Here are some tips and guidelines on how to build your website, what tools you need and who to use.
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Here is a list of some well known website builders to get you started:
BigCommerce
Shopify
Wix
WordPress
Squarespace
Weebly
They will often come together with a package or a referral to a hosting company. After all, it makes sense, as these two go hand in hand.
Platforms such as Shopify or Wix are easier to use without the need to understand coding and with built-in features that could assist you incredibly if you are hoping for an eCommerce site. Wix is known for its simplicity in building a website using a drag and drop platform, which is excellent for beginners and small business owners. It provides the user with more creativity. Whilst a little more complex, Shopify is intended for larger eCommerce stores with the potential to grow and has its focus more on sales tools. BigCommerce is a step above Shopify that can handle large scale online stores. BigCommerce provides a platform for store creation, hosting, marketing and SEO. Squarespace is known to provide great templates and Weebly is known for its affordability.
With the emergence of these platforms where users hop online, subscribe, and start building their websites using templates, blocks, and plugins, it seems we have jumped into a new era of website building. Be mindful that they could be limited in what you hope to achieve.
How you construct your website pages depends on your end goal and what functionality you wish to have. If you are making a one- or two-page site where the simple objective is to have an online presence with your company profile, a few details and contact information, you can head on over to WordPress and do it yourself. You would have to be quite IT savvy to get this done, but it’s not impossible.
You would need to look at each of the available features on the themes to ensure you are meeting the needs of your site. For example, to turn your WordPress site into an e-commerce store you would need to install what is known as the WooCommerce plugin.
An e-commerce website allows you to sell your products on your website or, in other words, allows for transactions to take place.
If you are building a website that will act as an eCommerce platform and you expect this to form part of your primary business and is outside the scope of a standard selling platform, things start to get more complicated. You would need the help of experts to get this done. Hiring a web developer would be the best option in this case if you are able to afford this option.
If you have a global audience it is important you put a CDN in place to ensure a more efficient delivery to end uses. A CDN plays a critical role in your websites performance.
Here are some great tips and guidelines on how to actually construct your website pages. It will give you a general idea of how to set up your pages, what to include and where.
FIVERR – What is Fiverr Used for?
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One platform I did use however for some great small jobs that I needed on my website was Fiverr. This is a platform that has affordable services that I used to allow my web developer to concentrate on functionality issues on the website rather than aesthetic issues. Fiverr was great in developing logos, illustrations and graphic work that was needed every so often to refresh parts of our website and to create stand out social media campaigns. Fiverr was an invaluable tool that I used and currently use for an array of projects. There are hundreds of freelancers from around the world showcasing the absolute best in graphic & design, digital marketing, music & audio and so much more your business can avail from.
CANVA – What is Canva Used for?
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If you have time on your hands and wish to generally do things alone, then another platform that I used was CANVA. This is such a straightforward platform where you hop on a start designing from scratch any marketing material you need. It’s great for social media graphics and videos, presentations, posters, logos, business cards – you name it, they’ve got it. I have subscribed to their canva pro plan and it is an absolute gem platform to have. I love it.
Once you have decided on how you will build your website you will need people to be able to access it. It’s part of the process of going online. This is where hosting companies come into play. I have a list of hosting companies here and some tips on what to look out for.
Be mindful when choosing what companies to work for as they will essentially form part of your team building. Getting your team right, matters. It is one of the first steps that I emphasize in my 5 basic step guide in starting & running a successful business.
Remember, everything must work well and in harmony to achieve success in any business.
