Creating a website is a complex task. In this article, we’ll look at what your options are, how to choose between them, and what to look out for.
Do you even need a website?
Start with this question. Ironically. Ask what goal you want your new website to accomplish, and then think about whether you can’t accomplish that goal some other and better way.
Sometimes you’ll find that you can’t.
Other times, however, you want to write a blog so you can share your travel experiences with your friends. When you think about whether there’s another way to achieve that goal, you think you can use (to start with) the blogging platform Medium and your worries are over.So the golden rule of website design for me is:
“If you can avoid it, avoid it.”
But very often you can’t avoid it (the benefits of having your own site wins).
So what are your options?
Who do you start web development with?
Today there are a number of tools you can use to create a website by yourself, with your own help. ****This is the first option.
If you want to outsource the development, you can reach out to a freelancer (freelancer) or agency.
All three options have their pros and cons. Let’s quickly break them down.
When should I start creating a website on my own?
You have the time + you have the desire to learn + you don’t need a professional result
Ideal for: market testing, hobby projects, rapid “prototyping”
How to get started with self-help web development
- First, decide if your site will be on a web development platform (MioWeb, Wix) or if you’ll build it on WordPress using, say, Elementor.
- You’ll need to choose a domain and register it. Personally, I use Wedos to register domains.
- If you opt for a third party platform (see point 1) you won’t need to deal with hosting. If you choose to build on WordPress, you will need hosting as well. Personally, of the cheaper options, I’ve had a good experience with your hosting.
- Next, determine your site style. Choose your colors. Choose a font. If you don’t know how to do this, feel free to take inspiration (but don’t steal!) from similar/your favorite platforms.
- The next part of the process should be designing the structure of the site, called the wireframe. If the word wireframe scares you, it definitely doesn’t have to. Basically, it’s just a matter of sketching out the structure of the site, and it’s secondary whether in Figma or on paper.
- Once you’ve completed the previous steps, the actual building is next. Platforms usually have a number of instructions on how to operate them. If you decide to go with WordPress and Elementor – you can check out my Free Elementor course, or one of the countless English videos online.
A self-built website will not be perfect. Nor are they meant to be. But they will be a good stepping stone. You can test your idea, and once you see there’s interest, you can invite the pros in.
However, if a website is important to your business/purpose and you have the budget, I would recommend getting professional help right from the start.
Just like you wouldn’t build a corporate office yourself, if you don’t have to, don’t build a website (completely on your own). It looks easy, but without experience you’ll often overlook certain things and they can catch up with you over time.
Unless it’s a purely “hobby” project, I would highly recommend consulting the result with a freelancer or agency at least briefly.
However, of course, they can be invited into the process from the beginning… The question is when.
When to start web development with a freelancer?
You have an idea of what you want + time to choose a freelancer + time to follow up on the creation
Ideal for: projects of all kinds, with the “kind” of freelancer to match the kind of project
A freelancer is the lever you can use to re-leverage your efforts and achieve dramatically better results than you would on your own.
The level of freelancers and their rewards vary dramatically. Therefore, not only is it important to take your time and work to choose, you should first be clear about what you actually want and demand.
Hourly freelance rates can range from £300 – £6000 and you want to make sure you are looking in the right part of that range.
How to get started with freelance web development
Once you know whether you’re looking for an enthusiastic junior or a seasoned web consultant, you can get right down to choosing.
The type and specific recommendations for selection will vary substantially based on exactly what you want.
You won’t go wrong if you start your search on Freelance. Then focus primarily on references.
Don’t hesitate to contact the sources who gave the reference. If it is a large and important project, checking references is definitely worthwhile.
When to start web development with an agency?
You have a relatively large budget + you need an agency (for example, to sell the project to management, you don’t have time to project manage a group of freelancers) + (I want to say:)) you know a good agency
Ideal for: big companies, big projects
If the quality of freelancers varies like the spring weather, the quality of agencies varies like the price of your favorite obscure cryptocurrency.
Well done.
If you’re not careful, you can easily get into a sad situation where the agency is billing you 2000 CZK for an hour of work done by a 150 CZK temp who has been in the field for a few weeks.
In my opinion, you should do a lot more work with choosing an agency than with choosing a freelancer:
- Reach out and check the agency’s references,
- ask the agency for an estimate of the numbers (return) and preferably numbers from other, similar projects before you get started,
- if you have the opportunity, hire someone to help you with the assignment,
- before you do the assignment, check out the book Web-sharp-as-a-razor, which can help a potential assignor a lot in the selection process.
