Planning for a website: the ultimate guide

Why planning for a website is vital

I’m an SEO copywriter who’s been working with clients on websites for 16+ years. And, in my experience, business owners don’t plan for their websites nearly as well as they should.

Usually that’s because they haven’t fully understood what’s involved or what’s their responsibility. And this has left them vastly under-prepared and, sometimes massively, over-budget.

Avoiding a last-minute panic

Funny cartoon character panicking — ^{Image by Dmitry Abramov from Pixabay}

So many prospects have come to me in a panic, needing last-minute web copy. Because, when their web developer asked them for the words, they suddenly realised they didn’t have any.

None of them had realised it was up to them to write their website. Some, mistakenly, thought the copy was included in the price of the design. Some hadn’t given the copy a second thought. Most hadn’t allocated any budget for it and had no clue how much it would cost or how long it would take.

But copy is just one of the things you’ll need to include in your budget when planning for a website. So how much will it actually cost you?

How much do websites cost?

Now there’s a question. When I asked Google for the average cost of a website, it gave me answers from £100 to over £20k. Helpful, huh?

So why the huge difference?

Well, because not all websites are created equal. You can have anything from a £100 basic DIY template to a complex £20k website with expert-level custom coding and custom-created features.

It all depends on what you need and what you can afford.

Considerations when planning for a website

Brand new website vs. redesign vs. refresh

If you have a new business, it’s obvious you’ll need a new website.

But if you already have an established business with a website, maybe you don’t need to invest in a whole new website from scratch. Maybe you could look into a redesign of your existing site instead.

A redesign will refresh and update the look of your site. You’ll be able to keep what’s working, fix what isn’t and add any extras you need.

If your website issues are more cosmetic, some web designers will take your existing website and give it a mini makeover. The results can be dramatic and could make a real difference to the appearance of your site.

DIY website vs. hiring a web developer

website-wireframe-sketched-on-notepad — ^{Image by Pexels from Pixabay}

Should you design your own website or hire a web developer to do it for you?

Yes. That is the question.

To help you decide, here are some questions you need to ask yourself — and be honest with your answers.

Do you have design skills?

Your website needs to show potential customers there’s a professional company behind it, so they have the confidence to buy from you.

Needless to say, it’s never going to do that if it looks like a dog’s dinner that landed in a bin fire.

Your design doesn’t need to be complicated. Something simple can look classic and sophisticated. But if you’re going to DIY, you need to have an appreciation for good, accessible design and be able to execute it. Which brings me onto my next question.

Do you understand how websites work?

A website that looks good is one thing. A website that works well is something else entirely.

That means knowing your backend from your frontend and being familiar with the concepts like:

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Calls to action (CTA)
GDPR and cookies
Loading speeds
Image optimisation
Responsive design
Navigation and links
Hamburger menus
Headers and footers.

Of course, you can learn all this, but that will take you time — which brings me to my next question.

Do you have the time and commitment?

Designing your own website takes time and you need to be committed to it. But that can be difficult when you’re faced with all the other pressures of running a business.

And you don’t want to find yourself five years down the line and still making excuses about why you don’t have a website.

What features will your website need?

Having the right features on your website will mean it can do much more for your business.

For example, the right tools can automate things like:

Ecommerce
Instant quotations
Service subscriptions.

Features like these will offer convenience for your visitors and make things easier for you. But they’re not features you’ll be able to DIY and you’ll need the expertise of a web developer.

There could be the option to design your own site, then add these features later. But, from the beginning, you’ll need to make sure you choose a platform and theme that will allow that, so it will be best to consult with a developer before you start.

Domains and web hosting

web-hosting-servers — ^{Image by Panumas Nikhomkhai from Pixabay}

Do you have a domain name?

Your domain name will typically be some form of your business name followed by .co.uk, .co, .com, .biz or .net. You might want to acquire more than one version of your domain to prevent any other business from using it. For example, you might decide to get the .co.uk and .com versions.

You can buy your domain name outright or rent it as part of your hosting agreement.

The cost of buying your domain will vary wildly, depending on what it is and where you buy it — from under £100 to hundreds of thousands of pounds — so it pays to shop around.

Renting a domain can be free with some packages or free for a limited period. After that, it’s usually a nominal amount added to your hosting fee.

Who will be providing your web hosting?

Hosting is what keeps your website online and you’ll pay for this monthly.

Your web hosting will typically be provided by your web developer, the company you rent your domain name from, or a third party hosting company. You might prefer to keep it all in one place, as this often makes it easier if anything goes wrong.

How much does web hosting cost?

Web hosting packages start from around £1.50 a month and can go up to over £100. But not all these packages are created equal and a low-price package might not give you the service level you really need.

The hosting package you choose will determine things like:

Regularity of website backups — in case of faults or hackers
The number of email addresses and user accounts included
Online storage capacity
Available bandwidth
Website support.

As with anything, it pays to look into what you’re getting and to shop around.

Writing your own website vs. hiring a web copywriter

Unless you’ve been told otherwise by your web developer or agency, the wording for your website will be your responsibility. That means you’ll either have to write it yourself or hire yourself a web copywriter, like me.

You know your business better than anyone, so you might think you’re the best person to write your website, but that might not be the case. I discuss this more fully in my article: Why you’re not the best person to write your web copy >>

Why work with a web copywriter?

There are a number of good reasons to work with a web copywriter instead.

Get the benefit of experience and advice

A specialist web copywriter writes websites all the time. They understand websites, they know the web copywriting process and they’re used to working with web developers and designers.

