6 Website Design Lessons Learned Creating My First Website

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As someone who had never created a website before, I mean zero experience, embarking on this journey was both exciting and overwhelming. Looking back on my experience, I learned several valuable lessons and identified six key steps that I would have taken differently to make the process smoother.

Website Design Lessons

1. Researching Website Platforms

When creating a website, the choice of platform plays a crucial role in determining the success and effectiveness of your online presence. In hindsight, I realize that I should have dedicated more time to thoroughly compare various platforms like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and others. Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses, and understanding these nuances would have helped me find the best fit for my specific needs quicker.

Other platforms like Shopify cater specifically to e-commerce businesses, providing robust features for selling products online.

By thoroughly researching and comparing these platforms, I would have been able to weigh the pros and cons, assess the ease-of-use, customization options, and scalability, and ultimately make an informed decision on which platform would best meet my needs. I did go with WordPress as I got my domain name through GoDaddy. I had looked at Wix also. Both are excellent choices.

2. Utilizing Product Tutorials Design

When I first tarted creating my website I did not take advantage of the online tutorials. Each of these solutions provides them along with other learning resources. Most platforms offer a wealth of tutorials, guides, and videos that are designed to help users navigate through the process more efficiently. By leveraging these resources, I could have accelerated my learning curve, saved time and built a more polished website in a shorter time. I use these all the time now. Google is your friend.

As an example, WordPress offers an extensive knowledge base and community forums where users can find answers to their questions and learn from experienced users. They also provide comprehensive step-by-step guides on topics such as setting up a domain, installing plugins, and customizing themes.

Wix, too, offers a range of tutorials and video guides that cover everything from basic website building to more advanced features like SEO optimization and e-commerce integration.

Squarespace provides a series of video tutorials that guide users through the process of creating a website from scratch, covering topics like choosing templates, adding content, and optimizing for mobile devices.

By taking advantage of these tutorials upfront, I would have saved time and gained a better understanding of the platform’s capabilities, resulting in a more efficient website creation process. The saying is true; ‘Go slow to go fast!’

3. Budgeting

This is not something I thought about and it is an important consideration. Creating and maintaining a website involves various costs, including domain registration, hosting fees, platform subscriptions, and potentially design services. There are deals and discounts if you bundle or if you separate your hosting platform from you website builder. By carefully assessing these expenses upfront, I would have made better decisions. I purchased things separately that would have been included in a bundle e.g. an email account. So I paid more than I needed to.

When it comes to budgeting for your website, you also need to consider the recurring costs. Two main recurring costs are your annual fee for your unique Domain name and your hosting fee to for operating your website. These can be a few dollars per month or more depending on if you chose monthly or annual plans. Most of the hosting plans are typically for shared services. For most this will be all that is ever needed.

In addition to these basic costs, it’s important to factor in any platform subscriptions you may need. Some platforms, like WordPress.org, are open-source and free to use, but you’ll still need to pay for hosting and potentially premium plugins or themes. Other platforms, such as Wix and Squarespace, offer subscription-based plans that include hosting and access to their features. These plans often come with different tiers, each offering varying levels of customization and additional services. I have found that many plugins have free versions that are great for getting started.

4. Emphasizing Mobile Responsiveness

It is something that can’t be ignored. Starting out I should have thought more about this and researched tools that would ensure that my website was mobile-friendly right from the start. A responsive design that adapts seamlessly to different devices not only enhances the user experience but also contributes to improved search engine rankings (SERP). With a growing number of users accessing the web through their smartphones and tablets, neglecting mobile responsiveness can result in missed opportunities and hinder the overall success of your website.

Mobile responsiveness involves designing and optimizing your website to provide an optimal viewing experience across a range of devices and screen sizes. It ensures that your website’s layout, images, and content automatically adjust to fit the screen it is being viewed on, whether it’s a desktop computer, a tablet, or a smartphone. This means that users won’t have to zoom in or scroll horizontally to read your content, resulting in a more user-friendly experience.

Two plugins that I used which have been great for speed and responsiveness are shortpixel for image compression and WProcket for cache which helps speed transition from page to page. Shortpixel offers a free plan with 100 images/month. WP Rocket does not have a free plan. Their Basic plan is $59/yr ($12/month)

To achieve mobile responsiveness, there are several best practices to consider. One is to use a responsive theme or template if you’re using a platform like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. These platforms often provide a wide selection of mobile-responsive themes that automatically adjust your website’s layout for different devices. This is an example of the themes I can choose from in WordPress.

You also have the ability to select a device to see how your page will look on a PC, tablet or phone. This is great so you can make adjustments. This is what mine looks like on my WordPress site.

Another important aspect is optimizing images and media for mobile devices by compressing file sizes and using appropriate formats. Additionally, there are cache plugins that speed up your page views so there are now delays going from page to page. You can create menus for mobile phones that simplify the navigation on these devices making them easier for the user.

5. Prioritizing SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is must for any website. In retrospect, I would have recognized the importance of a strong SEO strategy and invested more time and effort into implementing it effectively. Crafting meta tags, producing keyword-rich content, and securing valuable backlinks are just a few examples of the tactics that can significantly impact online visibility and attract a wider audience. By incorporating basic SEO principles and utilizing relevant keywords and tags throughout my website, I could have optimized my content for search engines, resulting in higher organic traffic and increased exposure.

Let’s look at some statistics on Search Engine Ranking (SERP) from SerpWatch:

• More than two-thirds of all clicks on SERPs go to the top five results.
• Upon updating and republishing old posts, organic traffic can grow up to 106%.
• 70% of marketing experts agree that SEO yields better results than PPC.

An effective SEO strategy involves various elements, and it’s important to approach it with a long-term mindset. One crucial aspect is keyword research, which involves identifying the words and phrases that your target audience is likely to use when searching for topics related to your website. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Moz Keyword Explorer can help you discover relevant keywords with high search volumes and reasonable competition.

Once you have identified your target keywords, incorporating them strategically throughout your website can boost its visibility in search engine results. This includes optimizing your page titles, meta descriptions, heading tags, and image alt attributes with relevant keywords. However, it’s important to maintain a natural and user-friendly approach, ensuring that your content is engaging and informative.

Creating high-quality, keyword-rich content is another crucial component of SEO. Producing informative blog posts, articles, or product descriptions that align with your target keywords can not only attract organic traffic but also establish your website as a valuable resource in your niche. I also found that it was good to do internal linking, where you link relevant pages within your website, and external linking, where you link to authoritative sources to provide additional value to your readers.

Another aspect of SEO that should not be overlooked is building quality backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website, indicating to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy. Building backlinks can be achieved through various strategies, including reaching out to relevant websites for guest posting opportunities, participating in industry-specific forums and communities, and creating shareable content that naturally attracts backlinks.

6. Monitoring and Analyzing Performance

Monitoring and analyzing the performance of your SEO efforts is equally important. Utilizing tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console can provide valuable insights into your website’s organic traffic, keyword rankings, and user behavior. By regularly reviewing these metrics, you can identify areas for improvement, refine your SEO strategy, and stay updated with the latest trends and algorithm changes in the search engine industry.

Conclusion

In reflecting on my website creation journey, I now understand the benefit of taking some time to do a little more research on different platforms, defining the purpose of my website, leveraging tutorials, budgeting effectively, prioritizing mobile responsiveness, and implementing a robust SEO strategy.

Overall, my website creation journey was successful, and I have learned and continue to learn a lot. However, I also realized that I could’ve done things differently to make the process smoother. Despite the challenges I faced, I’m proud of what I accomplished. Along the way I discovered some great tools and solutions that I use all the time now.