Most websites are uninspired places, unnatural habitats, eerily void of style and personality. This is largely because they are made by novices, committees or programmers rather than collaboration between designers, artists, photographers, and writers, the only people we can trust with our stories.
An engaging website requires seven things:
• Thoughtful architecture for overall design, theme, content and flow.
Know what you want to accomplish from the get-go and stay true
to your vision.
• Professional logo/banner complimenting the design.
• Expert copywriting, design, graphics and photography.
Please never use work from others without their permission.
• Easy to reference phone number, email, social media links
There may be times when you don't want your phone number on your website. This is particularly true for most writers I know.
• The distinct personality of the business, nonprofit, organization, or individual
represented.
• Consistency, consistency, consistency in look and voice.
Much harder than it looks.
• Time and plenty of it. There's no such thing as a weekend website. Invest
the time crafting a place you want to be. This usually means paying
someone else to do it for you - and that someone else, no matter how
expert, also needs plenty of time.
Even when you have invested in a gorgeous, engaging, highly functional website, it will not get you business any more than a Ferrari, locked in a garage, transports you to where you want to go.
Unless you already have name recognition and a well established web presence, along with a generous budget to invest in search
engine optimization (SEO) marketing and publicity, your website supports your promotional activities. It enhances your credibility and
desirability. It makes it a easier for people to refer others to you - but you still have to get out there and sell yourself. And that's a whole new topic for
discussion.
I work with people who want to tell a good story. People with something to say. People who appreciate that skillful storytelling
takes time. It’s an evolutionary process, with little respect for modern sensibilities like deadlines and wonky technology. The best websites are an ongoing, evolutionary process, handled by a
single person, preferably the individual who originally designs your website.
I work with people I admire. People I genuinely love to spend time with. People who want to be the star of your own well-lived
life. People who see things differently.
After years of research and more than a few
false starts, I chose Jimdo as my website building/hosting partner. I recommend Jimdo
Pro and Jimdo Business. In spite of what they tell you on the
package, you'll need about eight weeks to make something worthwhile, but you'll have set yourself up with an excellent partner. They do the coding while you focus on content. This said, if you're
not a highly experienced designer, copywriter, photographer, artist et al. you definitely require professional help. A DIY website looks like a DIY website. The world doesn’t need more of
those.
The easiest website builder I recommend is WIX. They offer a ton of templates and a basic hosting package from around $20 a month. There's even a free version.
I've hosted 'Lovers Kitchen' for nearly twenty years using Google's Blogger, even though Lovers Kitchen is a place for me to share my love of food and not an actual blog. If you're interested in writing a regular online column, take a look Blogger.
WordPress is hugely popular with writers, though in spite of buying two books to master it, I gave up. To get the look I want with WordPress requires substantially more time than I'm prepared to invest.
Squarespace offers exceptionally elegant options for making a website. I find the software more complicated than Jimdo, but if you're a highly visual person wanting a clean, sleek, modern website, it's worth the effort.
If you're a creative in the visual arts, Adobe is another option to consider for your website. Though usually tied into renting a bunch of software, you can go for the website only option for about $120 a year. Naturally it helps if you're already working with Adobe software on a regular basis.
I made my first website twenty-two years ago. It took six months and cost ten times the price for a similar website today.
Click the images below to visit some of the websites I have created.
