Making a website in 2019, how to get started.

Lucas Van Remoortere
Lucas Van Remoortere • ☕️ 5 min read

A website is nowadays indispensable for just about every company, association, blogger … But how do you get started now? Can you make a website yourself? Do you outsource it better? Which platform is the best choice now? In this article we show you the options and help you make this best choice.

First things first: determine what your website needs.

Nowadays there are a huge number of options for creating a website, each with its advantages and disadvantages. That is why it is very important to think carefully about what you want to achieve with the website. The questions below will help you on your way to making an informed choice:

  • Do you have technical knowledge and don’t be deterred from learning about web development? Creating a website yourself can save you a lot of money. However, do know what you are starting to do, because there is often a lot involved. The advantage is that a lot of information can be found online about how you can do this.
  • Do you need regular updates on your website? If you regularly want to make updates to your website yourself but do not have knowledge of code, you need a handy _ Content Management System , or CMS that makes this possible. A good example of this is <a href=”https://wordpress.com” target=”blank”> WordPress . A comparison of the most popular CMS can be found in [our blog post] (/ blog / comparison-cms “comparison CMS”).
  • Do you want to sell things on your website? There are systems that are very focused on e-commerce, and can therefore help you enormously in setting up your own webshop. Some examples of such systems are Shopify , WooCommerce (WordPress plugin) and Magento .
  • Is an integration required with other services? If your website must be very dynamic and dependent on external data, you may be able to find an existing plugin or extension for this. (For example, think of a plugin that automatically displays your social media posts on your website.) If there is no plugin for what you want, you can appeal to a web developer who provides a customized solution. Contact me for a quote request.
  • How many pages should your website have? For a one-pager with some business information you don’t need a sophisticated system with a database and lots of bells and whistles. Logical, right?
  • _How do you want to create interaction with your website visitors? _ A website must be a means to achieve a certain goal. This can be to generate leads, make a reservation, subscribe to a newsletter, make a purchase, convey a message … ** It is therefore crucial to define the purpose of your website in advance so that it is optimally used. can be classified .** So think about this very carefully! Only in this way will your website really bring added value.
  • What is your budget? Although there are many services where you can create a website for free, these tools are very limited. You will eventually still have to pay extra for extensions or features that you have not thought about beforehand. It is therefore best to make a checklist with all the requirements for your future website, so that you will not be faced with any surprises afterwards. Also, do not forget the recurring costs for hosting, domain name and possibly maintenance in your price calculation. These are included in some packages, but with others you will have to purchase them yourself. Sometimes it is also a good idea to start a good basis, knowing that you have opted for solutions with good expansion possibilities. You can then invest further as soon as your budget allows.

The possibilities

Have you thought about the functionalities that your website should have? Lets get to work! Because making a choice for the design of a website is easier said than done. We go through the options with you.

Static site

A static website is the most classic form of a website. This only consists of “front-end” code (HTML, CSS and Javascript), without the need for a database.

Due to the simple layout, such sites have a very fast loading time, low hosting costs, and no further maintenance is needed after launch.

In recent years, static websites have become increasingly popular, especially since they offer a lot of benefits with regard to loading time, and require less maintenance than a full-fledged CMS.

In addition, such websites are no longer as static as before. For example, it is perfectly possible to link services such as an external CMS. This way you enjoy a high performance boost (which leads to a higher ranking in Google__), without sacrificing flexibility.

** Nothing but benefits so**, and that is why we at Luweb are such a big fan of these static websites. The initial set-up of such a website does require a fair amount of knowledge and should therefore be done by a developer. We are naturally happy to help you with this.

Request your quote for a super fast, static website.

For the elaboration of static websites, we use advanced static site generators as GatsbyJs (based on ReactJs , a JavaScript framework developed by Facebook), and the very user-friendly Contentful to enable updates. The use of these tools gives us little to no hindrances in the development process and gives the most effective result.

Your advantage? A flying fast customized website that has all the benefits of a CMS and offers all the best in terms of security, speed and hosting.

CMS

A Content Management System, or CMS is very useful for setting up a website quickly and easily. This is usually done using themes created by third parties that you can choose from. Adjustments to the website are then made on the basis of a protected ** administration panel**, directly in the back-end of the website. There are often many plugins that make it possible to integrate other services (think of plugins for a webshop, Google Maps, SEO optimization …).

You can perfectly set up a website with a CMS yourself, provided you have some feeling for technology.

So a lot of benefits! But a CMS can also have many disadvantages. For example, websites that depend on different plugins quickly become very slow and therefore score less well on SEO, conversion and the user experience. Furthermore, the cost price of themes, plugins or additional customization can quickly add up.

Benefits:

  • Possibility to set up yourself with limited knowledge
  • Enormous selection of pre-made themes

Cons:

  • Slow websites in many cases
  • Limited in design / layout adjustments
  • Plugins can pose security risks
  • Price can quickly increase once you need customization
  • Existing themes do not offer a unique design

Are you convinced that a CMS is the best choice for you? We go through the most popular options with you, so that you can make the best choice from day 1. Read the article and make a choice.