If you are an entrepreneur or small to medium sized business (SME) you know that you MUST have an Internet presence or “website”. The question is: “What are my options to get a professional website?” In this article I will give you some options. The options here are not the only ones, but it will give you a very good choice framework to work from. When I for example Googled the words “website building” I found 97.6 million references. With such an overwhelming reference base, where does one start? Look at the options outlined below and you may find an answer to your question on how to build a website.
Option One: Outsource the building of your website
This basically means that you get a website developer to design and build your website for you. Trust me, there are thousands of them around all over the place. Website developers range from big corporates to garage operators. Within your community you will find quite a few of them around.
This article is not about how to choose the right developer, but rather about your options to build a website. Outsourcing the site development have distinct advantages in that it frees you from endless hours of trying to acquire a specialist skill. In addition it ensures that you keep focus on your business – one of the most important success factors for business today.
On the downside it may be a costly exercise. To appoint a professional company with a good track record may set you back a good few thousands of dollars. The other problem, according to me, is that you somehow lose control and independence. What if you need to urgently get something on your site at midnight? What happens if the company goes belly up?
Option Two: Insource the building of your website
By this I mean that you employ a website developer cum webmaster. This option will ensure that you have relatively good control over the development and management of your site at all times.
The downside is obviously the fact that you are adding fixed overheads to your business. If your business basically requires an electronic brochure that describes your products or services with low maintenance and management needs I will not recommend this choice. On the other hand, if you are into online marketing, this may be an essential asset to have.
Option three: Build your own website
By choosing this option you obviously choose the “full control” option, but you are also sacrificing time that could have gone into developing your business. I have opted for this choice because I decided to build my business primarily via the Internet, and because I was the in the fortunate situation to develop the skill over many years.
Within this choice there are various options.
Three A: Buy a website creation / publishing program
There are many website building programs available, and I do not intend to give you a comprehensive list. Lets look at a few of the most popular packages available on the market.
Microsoft FrontPage
The Microsoft FrontPage Web site creation and management tool gives you everything you need to create and manage exactly the site you want, whether you’re creating a personal Web page or a corporate Internet or intranet site. At time of writing this article it was available from the on the Internet for GBP169.99 (approximately $255.21).
Adobe Dreamweaver CS4
Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 web design software is another popular HTML editor, enabling you to build professional websites and applications. The download price at time of writing this article was $399.00.
XSite Pro
XSite Pro has been described as “a truly a dream come true for anyone interested in publishing professional websites for affiliate programs, product sales, distribution of information, and tons of other uses. Anyone who has struggled with DreamWeaver or FrontPage is sure to appreciate the simplicity, yet robust, features of XSitePro.” It is a website publishing program that is much more intuitive and based on easy to use templates. At time of writing this article it was available for $197.00.
There are many more website publishing programs but we will for now leave you with the above three popular options. I personally have used Frontpage extensively in the past and have tried to master Dreamweaver, but will choose XSite Pro for various reasons.
Three B: Use a website builder
Most web hosting companies these days contain a website builder as part of the hosting service. I am hosting sites on IPower, GoDaddy and DailyUk and all three have website builders as pert of the service. Personally I have found that these builders are too limited for my purpose, but it is a viable option that will not cost you nothing.
Three C: Use a script or CMS (Content Management System)
Blogging and other Web 2.0 technologies has changed the face of the Internet. Today it is possible for anyone to create a free blog that automatically provides you with a CMS (Content Management System). This basically allows you to create a blog, but in fact you can create a very professional website with these systems. According to doityourself.com the most popular blog systems are the following:
Most Popular Free Blog Websites
- Blogger.com
- WordPress.com
- Weebly.com
- FaceBook.com
- MySpace.com
Most Popular Pay For Blog Websites
- WordPress.com
- Typepad.com
- Weebly.com
I personally have built more than 10 WordPress sites, and have no doubt that WordPress is my personal option. The most popular web hosting companies also have the option to install WordPress on your hosted domain that provides you with a lot more features and flexibility.
Option Four: Develop it from scratch
This option implies that you have to master developer skills such as knowing HTML and a host of other developer languages. It can be handy, but I will personally never recommend that you choose this option. It will eat up your time and most probably let you lose total focus of your business.
Choosing an option
Choosing one of the options above should be done with due consideration to your criteria. These may include (a) Cost (b) Time of development (c) Own time required and (d) Control, to name but a few. In a next article I will give some guidelines on how to professionally make this decision. The above list is also by no means a comprehensive list. You may for example opt for using WordPress but appointing a freelance developer to make certain customisations for you.
The good news is that you can get on the Net without too much pain. Millions have done it, and so can you.
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MindMaps ZA is a business and marketing communications consultancy specialising in the empowerment of SMEs (Smal to Medium Enterprises) to make the most of the Internet as marketing and communication channel.
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