How To Not Screw Up Your First Website

Article by Colette Nichol, Solo Filmmaker and Story Strategist

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

5 Tips on How To Get Started with Your First Website

I started designing websites in 2010. I’ve made plenty of mistakes myself.

And I’ve seen a whole lot of website pain and heartache. Many of my friends in small business have had epic trials and tribulations when it comes to their websites.

But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Here are a few of my recommendations to steer you away from any painful mistakes when getting started with your first website.

1. FIND A GOOD WEBSITE DESIGNER…who you like…as a person.

A few tips for when you are looking for a designer:

1. Make sure you will own all the content and design files.

2. Make sure you pay for the domain and hosting yourself (don’t let the service provider do this). This means you control it, and can’t get burned.

3. Make sure you get delivery dates in your contract.

4. Make sure you like their portfolio! 🙂

2. LEARN MORE ABOUT WEBSITE DESIGN

If you want to learn more about website design before hiring someone check out Minima Design. Michelle has tons of amazing resources. Here’s a link to her amazing Site Launch Guide.

3. SQUARESPACE ALL THE WAY

If you’d like to be able to do website updates yourself, easily without hassle, go with a Squarespace website designer.

Squarespace has the nicest interface, so doing your own updates is easy peasy even if you don’t like tech.

There are other options like Wix and … well, others. They are fine too. So if you’re already using one of them don’t worry. But I prefer Squarespace because it makes easy, flawless website design possible. Plus it has everything you’ll ever need on a website.

4. WORDPRESS

I pretty much despise WordPress.

I’ve built a site on it. I’ve looked at other people’s WordPress sites from the inside. Only use WordPress if you’re using a designer and you don’t want to tweak the look and feel of your site yourself. Ever. WordPress is great for customization.

But it’s full of tech details the average business owner doesn’t want to deal with!

The current blog post you’re reading is on a WordPress-hosted blog, but again, I don’t recommend this for most people because it’s complicated.

5. COPYWRITING…IT’S VITAL

If you’re planning on writing all the content for your website yourself, the Marie Forleo/Laura Belgray Copy Cure Course is invaluable.

Many people underestimate the power of the written word to turn browsers into customers. But it’s actually even more important than your design.

One of the main things that will affect whether someone buys from you or not is whether the words you use to appeal to them.

Do your words speak to them? If you’re planning on writing your own website copy and you’re in an industry where making sales can be tough, you need to take a copywriting course.

---

---

---