What it Takes to Build a Website: Welcome to The Dark Side

Hey guys!

I made a post about this on my social media, which you can check out here!

But that was just simply steps in order, kind of. I'm so sorry in advance!

Now I stand by my point that anybody can make a website, but not everybody can make a website with ease, and that conveys what you're trying to accomplish. Hence, there are people like me who are here to support you and help you grow your business and take away that stress.

Here’s what you’re thinking right now… and I’m about to gently crush your website-building ego with a bat. Softly. With love. Promise. Let me explain. If you’re an expert T-shirt maker and you start talking to me about heat presses, vinyl screening, dye types, fabric blends, production methods — I’m immediately lost. Gone. Mentally buffering. And yes, I might feel a tiny sting to whatever imaginary T-shirt-making confidence I thought I had. Because that’s your zone of genius. Not mine.

And that’s the whole point.

You are incredibly talented at what you do. That’s why you started your business. But just because you’re amazing at your craft doesn’t mean you also need to be amazing at website design, social media management, or social media marketing.

Your business should not suffer because you don’t have one very specific, unrelated skill set.

Not being good at everything doesn’t make you incapable. It makes you normal.

I will fully admit: I am absolutely talentless when it comes to making T-shirts. I should not be trusted with a heat press. But I know exactly what I am good at.

So let me do the thing I’m good at, while you keep doing the thing you’re brilliant at.

Deal?

1. Pick a platform (like Wix or Squarespace).

   First off, this is just choosing which building app you want, like picking which app you want to message your friend on. You have lots of options: iMessage, Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat, the list goes on. You have a huge list of website-building platforms as well: Wix, Canva, Google (Webador), Squarespace, Webflow, Shopify, and once again, the list goes on. These apps let you build without MOST of the background coding. Now I say most because, well, you are still building something in a digital space, and that requires coding and work with technology.

2. Choose a template you like.

   Once you've picked your platform, you need to pick your template. It's like buying a premade house, and all you have to do is decorate it. However, when you walk into your premade house, that wall may block the natural light, you might not like the countertops, or worst of all, they use laminate flooring instead of hardwood. A template is just that. It's a template. You still have to customize the colours and font, remove boxes and repeaters and everything that makes it not yours.

3. Change the text to your business info.

   Now, once you've kind of made this premade house feel like yours, and you picked which app you want to text your friends on. You have to replace the fake words with your words. By golly! Would you imagine it's not as simple as saying "Hi, I make T-shirts. Buy my T-shirts." You have to actively pick the correct words so Google or whichever World Wide Web app your potential customer or client is using picks it up, puts it in the algorithm and pops up, hopefully, close to the top. You have to have privacy policies and pricing policies, you have to have return policies, you have to have accessibility statements, you have to put legal framework in there to not only protect yourself, but reassure your potential clients and customers as well!

4. Swap in your photos.

   Next, you need to hang up artwork and decorations in your premade house. It's like buying a picture frame from Walmart, the picture in the picture frame is an actor and a child who is also an actor. It's not yours, which also means that if you're publishing this website, it can be illegal to use the pictures that come with the template. Also, not to mention that these pictures probably have nothing to do with your business or your brand. So you have to go searching for pictures that you can use publicly, or you have to upload your own pictures, and it's not as simple as snapping a picture on your phone, and you're off to the races. You need to make sure these pictures are edited and properly framed.

5. Add your logo.

   Almost done! The simplest part upload your logo. Except it's not that simple. Where do you put it? How many times do you put it on your page? How many variations of your logo do you use? Do you have multiple variations of your logo? Sorry to burst your bubble, but you can't put your logo above your simple wording that says "Hi. I sell T-shirts. Buy my T-shirts."

6. Add your contact info.

   People need to reach you. So you need your contact info. Are you going to use your personal email address, or are you going to make one? You need to add your phone number, maybe an address. People need to get a hold of you to buy your T-shirts, so you need your contact info.

7. Press “Publish.”

   Ok, scratch what I said about the logo being the easiest part. Pressing the big publish button is the easiest. But don't let me fool you once again, there's a huge process behind publishing your website. Including domain name, picking how you're going to advertise your website, and optimization. Once again, the list goes on.

8. Boom. You have a website.

   Well, if your premade house doesn't fall, and you can live with all the imperfections, and hopefully your friend that you messaged is on that app, and maybe you were able to make your website look professional enough that people won't think it's a scam, then well, boom! You have a website!

Now, as I said before, you are talented at your craft! Just because you are not "talented" at a completely unrelated skill set, that doesn't make you a bad business person or unskilled. It makes you completely normal! That's ok. Your business should not suffer because of this completely unrelated lack of skill, knowledge or comprehension. So let me do what I'm good at, while you keep doing what you are amazing at, and let's work together to build your website from the ground up. Taking each other's amazingness, putting it into one big amazing blob that helps grow your business! There is so much in the digital world right now, so don't get left in the dust when trying to launch your business!

See ya later!