What do I need to build my website? | Website Design Checklist

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Published Date:  11 Jan, 2023 | Updated Date:  21 Sep, 2023

Start off on the right foot with your latest website build (or revamp), and review this website design checklist from our top web management expert.

You’re reading Part 1 of 3 in our How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website? | Website Development Cost Guide.

Step 1

What do I need to build my website? | Website Design Checklist

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Step 2

How to budget for a basic website build | Affordable Website Design

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Step 3

How to calculate website cost | Website Cost Calculator

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Being in the business of website management, we at The Digital Navigator see a ton of entrepreneurs over-spending on the most basic aspect of their business: their website!

What’s worse, we see people work on their website for one to two years, and it never gets published.

The excess costs of consistently revamping your entire website, or paying a company to build a site that never ends up going live (due to bugs or design issues) can cripple even the most successful businesses–especially when they want to grow.

The good news is, we’ve created a reliable model for building a great website that can save you wasted money and human resources.

what do you need for a website?

Step one? Build your website with a growth mindset!

Build a website that scales with you | Requirements for your website

When you want to build a website that saves you money, you have to think beyond the short-term.

One way to think about it is to imagine you’re in a job interview. Ask: What are your business plans for one…three…five years down the road? How will the website you build help you accomplish those goals?

The reason we ask these questions is to get a sense of your online needs as a business. What compatibilities, integrations or other functionalities will you need down the line?

To avoid having to start from scratch, ask about the future requirements for your website. Ask whether you may eventually…

  • Engage with affiliates
  • Sell products or services directly through your website
  • Offer a membership or subscription service
  • Deploy a recurring payment system
  • Invest in paid advertising
  • Publish blogs, podcasts, or video series’
  • Test multiple lead capture pages

Since reworking a website is among the most costly web-related expenses, planning ahead will continue to deliver cost-savings well into development, and beyond.

In other words, if you set up the proper building blocks to prepare your website for future growth, you can easily make changes to your website while maintaining a low initial build cost for your website.

WEBSITE PERFORMANCE SOLUTION

How to build a budget-friendly website | Website Design Checklist

On the topic of cost-savings – if you’re a business owner on a budget there are a few ways you can make sure your inner accountant stays happy.

Here’s a short website design checklist to help you get started on the right foot. It answers the question of what do you need for a website that performs AND sells.

First, you need to invest in the right tools. We recommend you avoid ultra-budget website building tools like Wix and Squarespace, as well as steer clear of fully-custom coded website options (like custom WordPress themes).

That’s because these options are particularly expensive to maintain.

We also suggest you stay away from programming languages that don’t have many developers available–since their specializations increase the labor cost. Examples off the top include Perl, Laravel, and even Craft CMS.

The best budget option? Choose WordPress, and pick out a popular theme.

The maintenance and development costs are spread out across a larger user base, and you can often reduce the need for custom code. There are also so many developers, you’ll be more likely to find one that suits your cost constraints.

The next step is to determine the functionality of your website–using the goals you set in mind before. What do you need your website to do? Write it down.

Then, determine what tools or plugins you will use to make those functionalities possible, and verify that it’s all compatible with your website builder or platform. This will ensure you don’t have to rework key elements of your website later in the project.

Finally, press pause on your largest ideas and determine your Minimum Viable Product. That is: what is the bare minimum you need in place to launch your website today?

Most websites can get by with ten or less pages in place to start, and often publish blog functionalities right out of the gate. That’s one of the reasons we offer a budget-friendly option for this type of website.

When you know exactly what you need to get the project off the ground, you can more easily prioritize spending on your website build–and more easily stick to your budget.

PS: Want to know which digital marketing products we recommend to our clients? Click the button below to check out our top favorites.

Access Digital Tools List

When should I start building my website?

website design checklist

One of the things to consider when building a website is WHEN?

Here, it helps to think of your website like a storefront. It is the centerpiece of your business’ digital presence, like a hub. It is where you can connect all of your social platforms and communication mediums in one place.

