Can I build my own website?

Like most discussion there’s a short answer and a long one.  The simplest answer is, given some degree of technical ability with a computer, yes, you probably can build your own website – the longer answer, answers it with a question – should you?

Should I build my own website?

There are a variety of DIY solutions on the market for building a website – some are even free!  (and in some cases, lead us to the age-old adage “you get what you pay for”).  Time, investment, knowledge, and experience are what separates a solid, well-performing website that generates leads, interest and conversion from one that doesn’t deliver and potentially harms your business.

Think of your website as one of your employees – one that doesn’t require time off, works 24 hours a day, and represents the front-face of your business – you want your best and brightest out there to greet your potential clientele.  Cost analysis will show that money invested in a properly functioning, well-designed, SEO-conscious website will not only pay for itself, but generates revenue streams by converting internet searches into customers.

Several factors affect your website performance including (but certainly not limited to):

• How fast your page loads (page load speed).
• The relevancy of the content (“content is king!”).
• Proper and compliant coding (use of appropriate tags and code).
• Appropriate use of imagery (meaningful graphics and quality photography).
• Difficulty of reading (text that is visually and contextually easy to read).
• Depth of content (simple, direct yet informative content).
• Server hardware (page loading, compliancy, up-time, responsiveness).

How fast your website loads

Page load is incredibly important to not only retention of existing users, but first-impression of new users – and most importantly how well you rank in SERPs (search engine results pages).

• 73% of mobile internet users have encountered a website that was too slow.
• 51% of mobile internet users have encountered a website that crashed, froze, or resulted in an error.
• 38% of mobile internet users have encountered a website that wasn’t available.
• 47% expect a web site to load in less than 2 seconds.
• 40% leave a website that doesn’t load in less than 3 seconds.

Content Relevancy

When a user arrives at your website, you should greet them with content that is relevant to their interest, cutting down on search and scan time is important for visitor retention.  If a user cannot find what they are looking for – they will inevitably search elsewhere.  Start with displaying your contact information and ensure it is consistent on all platforms (Is your business listed properly?  Scan your business listing here). Ensure that the homepage very clearly conveys its message to your clients and provides them with an easy means to learn about your business – and most importantly how your business can assist them.

Ensure your content is:

• Useful & Informative.
• Higher Value & More Useful Than Similar Sites.
• Credible.
• High-quality.
• Engaging.

Compliant Coding

Ensuring use of appropriate and compliant coding is vital to ensuring your website loads properly, quickly, and without errors.  It is also vital to your placement on SERPs.  Proper use of HTML tags ensures bots understand your content placement (a header is a header, a paragraph is a paragraph, an image is an image).  This is what separates most amateur website builds from properly converting ones – as the results are directly tied to higher placement in search engines, and result in more user inquiries.

Responsive website design not only ensures a high degree of technical ability, but ensures that your website displays properly across a large variety of devices (desktop, laptop, tablet (landscape and portrait mode), and mobile).

Compliant coding helps to make your website:

• Appear to load quicker.
• Easier to read for the search engines.
• Easier to read for those who use technology to read web pages to them (RSS readers, blog consolidation, E-readers).
• Render in any browser your visitor chooses to use (Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer).
• Will be easier to upgrade as web technology advances (eliminating costly rebuilds).
• Cheaper to maintain.

Appropriate Imagery

Ensure your images have a purpose, ensure your images are relevant to the content that are associated with, and ensure your images are of high-quality.

• Charts and graphs of data points.
• Screenshots.
• High-quality stock photography.
• Custom designs and vector graphics.
• Professional photography.

Reading Difficulty and Depth of Content

Good content provides value to your visitors, it helps them understand who you are and what you do.  Be sure that you then provide information that is thorough, specific, and useful for your audience – but do so in a way that assists them – it’s important to remember that your website is for your potential clientele – not for you, and the complexity of your wording should be appropriate for your readers.

Ensure that your content is:

• Original.
• Actionable (provide links).
• Provides answers (include a FAQ).
• Accurate.

Server Hardware and Hosting

Budget hosts have to keep their costs down somehow, and more often than not, it is due to poor or under-powered hardware.  Budget hosts put hundreds and thousands of websites together and offer outstanding pricing – but at a cost, resulting in slow load times, downtime, bandwidth limiters, and general overall poor performance.

A Good web host:

• Is not cheap (reasonable pricing).
• Provides solid up-time.
• Has up to date hardware and software.
• Fast response time.
• Ability for upgrading.

Additional factors to keep in mind!

• SSL (Secure Certificate).
• Social media.

And SSL certificate not only provides data encryption, but gives your users a sense of safety when browsing your site.

Social media connections provide ways for potential visitors to interact with you on their medium of choice – it’s important to keep all up to date (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn).

So, back to the question – can you build your own website? 

Yes, you can, but are you prepared to dedicate the time, energy and resources to building it properly to ensure it’s a benefit to your business – and do you have the knowledge to execute a website build to achieve those goals?  A bad website can reflect poorly on your overall business, but a good website can convert online searches into customers.

If you have any questions or just want to chat, please feel free to contact us any time!