The good news is that you can create and design a website yourself using a tool such as an online site builder, or work with a professional while maximizing your budget. The key is to be realistic. A website is not free. Even if you do it yourself, you’ll need a domain, hosting, and other tools (many site builders have a monthly fee) depending on how you plan to create the website.The best practice is to start with a little research, then set a budget. That way you know what you can afford and how to have conversations about planning the website design. Here’s how you do it!
1. Set Goals
Setting goals can also help you plan a potential website return on investment and set a budget for the initial project and managing the website in the long term.Think of goals like this: You’ll probably have a smaller budget for the website design and build if it is solely informational, such as a blog. But if your website helps sell a product or service, allowing users to sign up for an email list or information, there’s greater potential for return, and maybe gives you more room in your budget.Finally, if the website will be used for e-commerce, the potential return on investment from your website is any sales from the website. Look at that goal in connection to budget to see what you think you can afford.
2. Pick a Foundation
One of the best ways to adhere to a budget long-term is to do some of the work yourself. If you plan to manage content over time, from blogging to adding items to an online store, pick a website foundation that you are comfortable with.While WordPress is the most commonly used content management system available, you might already have experience with something else and that familiarity can be advantageous.If you picked the website builder option, you can stick to a pretty tight budget by doing it yourself, using tools that come with these builders. (Common website builders include things like Squarespace and Wix.)
3. Use a Theme or Templates
Regardless of the foundation you choose, there are themes, templates, and plugins to build features and functionality. While you don’t want to go crazy installing too many things at once, picking a solid theme, can provide the basic design elements you want for the website.When choosing a theme, look for something that appeals to your sense of style and includes features you need. More features aren’t always better if you don’t need them. Make sure to pick a template or theme that’s responsive, so the design and website will work on all device types.
4. Have Website Content Ready to Go
Do you already know what needs to be on your website? Is the content – text, images, videos, links to email and social media accounts – packaged and ready?Having all the content for the website ready in one location can save time (and money), speeding up the website build process. One of the first things a website designer will ask for is the content for your design.
5. Cut Out Unnecessary Features
More features and more pages often result in high-priced website design. Cut out unnecessary features. If you think you might want something later, have a conversation with the website design about adding on features at a later time and if your website foundation has the potential for growth. (In most cases, the answer will be yes. This gives you the budget flexibility to grow the website project over time.)
6. Manage Content Yourself
Yes, it is a good idea to have a website professional manage updates and tweaks to the site itself, but you can probably add your own blog content. You can probably add new items to the online store. You can probably add events or update email addresses.Having the ability to make these types of small content adjustments can save a lot of time and money in the long run.Then you can keep a website professional on hand for things you don’t feel comfortable doing yourself but can manage more mundane content creation work.
7. Have a Go-To Person for Help
This might be the person that built your website with a monthly retainer or pay-as-you-go option. It might be a friend or colleague. It could be someone else you hire altogether.Regardless of who you choose, it’s important to have a solid relationship with someone who can help you through website issues in a pinch. If you have to cold call someone for help, costs can add up quickly.Proper maintenance will save time, effort, and money in the long run.
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