That’s why we suggest you start building your website as soon as you have a business.

We also recommend you have a proven offer when you start building your website, meaning that you have sales and can be fully confident that you’ll get a return on your website investment…otherwise you may have to scrap your website in the future.

If you don’t have a proven offer, then at least validate whether there is a market demand for your products and services. Keep in mind, this option does come at a higher risk.

Do I need a website revamp? | Website Design Checklist

Another scenario that comes up often is where business owners have outgrown their website.

And while you can learn more about website revamps in our article, Do You Need a Website Revamp? | How to Update your Website for More Sales, I do want to emphasize that revamping your website is OK.

Websites are an iterative process, and revamps can be part of the website development process checklist.

It’s when you require a revamp every other month that it becomes a problem!

Say you want to add course functionalities or payment options, or affiliate tracking for example. It could be the case that adding those functionalities would be too expensive in your current website context.

The idea then is to evaluate the costs of a new website, vs. the cost of coding these functionalities to fit your current build.

“At The Digital Navigator, we do websites that take into account all future scenarios so clients never have to start from scratch. We’ve carefully designed a software solution that grows with your business–a plan which can include payments, courses, email marketing, lead capture forms, quizzes, calculators, membership and payment plans, and much more!”

 

-Pol Cousineau, The Digital Navigator

Learn About Our Managed Service Plans

What kinds of websites are there to choose from? | 7 websites you can create

As discussed above, the primary motive is to attract visitors to click on your call to action (CTA) or lead magnets.

At The Digital Navigator, we categorize websites based on what they offer visiting users–thats how we determine the requirements for the website.

Here are just seven website types you can choose from to better understand which website requirements you’ll need as you grow:

  • eCommerce/ payment website. These websites are for offering physical or digital products and services which require payment transactions in return. You can build this website type with or without a shopping cart. Here are some of the most Popular Online Payment Methods to help you determine which is the best for your eCommerce businesses.
  • Course/ membership website. These websites are centralized around a learning management system or LMS. They offer courses, content, videos, PDFs, and other educational material to interested visitors. Check this Guide about Building an online course with Learndash to learn more about the benefits of an LMS for your website.
  • Blogging/ media website. These sites provide a consistent feed of new articles, videos, podcasts, or other content with a focus on information. They often include monetization through ads or subscription billing, or are affiliated with eCommerce websites or marketers.
  • Business website. These websites are a hub for a specific brand or business. Here, visitors can access the business directly, and learn more about their operations, offerings, and even make reservations or schedule consultations through the site.
  • Photography website. Very image heavy, with gallery functionalities. Often require pages that include package information or purchase options for specific events.
  • Directory website. A basic website which acts as a hub for other website types, usually according to a theme or pertaining to a specific industry. Think of this website like an index, leading to other websites online.
  • Funnel-based website. Many content creators like to use a “Clickfunnel” model to build their website. Here, users navigate through a set of pages that include the lead capture landing page, an offer, then another offer, until the funnel is ‘closed’.

To be clear, we understand that not all website types fit into one of these seven boxes. If your website is built properly, you can likely include any of the functionalities above, and blend them together.

Just remember that the key is to create at least one area where you can keep publishing content that you ultimately share with your email list.

Give people a reason to come back, to share your work on social media, and ultimately get your website ranked well in search engine results pages, and you can consider yourself a successful website builder.

Should I hire a website developer?

The developer question is a big part of the checklist for building a website.

The reality is: if you want to create a real business, you should hire a professional. Your time is best spent doing what you are passionate about…particularly since that’s what’s going to generate the most income for your business.

“But I can’t afford to pay someone to build my website.”

If you’re saying this, then you probably don’t have a proven offer. You may have ideas, or you’re working a side-hustle, but in moments like these you have to decide if you want to risk the money now, or wait and see if you can get a good return on your investment.

Our recommendation? Hire an agency with budget-friendly options like The Digital Navigator.

