Website creation is daunting if you’ve no computer science background. How do you find the best site-building process that eliminates the endless eye-twitching? Here’s some words of encouragement and advice for any artist who might feel undue stress around building their own website.
Photo by ben Kolde, Unsplash
1. You can do it.
Plain and simple, a tale old as time. You can do it. If you can paint landscapes or build sculptures or draw naked people and the list goes on, then know that you’re more than capable of building a spectacular, breathtaking website. The trick? Know that it’s just not as hard as one might think and you’ve all the power.
2. Find the website builder most fitted to your needs and wants.
Everyone who’s built their own website or had one built for them has an opinion based on their own experiences and of course they should. You need to find what works for you. Services like Wix, SquareSpace, WordPress and Weebly have all had tremendous success with a multitude of their clients and all for different reasons.
Weebly and Squarespace
These two web building platforms are owned by the same guys. SquareSpace is your higher end option, with paid tiers and full-customer support. Weebly offers free options and less templates, but is even easier to use with less support. Theoretically, you could choose one and switch to the other down the road when you’re ready.
WordPress
You can make a WordPress site look like anything you want, without necessarily using a pre-designed template. This could be ideal for artists with a unique vision for their website. It will come in more than handy to have a background in either Javascript or plain HTML. Learning a bit of these coding languages will take you far in any part of your web-presence journey. David Hayes details what you’ll want to know before getting started.
Wix
Another pretty easy-to-learn site-builder that requires little to know previous knowledge of coding or programming. The layouts tend to be stunning and you’ve more freedom within the builder to move about and really tweak your design. Because of this freedom, Wix sites can be prone to breakage and lack of consistency, but the power is still in your hands. (What’s the difference?!)
3. Know what you are and what you need.
When you’re shopping for a website template/design, it can be easy to get lost in the varieties and choose one that isn’t right for you. Artists need the opportunity to express themselves and showcase their art, so a service that offers templates open spaces for displaying artwork and engaging viewers is key. Non-profit organizations will need a way to convert users to donors through brief education and engagement in the site and a strong call to action (CTA) . Retailers who move massive amounts of product need websites with a strong backend that supports the storage of information and inventory processing. Make a list of functions and features you want on your website and write down how you would like everything displayed. Artists should look for gallery/portfolio based templates.
4. Know when to ask for help.
Websites are a product of creation just like your art work is. Your vision, your understanding of color and your ability to create something out of thin air is a coveted skill in web-development. Where you’ll most likely need help is coding and there are a few ways to tackle this. You can hire someone easily online or access any of the numerous resources available, including video tutorials, web chat assistance normally available through the site-builder provider. The system is literally set up to assist you at your beck and call.
5. Don’t be afraid to take your time.
Take your time now and you won’t have to later. Play around with the site abilities to learn what you can and can’t do. Set aside an evening to simply watch videos and tutorials by those who’ve already trekked their way through the previously uncharted territory.
Building web presence is key to growing any kind of audience. This day in age there are multitudes of resources available online that will help you become the expert and design your own experience for your users. Don’t let anything hold you back.
Hey, thanks for being here! I’m a brand new freelance writer trying to figure this world out! If you like what I write, or if you hate it, please leave questions, comments, general concerns and/or a clap in the appropriate section. I appreciate the read!