In this chapter we will outline:
- Free tools you can use to build a website yourself if your budget is limited
- Practical considerations when going it alone
We’ve established that a web designer will be able to help optimise your site so that it not only looks great, but also serves the needs of your customers in the best possible way.
Their input is, on the whole, a worthwhile investment that will bring a competitive edge to your site.
However, designers and web agencies are not always an affordable option. The DIY route is especially attractive for small start-up companies who need to get their websites out there on a tiny budget.
If this is the case, you and your IT department (or consultant) will need to follow some of the techniques we’ve outlined yourselves. This means you will have to do all the research and usability testing, as well as the actual designing and building of the website.
Luckily, there are many free tools out there to help with the structuring and building process, and – by following some of the expert research and usability techniques we’ve outlined earlier – you can go it alone.
Perhaps in the next phase of your business’ growth, you will then be able to recruit an expert to assess how well the DIY site is doing.
Nominet, the regulator of domain names ending in .uk, has a list of registrants on its website that will do this for you.
If your company’s name has already been registered as a domain name, you can think of variations such as different endings – .com or .biz for example. You could even use hyphens between words or think of something completely different, but do bear in mind that this may make it harder for visitors to find you.
At the early stages, you may just want to ‘park’ your domain name – this means it won’t yet be associated with any website when you type in its address. You or your company’s IT department can sort out a web host (the company that stores your website’s content on its servers) later.
You’ll risk losing your domain name if you don’t keep up the subscription fees, but you can pay the fees in advance for up to ten years. The market is competitive, so costs will vary – cheap subscriptions of a few pounds a year may tie you in to using one particular registrant’s services for a certain period, so check the small print.
You’ll need to find a company that will host your website’s content – this could be the same company you bought your domain from. Pick your package carefully; find testimonials from other companies or friends or frequent a site like www.webhostingtalk.com for tips.
Many hosts will provide you with the option of choosing a cheap, ‘beginner’ package that provides you with proprietary website building tools – these have moved on in recent years, but are not recommended for businesses.
They will often use bloated, non-standard computer code, and final results can tend to look a little dated. As a rule of thumb, if the package allows you to add databases such as MySQL, then they’ll be more flexible.
Most companies will provide shared hosting services, which means your website will be situated on the same server as many others. Your visitors won’t know the difference, but it may take a little longer for your pages to load if all the other websites are popular too – so check how many other websites will be hosted on the shared servers.
A dedicated server does away with this problem, but costs more and requires more technical maintenance.
Another thing to consider when buying a hosting package is how much website traffic you are expecting. Each of your visitors will download a certain amount of data from your site – if your site has a lot of images or if you plan to host video on your site then you’ll probably need a package with a higher bandwidth limit.
In most cases though, a 1GB monthly data transfer limit should be enough for most companies’ needs.
Before designing your site, it’s worth outlining some of the more commonly-used content management tools that you can install on your site. These are all free, reliable options, and you shouldn’t run into any problems if you keep the sites patched with the latest security updates. Visit www.opensourcecms.com to play with different types of systems before you install.
The publishing platform Wordpress or the content management system Joomla! (www.joomla.org), are flexible and professional-looking options. They allow you to keep your website looking consistent across all pages. You can also update all your content via a web browser, rather than work on your website offline and upload the files to your host later.
If you want to add a forum, the free phpBB bulletin board system is a popular option, while vBulletin (www.vbulletin.com) is a relatively inexpensive paid-for package.
Sites like Blogger also allow you to post blog entries direct to your website without the need for specialist software installed.
If you want to add e-commerce functionality to your site, osCommerce is the most popular option. Small businesses can also apply for a merchant account at WorldPay (www.worldpay.com) if you want to securely accept payments online.
When determining how your site should look, use the same principles as professional web design agencies would. Look for feedback from the end-user as early as possible, and structure the site around their needs. Interview them about what they want out of your site. Be inspired by the designs of larger, successful websites.
A handy guide on best practice web design, which includes hints on planning, usability, visual aspects and site navigation, is available from the Business Link website.
Make sure your website is routinely backed up – this usually involves making a local copy on your own computers or backing up the database files.
In the UK, all companies must state their full registered address in the ‘About us’ section of their site. It’s also mandatory under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) to make your site accessible. For more, see www.w3.org/WAI.
Google Analytics is a free tool that lets you assess how popular your website is. By putting a small piece of code on the pages you want analysed, you can see how long people spent on your site, how they got there (the search terms, for example) and the most popular sections they visited.