Going with an agency vs. a single developer can have a ton of standalone advantages when building a website. Here are just a few we’ve discovered working with entrepreneurial clients across several industries:

5 Advantages of hiring an agency vs. developer to build a website

  1. Fewer code trip-ups. Agencies have in-set checks and balances for code, whereas individual developers often have no one reviewing their work. So, in rare cases when code doesn’t perform as required, agencies have an ultra-quick turnaround time for fixes.
  2. Quick updates. When updates are needed, agencies usually have a quick way to integrate big and small changes quickly. Individual developers may on the other hand have their plates full with other projects when the time comes around for your next update or design change.
  3. Reliability. Our clients have told us that other developers they’ve hired have disappeared in the middle of their project. Avoiding the hassle of having to hire another developer to take over is certainly worth the convenience of a trustworthy, long-term source for website management, post-launch.
  4. Available Backups. Agencies will always maintain a backup of your website should anything go wrong, from bugs to hacks. You can quickly reboot your website from the last ‘save point’ without huge losses to client communication.
  5. No hidden fees. A few of our clients who initially hired individual developers have said that developers would start to charge extra money in exchange for the release of the website, whereas agencies are more likely to create packaged contracts that clearly state what you’ll be getting, for what you’re paying.

A simple way to choose the right agency is then to ask the agency about their web development and management process, which we discuss in detail during Part 3 of this article series, How to calculate website cost | Website Cost Calculator.

If the agency is not able to translate clearly what their process is, or about timelines and budget, you may want to interview another team. A good signal is to look for agencies that have an intake process–i.e. who want to take the time to get to know your business.

Hiring Tip: When hiring a developer or development team, consider how comfortable you are with the language they use. It’s common for some developers to speak too technically, causing communication breakthroughs.

For example, our team is fluent in both technical and non-technical language, and we can translate our products and services into common jargon and back without much difficulty.

Then, once the website is live, we also provide a non-technical customer service team that acts as a go-between for non-technical clients for this very reason!

What is included in the cost of my website?

This is one of the most important questions any business owner could ask when it comes to building a successful website.

When you understand the phases your website will go through from start to finish, your inner accountant will feel at peace.

Establishing what is included in the cost to build your website before you start building is – more importantly – another great way to ensure you’re saving money as you develop into new areas and discover more about your business than you ever thought possible.

It’s also important to be aware of the ongoing fees you might experience after your site is live. We’ve heard from our clients that agencies will include hidden fees post-launch date, whereas we like to be upfront about costs from the get-go.

On the other hand, solo developers will likely have zero fees, because they don’t provide website management services. This can be a risk since your website will be more prone to viruses and update issues.

The more familiar you are with the relationship between your website build and your business aims, the better position you’ll be in to budget for your minimum viable product, plus any other elements you’re keen to add.

So, to answer the question of what is included in the cost of your website, let’s break your website down into the barebones elements that go into your build during the build process.

Read the next article

You’re reading Part 1 of 3 in our How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website? | Website Development Cost Guide. Once you’ve got the basics down, read ahead to Part 2: How to budget for a basic website build | Affordable Website Design, or Part 3: How to calculate website cost | Website Cost Calculator.

FAQ

Why should I hire an agency vs. developer?
When you hire an agency, you’re more likely to experience the benefits of no faulty code, quicker updates, reliable communication and access, available backups, and no surprise hidden fees prior to launch.
When should I start building a website?
That’s why we suggest you start building your website as soon as you have a business. We also recommend you have a proven offer when you start building your website, meaning that you have sales and can be fully confident that you’ll get a return on your website investment…otherwise you may have to scrap your website in the future. If you don’t have a proven offer, then at least validate whether there is a market demand for your products and services. Keep in mind, this option does come at a higher risk.
How can I build a scalable website?
When you want to build a website that saves you money, you have to think beyond the short-term. One way to think about it is to imagine you’re in a job interview. Ask: What are your business plans for one…three…five years down the road? How will the website you build help you accomplish those goals? In other words, if you set up the proper building blocks to prepare your website for future growth, you can easily make changes to your website without a ton of technical hassle or developer investment.

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