There are a lot of great agencies out there. However, there are multiples of terrible ones. Make sure you take the time to choose and maximize your chances of coming across a good one.
How much does a website cost?
Important question. And as with most important questions, the unsatisfying answer: it depends…
The price of websites varies, and varies dramatically. But let’s take a look at some basic framework for thinking about price.
What makes a site worthwhile
?When you pay for website development, you are generally paying for three things:
- expertise,
- technical design,
- revisions.
And since all three of these things are rather difficult to determine, I recommend approaching the problem in reverse.
How much can I afford to spend on web development?
For presentational websites, the return on investment is mostly the number and value of the contacts that the website “generates” (called leads). A lead is then generated by someone contacting you through the website (a conversion takes place).
From the above, we can then derive a simple formula that can give you a rough idea of how much money a new website can bring in.
number of conversions (per month) * conversion value = monthly site ROI
Let’s look at a simple example:
I’m a florist and 150 people find my website per month. 5 of them order a flower arrangement for their party. I make a net profit of £5,000 on each arrangement. The calculation might look like this:
*5,7500 Kč (5 **people** * (5,000 net profit + 2,500 contact value – customer may return, refer us, etc.) = 37,500 Kč that the site generates per month.
What’s the catch?
You could argue that this is a game of sheer guessing and, as such, there’s no point in playing it.
I partially agree, however I believe that even if you guess all the variables, it is a mental exercise worth doing. If nothing else, it will force you to think of your site as an employee, not as cargo.
Even the crudest estimate will give you very different numbers if you’re a baker, real estate agent, or luxury vacation seller.
In addition, an experienced creator (freelancer, agency) can give you an educated opinion if your estimate is realistic. Alternatively, what will need to be done, how much it may cost and take to achieve a given result.
When you think about it this way, your expectations will be more realistic and accurate than the vast majority of specifiers. And that will dramatically increase your chances of success.
How much does it cost to create a website from each provider?
In general, I guess you could say that an agency is more expensive than a freelancer (although there are plenty of exceptions). However, the important thing is to think about price in the context of utility.
What do I mean by that?
I wouldn’t compare absolute prices because you don’t get the same thing.
Comparing website prices is like comparing house prices (with solid contractors), it’s always a quid pro quo.
You can have a website from a young upstart who will charge £3500 for it (nothing against them, not long ago I fell into this group myself).
You’re happy with how much “you saved” and you see that the site even brings in some leads, which you’re excited about!
But there is a dog buried in the word “some”.
Is it better to have a £3500 website that brings in 10 clients a month, or a £100,000 website that brings in 20 clients a month?
The answer is… it depends.
Primarily on the value of the leadoff (see above).
So take the time to research the market and make sure there is a good chance that the vendor you choose will be able to maximize your site’s potential.
General advice for choosing a supplier
Let’s take a look at 3 tips that I think you should discuss with your vendor before you get started with web development.
And I recommend insisting on them.
1. Insist on being able to edit the site yourself
The truth is that no one cares about your website as much as you do. This is a classic example of the principle-agent problem, where your interests are slightly at odds with those of agencies and freelancers.
That’s why I would always recommend setting up a collaboration from the start so that you are able to edit the site yourself – especially add articles (and the creator will show you and teach you how).
Searching on List or Google a month after completing the phrase how to edit a WordPress site is every outsourcer’s nightmare.
Avoid it.
2. Have an idea of development
The web itself is like a restaurant in the middle of the desert. Regardless of the quality of the menu, you need to get people there. Repeatedly. As the saying goes: “a good website is never finished”.
From my own experience, I estimate that for really successful projects, website design was about 20% of the work, development the other 80%.
So whether you’re going to develop a website with its creator or someone else, you should have an idea from the beginning how, which direction and with whom it will be.
Then discuss this idea with the provider before you get down to business.
3. Have goals
Measuring the success of a website is difficult. Unfortunately, you can’t tell yourself that you want your investment back in 4 months and leave it up to the vendor to “make it work.”
However, as another saying goes: “The sure way to not achieve your goals is to have no goals.”
So think about this:
- who will go to the site,
- how they will find it,
- what they should do on the site and why,
- how to make it easier for them.
This may seem lengthy, but it is a great mental exercise that allows you to think about web design in the context of what is more important… From the beginning.
Final Summary
Choosing a web vendor is a challenging task. However, it is a task so important that it is definitely worth the time and effort.
I hope this article has helped you to think about the task of website development in a new context.
And perhaps added some standing points for you to rely on when choosing a vendor for your new site.
Thank you for reading this far. And feel free to let me know in the comments – what experience have you had with choosing a web vendor?
