Getting by in the world of modern business is impossible without a website. Missing out on loads of opportunities, those who choose to ignore this area will usually regret it in the future. A website gives you the chance to share information, draw in more customers, and, above all else, dominate a space which is open to everyone. Of course, though, when it comes to actually building something like this, most people don’t have any idea where to start. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring some of the easiest ways to get this sort of work done, along with showing you exactly where each one will excel.
A Developer
For a lot of people, simply paying someone else to handle this work for them will be the most obvious answer to this sort of challenge. When you’re running a business, it’s unlikely that you’ll have a huge amount of time to spend on something like this, so passing it onto someone else makes a lot of sense. There are loads of developers to choose from out there, with websites like www.freelancer.com being the perfect places to find them. Of course, along with this, you could also consider the idea of going to a company to help you out, though this will often be a lot more expensive.
The Pros: Going for an approach like this will almost always result in a very professional website. You will have the chance to dictate exactly how you want the pages to look, while also having access to the insight of someone with a lot of experience working on the internet. Of course, as one of the biggest benefits of this sort of approach, it’s impossible to ignore the ease which will come out of it. Altogether, this makes for a very promising way to get yourself online, but it doesn’t come without its problems.
The Cons: When someone else builds a website for you, you will be reliant on them for a long time. Making small changes will be hard when you don’t know how everything was put together, and it could take your company a long time to get things done when they are busy. Along with leaving you to rely on a developer, taking this sort of route is very expensive. A huge amount of time has to go into making a website, and you will have to pay for all of it, with professional rates being much higher than a lot of small companies can spare.
A DIY System
Currently, WordPress is the single most popular way to build a website which is accessible to all kinds of people. The tools themselves are completely free, and you need only pay for a hosting account to get yourself started, making it much cheaper than paying a developer to help you. Along with this, WordPress sites are much easier to work with than a lot of the other systems out there, with the entire system being put together for use in loads of different environments. Below, you can find some of the pros and cons for this sort of route.
The Pros: Thanks to its ubiquity, there are hundreds of guides around the web which can help you to get started with WordPress. This makes it very easy to break ground on the site you’d like to make, without having to put loads of money into studying or getting help from someone more experienced. The system is incredibly stable, and there are loads of themes and plugins available for it which limit the work you have to do to putting together the pages and making the whole thing look good.
The Cons: Of course, though, if you’re not very good with computers or simply don’t have much time, getting to grips with WordPress could be a challenge. You will have to learn as you go, using guides which aren’t always up to date, and a lot of people will find this frustrating. Being one of the most popular platforms for website building, WordPress has a lot of viruses being produced for it, and this can create huge problems if you ever find yourself infected with something which is hard to get rid of.
Something In Between
For those who don’t like the options above, you could consider the idea of using something a little more specific. Companies like www.contractorwebsites.com have made a strong name for themselves in recent years. Giving you the chance to skip most of the work by starting with a template which is already relevant to your business, this sort of tool will make the process faster than both hiring a developer and making the site yourself. Of course, though, like the other options, it comes with some downsides which are worth considering.
The Pros: When you choose to use a product like this to build your website, you will be starting yourself off in a really good position. The people running these companies have a lot of experience in their field, and know exactly what your website will need, making it easier to design it. Along with this, it won’t cost anywhere near as much to go down this sort of route as it would to have a developer work on the site for you.
The Cons: Unfortunately, while it will be faster and cheaper than a developer, you won’t get quite as much freedom using a system like this. Being limited to certain business types, a lot of assumptions will have been made about the sort of site you need, and this will close off a lot of the options you would have had with WordPress or a developer. For some, this won’t matter too much. For others, though, it could be make or break, and you may have to look towards another route to get your site made quickly.
Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start looking at the website options available to your business. There are a lot of people out there with the skills to help you with this sort of work, but you will still have to do a large amount of the legwork for yourself.
