Building a new website takes a significant amount of knowledge and some pretty technical skills. Even using a beginner-friendly platform such as Wix or GoDaddy isn’t as easy as it may appear, and you will definitely need to do some research before you get started.
Below, we present some of the most important things to consider for new webmasters designing their first website. Think about the following, do some research, and if possible, dedicate regular time to learning and building your skills.
Start With the Basics
If you don’t know anything about web design and development, we’d recommend starting with the absolute basics. There are numerous courses and video guides available that outline the things you need to know, and we’d absolutely recommend taking advantage of them.
You will learn about things like front and back-end development, CSS styling, website builders, content management systems (CMS), hosting, domain management, and more. These skills are important and will always be useful, even if you decide to use a simple all-in-one platform that doesn’t require them.
Make Sure You Have a Good Domain
Some website builders and hosting providers offer free or cheap domain registration. In some cases, free branded subdomains are on offer that contain the company name, or some version of it.
In general, it’s not a great idea to use these. Sure, they might be cost-effective, and it might not seem that important to have a good domain. But it is. A high-quality domain name will boost your search engine ranking and ensure your site is memorable to anyone who visits it.
Don’t Clutter Your Design too Much
Many novice web designers fall into the trap of just adding too much to their first site. This might seem like a great idea, adding different things to engage visitors and prevent them from leaving too quickly. But it’s not.
A cluttered design will actually turn people off your site. Picture an interested visitor landing on your homepage, only to be bombarded with flashy visuals and other useless features. If the things they are looking for aren’t obvious straight away, the chances are that they will leave and become just another useless statistic.
Consider eCommerce
If you would like to sell things through your website, you need to think about this from the beginning. Choosing the right eCommerce platform is crucial for your success, and it’s difficult to switch between platforms once your site is up and running.
The exact platform you go for will depend on your overall goals. If you want to create a pure online store without too much other content, something like Shopify or BigCommerce could be useful. Otherwise, you might like to use something like WordPress with the WooCommerce plugin – which is a good option for more advanced users – or a beginner-friendly website builder such as GoDaddy or Square Online.
Final Word
Creating a new website doesn’t have to be difficult, but it can be quite confusing to get started. There are numerous beginner-friendly site creation platforms on the market today, but it can be quite hard to know where to begin.
In this guide, we outlined a few things that all novice webmasters absolutely have to know. We’d recommend doing your own research to learn a little more. After all, there’s no such thing as too much knowledge.