For me, this also means I think about the websites I work on more holistically, thinking about organisation, presentation, navigation and user experience as well as words.

An experienced web copywriter, like me, can advise you on things like:

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Heading structure and page layout
The web pages you’ll need
Navigation and site layout
Calls to action.

Get your SEO keywords taken care of

Having SEO keywords on your website will help your ideal customers find your website using the search engines. But finding the right keywords and applying them to your website is a different skill to writing.

SEO copywriters, like me, specialise in SEO keyword research, finding the best keywords for your business and applying them to your website. This is something I’m skilled in and have been doing successfully for the last 16+ years.

Get an engaging brand personality

A copywriter will personify your brand, with a unique voice and an engaging personality. In a sea of websites that are safe, vanilla or AI-written dross, this will help you stand out and make a different noise.

Giving your brand a personality will make your copy more captivating and will help engage more of your website visitors.

Get an objective perspective

Most business owners are too close to their businesses. This makes it hard for them to take a step back and see things from their customers’ point of view.

As a result, they often assume too much. And they can lose sight of what makes them special and different.

Bringing in a copywriter will help to make your website more customer-focused, giving your customers what they really want and need. And your copywriter will take a detailed look at your brand to bring out your unique selling points and value proposition.

Branding design

Branding design is more than just a logo. It covers everything you need to give your brand a distinctive and memorable visual identity.

For example, your:

Logo in different forms
Colour palette
Shapes and patterns
Pictorial elements and imagery
Typography and fonts.

Including this across all your communications will make your brand more coherent and visually stronger.

Your web designer may offer branding design as part of their service. Otherwise, a graphic designer or brand designer will work with you to create your visual identity and give guidance on how it should be applied to your website.

The cost of branding varies according to what you have. From £100+ for a budget-end freelancer to more than £100k for a full branding package from a top agency.

Images

In addition to graphic design and words, your website will need some images.

close-up-of-photographer-behind-the-camera — ^{Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay}

The pictures you need will vary, according to your business, but you might consider using stock images, taking your own photographs, hiring a photographer or commissioning an illustrator.

Using stock images

I use stock images on my blog. Most of them were free, though I have paid for images in cases where I wanted something more specific.

On a blog, where you just want to add some visual interest, stock images are fine. But on your website, you really want something more genuine.

The problems with using stock images are that:

They’re models and fake settings, which don’t represent your business
They’re readily available, which means lots of other businesses could be using them, too
People who use the internet a lot will probably recognise them from other websites
In some cases you have to include a credit with the image, which can look ugly.

Taking your own photographs

If you’re working to a tight budget, taking your own photographs would be a good way to save money.

We all know, today’s phone cameras are pretty darn good — so it’s not like you’ll be taking Polaroids here. With a decent phone and a good eye for composition, you could take some decent shots and they’ll be way more authentic than anything you’ll find on the stock image sites.

It might take you longer to set up the shots and get something you feel truly happy with. But if you have more time than money, it’s definitely worth considering.

Hiring a photographer

The right photographer will take pictures of you, your products, your property — or anything else you need.

Professional photographers do this all the time, so they’re experts in setting up shots, making you feel comfortable and getting the very best photographs for you.

At the end of the shoot, you’ll be able to choose the photos you want and your photographer will professionally edit them so they’re ready to use.

Photographers all charge differently. Some charge per day or half day. Some charge per shoot.

Commissioning an illustrator

If you don’t want to use photographs, you could commission an illustrator instead.

Using custom illustrations, rather than photographs, will give your website a striking and different appearance that will really set it apart.

Promoting your website

If you’re getting a brand new website and you’re going down the SEO route to get organic inbound leads, this could take some time. You’ll need to allow time for your website to be picked up by Google, then time for it to start climbing up the rankings.

It could take six months or longer to see any results, which isn’t going to help you if you need your site to start working straight away. So, for the first few months, you’ll need to budget for alternative methods to drive traffic to your site.

Paid advertising

The most obvious method to drive traffic to your site is paid ads. These might be Google Ads or social media advertising.

It’s difficult to give a projection for how much paid ads might cost, because it’s so variable. It will depend on the time you post the ads, the keywords you want to target and the competition for those keywords.

You can arrange the advertising yourself, but if you want the best results and to avoid wasting your money, it’s often better to hire an expert.

Social media posting

If you’ve been working on building your social media accounts, you may already have a large following. In that case, you might have some success posting content that drives traffic back to your website.

Blogging

If you have SEO copy on your website, and you want to attract inbound links organically, blogging should be a key part of your strategy.

WordPress new post screen — ^{Image by Werner Moser from Pixabay}

Including a blog on your website will help you:

Rank for more keywords
Reach the full extent of your market
Improve the authority score of your website
Help your website rank better in the search engines.

If you have a brand new website, blogging regularly could also help your website rank faster.

Who will be writing your blog posts?

You may decide to write your own blog posts, in which case it will just cost you your time.

But if you’re serious about results, working with an SEO content strategist, like me, would be a better option.

A content strategist, like me, will:

Develop a content strategy to meet your business goals
Devise an SEO keyword strategy to target new keywords
Formulate a content plan to attract the right people
Plan and/or write SEO content to achieve the desired results.

The price of hiring content strategists varies. You can check out my prices here >>

How often do you need to post?

Posting consistently is important because it means you’re regularly signalling to the search engines that you have something new for them to index.

As a guide, I recommend posting once a week is good if you’re trying to climb the rankings. Or once a month if your site is ranking well and you want to maintain that.