(This is the final blog in a 4-part series on solo entrepreneurship – if you’ve ever considered starting your own business, or know someone who has, let’s explore together!)
What are my options for website hosting?
You’re putting the pieces together – you’re doing the work! Now you need a great website. First of all, we would love to help! You can click here for a more in-depth look at the steps to building a great website.
Squarespace
If you have no experience with web design, and simplicity and budget are your top priorities, Squarespace could be the way to go. It provides a one-stop-shop for domain name, hosting, and site platform – and even has integration for e-commerce for an additional cost. Its front-end interface is highly intuitive – though it is often sluggish. You will also be pretty limited in your design customization options without having advanced coding experience. Squarespace can work for you if your web presence is not really central to your business, and you don’t expect it to ever be. It can be used for a highly customized, high-traffic website -a few larger companies use the platform, such as Airwalk and Pixar – but that’s not really what it’s optimized for.
WordPress
Over 1/3 of all sites on the web are powered by WordPress – and for good reason. We build all of our websites using WordPress’s endlessly customizable, open-source technology. WordPress isn’t going to be quite as intuitive to use and edit as Squarespace (though most WordPress templates are very user-friendly), but it can be every bit as affordable if you are on a tight budget. For the most affordable option, you can host your website and purchase your domain name(s) on Bluehost, then use a free WordPress template. Just know that “you get what you pay for” – investing in a great hosting plan will greatly increase your security, support, and website speed., among other things.
You’ll also need to consider future growth here. If the budget is tight for now, but you have a little experience with web design or are willing to learn, WordPress is the way to go. It can take you all the way from the most basic site, to a highly complex one.
What do I do if I don’t have the time to build a website by myself?
Here’s the deal. Building a website CAN be very simple and easy – but doing it with excellence means there are a thousand things you’ll need to think through.
Let us build your website
We are an end-to-end web design agency that will work with you on the “big picture” to help you develop a brand that connects emotionally with your consumers. We’ll also make sure all the other bases are covered, of which we’ve only mentioned a few here.
You can build your own website – and we’ve given you a few ideas here for how to do that. But consider letting us do the work for you – websites are kind of what we do. 🙂 Then you can focus on doing what you do best: building an amazing business.
Chris LaFay