subject: Should You Consider Designing Your Own Website For Your Own Small Business? [print this page] Should You Consider Designing Your Own Website For Your Own Small Business?
Websites are very much like cars. Fantastic when they work, the bane of our lives when they do not. You can have fast cars, rubbish cars, large ones and small ones. But should you attempt to build your own? Continuing the car metaphor, it does have its dangers, however the bottom line is you're not building a rocket, so a knowledge of rocket science is not a pre-requisite, but what I suggest you do need are the following: patience, time and a basic, and I really do mean basic, understanding of computers.
I am not an expert by any means, however back in 2002 I borrowed a book from the library which taught me the basics of HTML, which to the uninitiated is the gobbaldy-gook behind the scenes of a website that your browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc) translates into the webpages you view day to day. Writing a basic page of text in HTML honestly takes no time at all, however after days of trial and error I ended up with a very long one page website, which now does, I admit, sound a bit primitive, however at the time it was pretty much up there with websites that had been designed by professionals.
Over the years I have found myself giving the website a complete overhaul, which again takes time, but if I can do it anyone can. Most recently I re-launched another new version of the website this March (2010) and over the years it has now grown to a 44 page website.
The advantages of designing your own website are fairly obvious, however just to spell them out: it costs almost nothing - I pay a hosting fee so the site is actually 'live' - and I have total control over the content. I can change it whenever I want and my wife does not have to pay anyone for the privilege.
Another significant factor is that the site is highly optimised. You will no doubt have come across search engine optimisation in your travels, and to have a well optimised site is key to achieving high results when Google does a keyword search. Be aware that web design and SEO are two different things. SEO, like web design, takes time, however web designers have a habit of constructing a website without optimising it to the best of their abilities. They would rather move onto the next gig and the next pay check than fully optimise your site. One of the biggest advantages of being webmaster over your own site is that whenever you pick up an SEO tip you can put it into practice, immediately. You are not at the beck and call of a web designer and you do not have to pay anything once the change has been made. And if you have a competitive streak you will do you best to optimise your site as best possible in order to appear above the competition on Google.
It is very easy to design a web page of text. If your business is not on the web and you want total control over your site, and just want to have a profile out there, then there are many websites out there that can teach you the basics of (X)HTML. If you do not have the time to create your own website, which can be time consuming, then there are some easy alternatives. One is to make sure you have a listing on Google's Local Business Centre. If you do not, set up a Google account - very easy, you are basically setting up a new email account - then 'Google' "Google local business centre" and then follow the instructions. Another route to create a strong online profile, instead of a website, is to create you own Facebook fan page. The principles are similar to Google's local business centre, i.e. you need to sign up first. The beauty of this is that it's all free. Ditto LinkedIn.com and their business pages. You should also consider the delights of WordPress (for creating a blog) and Twitter.
In summary, designing your own website can be incredibly rewarding, however the learning process can be an incredibly frustrating one. There are ways round it as I have suggested above. There are some very good web designers out there, however if you do not have much of a budget then there are other ways and means of getting yourself up on the web. If you wanted to raise your profile on the web immediately then I would definitely suggest going down the Google Local Business route, plus a Facebook page, then you can dabble and doodle as you learn your web building skills. Google like websites with content that changes, so do not feel you have to have all your pages and content in place before you go live. Get the basics up there first - address, contact details and what your companies about - and then add content to it as you go on.
If you are still toying with the idea of building your own website then I would suggest getting a book on learning XHTML and CSS. Setting up a basic webpage might seem scary but it really is not that difficult.
I very much hope that this article has helped you decide in the way forward for your small business
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