For a coder, building a website is not a big deal, but for an entrepreneur – whose technical skills are maybe not that sound – creating a website from scratch is something of a daunting task.
Depending on the type of website that you plan to create, it can range anywhere on a continuum from very easy to very difficult.
Website Builders
A starter website is easy to build from scratch. Even if you don’t have any technical knowledge, you can create a decent-looking website with website builders.
A website builder is an online software that helps with creating websites: they are drag-and-drop builders that can be used by anyone. Wix, Yola, Weebly, and Webnode are some of the leading online website builders. They don’t just let you create a website, but they also provide hosting services.
They don’t provide you with much flexibility. You have to use the templates, blocks, and items that are available with the builder; nothing new can be added.
Templates and themes
Themes and templates are more flexible than website builders. Not everyone can deal with themes, as these require technical knowledge (not coding, though).
You have to purchase a domain name, buy hosting services, install a CMS (such as WordPress), and install a ready-made theme.
In this case, your website will look more professional and you can edit it by tweaking the theme. These websites look better than the ones created with a builder.
Customized websites
Finally, we have customized websites that are coded by programmers and designed by professional designers. These are the websites that are the hardest to create. Unless you are a hardcore programmer, you will need a team of professionals.
These are the websites that are expensive, customizable, super-professional, and very flexible. You can change anything according to your needs. Large businesses usually prefer building customized websites.
Where to begin
Depending on your current budget and technical knowledge, you can choose one of these website creation techniques.
For example, if you are a startup owner with limited resources, and you need a small website, your best bet is to choose a suitable website builder and create a website yourself.
However, if you are interested in blogging and need a more flexible blog that you can manage yourself, you should install WordPress and choose a blogging theme to get started.
Large businesses that need a heavy duty website, such as a marketplace or a customized ecommerce store, should hire professional coders from the very beginning.
At the end of the day, building a website from scratch is easy. You don’t have to be a coder anymore to create a website. If you need a personalized website with features of your own choice, it’ll be a difficult task which can only be handled by professionals.
Choosing the right technique is all that you need.
This article, titled “How easy is it to build a business website from scratch?”, originally appeared on e27.