What you should know before starting your website

It’s basically an unspoken rule at this point: if you are running a business you must secure your own domain, and publish your own website. 

Relying solely on a third-party platform or social media can work for a while, but what will you do if something changes on that platform and you can no longer utilize it the way you were?

Registering our own domains and sites ensure control and ownership over our content and data. And while there are many different types of sites, one thing remains the same: What you should know before starting your website…

💡 Tip: If you are confused by any terms used in my writing, review my comprehensive guide to web terminology. If you love a good analogy, read ‘think of a website as a house’, as it explains what goes into building and launching a website!

Branding & Content

I cannot stress enough the importance of having your content and branding strategy completed before you start your website.

As a web designer, these assets help me understand your brand, services, product, YOU, your story, your voice, all of which directly affects the look and feel of your website.

The website itself is nothing without its copy and imagery, and in order to design and develop a successful website, you should anticipate what assets you are populating, formatting, styling, and optimizing!

💡 Tip: I have written a few SEO articles as they relate to content and keywords, bookmark these when you’re ready to start copywriting: How to use SERP to create blog content, 6 resources for your blog content strategy, and Why focus keywords are important for SEO!

Domains & Emails

You can typically register your domain name when you are signing up for hosting and vice versa. Some also opt to host their domain and emails separately from where their website is hosted, or have to depending on their choice of host.

Once you have selected your domain, you should secure it. You can also register and use an email address before having a completed website.

Having a landing page with basic contact information and links to social media or other important references is great to have in place while your full website is being built.

Think of it as an online business card!

Why do some people host emails with their website hosting?

The short version is: because the product is included.

If you aren’t familiar with the features and services your website requires, an appealing option may be managing your services all in one place.

While it’s possible to configure email addresses through self-hosted servers, your mailing server will be sharing the same resources and may not perform as well as if you had an independent email provider.

Why do some people host emails and domains separately from their web hosting?

The short version is: because of better quality services.

The long version is a bit technical, but you can think of it as specialized and focused service offerings are typically going to yield better results than all-in-one services.

If you choose to use a proprietary platform like Squarespace or Wix, while they may offer email product add-ons to your account they are technically served through a third-party like Google Workspace.

You may want to consider enrolling in third-party services separately, on your own, so you have less problems disconnecting or migrating if you choose to leave your website provider later on.

💡 Tip: Availability, extensions, and characters are just some of the things to keep in mind when choosing a domain name.

Website Platforms & Hosting

One of the decisions you’ll need to make is whether or not you want to self-host your own website or use a proprietary platform provider. As with most things, there are pros and cons to each.

If you are self-hosting your website you either own a server, or rent server space to configure and manage the software, databases, code, and files of your website or application. 

If you choose a proprietary platform, you essentially pay a monthly or annual fee to have both access to use their web application software and host the pages that you create. You do not have direct access to the servers where your content and website files are stored as they are contained through the platform itself.

Third-Party Integration & Licenses

Depending on the requirements of your website, you may need to integrate third-party services, or buy premium licenses.

For example, on WordPress you might start out using a free plugin for something like an event calendar or language translation. Later on, with more different types of events or languages added you may need advanced filtering or an alternate display layout. However, these functionalities may only be provided in the licensed version of the plugin you’re using, and will have to be upgraded.

💡 Tip: When you purchase a license to a third-party theme or plugin, you are also paying for support directly from that developer. Some parties set-up their own support ticketing sites to provide their customers with assistance when using these products.

Policies

Before starting your website, you should be mindful of laws or regulations you need to follow depending on the data you collect, or content you provide.

For example, Canada has CASL and PIPEDA laws to consider when it comes to anti-spam and privacy. While other regions like the USA and UK have more strict legislation in place, it’s generally recommended for all other regions to keep aware or be prepared for similar laws to be put in effect here.

A good rule of thumb to follow: if your website takes in any visitor information at all, you should have a privacy policy outlining that data. This includes some very basic things that most websites have:

• Email contact forms
• Newsletter subscription form
• Connected to Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, or any other tracking cookies
• User or membership area where details are collected
• E-commerce 

Maintenance & Updates

The worst thing you can do is publish a website and leave it to rolling tumbleweeds. 

From a technical point of view, websites need to be updated in both their back and front-ends. This means the behind-the-scenes tech-y bits we don’t see, AND the content and functionality that users see when viewing the website!

The back-end of your website, especially if using a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, requires regular monitoring, backups, and updates to the platform itself, your theme, and the plugins you have installed. 

This is primarily for security but also to account for updates to things like programming languages (code), browsers, or being able to make use of new functionality offerings. 

From the front-end, your website’s content (text and images) needs to be refreshed over time for visitors to know that you’re current, keep them coming back, and even to let search engines know hey – this website is evolving on a regular basis.

For these reasons, a lot of developers, copywriters and strategists will offer ongoing maintenance contracts to help you with your website or social media updates.

Anticipated Costs and Ongoing Fees

The following lists feature the general anticipated annual costs and ongoing fees of running a website. The prices outlined are just an average to give you a general idea of what to expect.

One-time costs, if not doing yourself:

• Content strategy
• Policy writing
• Copywriting
• Web design
• Website development
• Content population
• Search engine optimization (basic)
• Browser testing, mobile testing
• Accessibility testing

Obviously, these costs will be fluid and depend on a provider basis. When you are working with a professional web designer and developer, all (or some) of these services are typically packaged into the total cost of your website.

Ongoing fees, monthly or annually:

• Domain
  • $20+/year, depending on the domain extension (.com vs .ca vs .org, etc).
• Domain extras, if needed
  • $20+/year. By default, .ca domains don’t display registrant contact information, however, .com may without purchasing domain ID protection.
• Email Plan
  • Starts at $10/month and goes up depending on your plan benefits.
• Hosting
  • $30/month or $300/year for typical baseline hosting after initial promos end.
• Hosting extras, if needed
  • Add-ons are available for scanning, backup, staging, CDN, SSL, and other hosting features depending on the availability. Note, some hosts may include these features within their plans directly.
• WordPress Maintenance or Website Management, if not doing yourself
  • Costs will depend on the developer/agency providing the work. My pricing for WordPress maintenance and website management range starts at $75/mo with larger packages starting at $175/mo.
• Premium licenses, if needed
  • Costs will depend on the plugin. The premium version of Event Calendar is $149/year USD. The premium version of TranslatePress is $99/year GBP. Developers will charge their own pricing and typically offer a selection of packages to determine the features you need at a cost you can afford.
• Third-party tools and connections
  • If you use CRM tools, email marketing, or other online services you may also require setting up and configuring your tools to integrate with your website. Your costs for the third-party subscription may be on top of whatever you need to do to implement the work involved.

What you should know before starting your website

Before starting a website you need to know what content you will feature and what functionality the site requires.

You’ll need to review the platforms and hosting options available to you and compare them with your needs to determine the best fit long-term.

And finally, to avoid any surprise charges, you should be mindful about what ongoing fees or anticipated costs are associated with managing your website over time.

Set yourself up for success before starting your website

With nearly 30 years of experience designing and developing websites, I offer insight, advice, and expertise while we both remain comfortable in the privacy of our own homes and offices!

(Someone, somewhere, whispers: ‘Introverts! Unite! Separately, in our own homes!’)