Website creation (and what not to do)

Okay! You got the domain and hosting ready, time to put a shiny new website together… What now? So many options, but quick and free sounds the best! 

But is it ready? Let’s find out.

WordPress (and the plugin wormhole) 

WordPress is definitely the quickest and easiest way to create an online presence, especially for those new to website building or with limited technical skills. With its user-friendly interface and pre-designed templates, WordPress provides a seamless experience for setting up a website, blog, or online store.  

But first, a little background knowledge: I used to work as a WordPress developer, and yes, it’s awesome, no matter the low popularity among engineers. WordPress still powers 30% of the web. 

The biggest problem lies within all the third-party plugins developed by “anyone” and then being abandoned or not updated. And afterward, the user gets left with leftover pieces of unmaintained code prone to breaking and security breaches. 

In need of many “little” changes, we end up with many little plugins that often “pollute” our website and make it slow.

Templates, templates everywhere!

So, we downloaded a free template, set it up in our WordPress admin panel, and voila! It’s up!

On second thought, the theme looked better with demo content: we better fill the gaps and insert a few blocks of text, maybe a few random photos from your new phone. It has 50 megapixels, so it has to be good. 

But, alas, no, it doesn’t look good. We teleported to the early 2000s, and it looks like any other website built in a garage during the weekend night hours.

So far, we’ve learned that it’s quite easy to have a website up and running in minutes, but making it “pop” is a whole different ball game. Well, with the internet rich as it is today, we can choose between millions of templates: surely one of them will be unique, used only by you? Do you really think that nobody thought about using a template from a free templates website, downloaded from the 992nd page?

Moving on…what’s next?

Oh, look, a block of text.

...Said no one ever! We are living in the social media era, everything works in swipes and reels. The information has to be short and playful. The days of websites overfilled with text are over. Nobody has time for that anymore. When was the last time you read the Terms and Conditions before clicking “I Agree”?

An image is worth a thousand words

Oh, cool, we have a first-time visitor, let’s not lose him. Instead of pushing a block of text, let’s show him a quality image. Everyone likes images. We do spend a lot of time on Instagram, nothing against images, right? OK, we got a thousand-words-worth website now! 

OK, it’s time to look the truth in the eye and ask yourself the following question…

Is my product cheap?

If the answer is yes (why do you even try), move on and live a happy life. But if your product is expensive and deluxe, it's time for some changes, as a poor website won’t do your sales any good. 

I’m in an endless search for ways to make websites less boring, and this is what I found:

1. People like games
   Imagine landing on a website to find out you are already a part of a quest, solving puzzles.
   Does the winner get a free coupon? E-book? Nevertheless, visitors are hooked. Surely if you spent time creating something like this, your product can’t be cheap.
   
   
2. Show only what needs to be seen
   A way to do this is not to throw all the content at once but rather reveal things that matter. This way, you will keep visitors focused on things you want them to see.
   
   
3. Less is more
   This one is self-explanatory. ;) 

The fix

Let’s observe it like this: we got a dishwasher but need an oven. Certainly, there must be something we can do to merge those two together, but was it meant to work like that?

The same goes for the web. There are too many tools to help us build a website. And there are no limits to their use. 

It’s important to see the tools as they are: WordPress is a blogging platform, so don’t force a rocket out of it. 

If you need something different or more complex, maybe it’s time to find an experienced team who can build custom solutions. Coincidentally, I know just the team.

Hey, you! What do you think?

They say knowledge has power only if you pass it on - we hope our blog post gave you valuable insight.

If you are in need of a one-of-a-kind website that sells, feel free to contact us. 

We'd love to hear what you have to say!