of these 3 ways of building a website convinced you, you can still find digital agencies who will be delighted to help you creating your future website using a hiring software. But be aware it will be expensive.
Most enterprises dealing with business-to-business (B2B) customers hire B2B digital marketing agencies. Hiring a reputable B2B web design agency is the current trend because of the degree of professionalism, functionality, and speed a B2B website requires to impress business leaders (especially C-suites), marketing managers, and business marketing decision-makers.
On the other hand, digital marketing agencies help business-to-customer (B2C) enterprises stay on top of the game and beat their top competitors in terms of overall website quality. While hiring a digital marketing agency is highly beneficial to B2B and B2C enterprises, business owners should know how to recognize abusive agencies.
Every week I hear or see about non-teckie entrepreneurs paying thousands of dollars to get a basic 4 pages website realized by an agency to showcase their offer.
I don’t judge agencies, some of them really have creative talents, but I truly believe there are abuses when they charge $3000 to sell a basic website to a project leader.
So, be a well-informed decision-maker by doing some research work. Watch out for the red flags of an abusive digital marketing agency, such as avoiding answering your questions. Compare your prospective agencies’ services, rates, digital marketing tools, and portfolio. Read client reviews and check ratings to help you land the best decision on what digital marketing agency to choose.
Conclusion : Digital & Web Agencies
What have you learned from this article? Are you ready to bootstrap the best professional website for your business? Don’t be afraid to try the recommended solutions above. You can only achieve success if you’re willing to try and give your best once you have acquired the core business knowledge and skills you need.
I personally already tried each of those 4 solutions (even agencies) to get websites over the years.
As always, I wish you all my wishes for your projects.