7 lessons for DIY Website Builders

This week, I dive into essential tips for anyone looking to take the plunge into building their site, touching on the importance of selecting the right platform, the power of starting with a solid template, and learning just what you need - nothing more, nothing less. I also emphasize the game-changing impact of having a strategic roadmap, staying motivated, and the accountability factor in bringing your website dream to life. Moreover, I discuss the undeniable value of DIYing your website, from clarifying your business message to updating your site as your business evolves. Don't forget, I've wrapped up these insights into a handy, free checklist. Find it at dearkatebrandstrategy.com/list Whether you're here to learn, planning your next website project, or just curious, I've compiled every lesson learned into actionable steps. Let's make web design less daunting together! Dive in, and while you're here, feel free to like, subscribe, and drop your thoughts below. 

00:00 Introduction to a Photographer's Journey into Website Coaching
00:14 The Serendipitous Shift to Website Coaching
00:55 Essential Tips for DIY Website Builders
01:00 Choosing the Right Platform for Your Website
02:23 Learning What You Need to Know: Simplifying the Process
02:49 The Power of a Good Template
04:55 Navigating Website Design Jargon and Language
06:06 Creating a Roadmap for Your DIY Website
07:20 The Importance of Motivation and Accountability
08:20 The Value of DIYing Your Website
09:32 Recap and Final Thoughts

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Transcript

ATR2100x-USB Microphone & Kate’s iPhone Camera-3: 0:14

Over the past several years, I've shifted from being a full-time photographer to a coach for photographers. And now I help small business owners and service-based industries build their websites. I still have my photography business too, but this is where my heart is right now. And I love helping other small business owners show up online. The shift to website coaching happened kind of serendipitously, as I built a new website on Showit for the coaching business. As I was working through it, I kept thinking like, I know how to do this. I know how this tool works. I know all of the steps I need to take, But I really would've loved some help and some feedback throughout the process. And that wasn't something that existed. the very next day in the show, it user group on Facebook, someone posted asking for just that For help learning the ins and outs of show it for help keeping them accountable and on task. And helping them through the process of DIYing their website. They didn't want to hire a designer to take over the project. They really wanted to learn how to do it themselves. But they needed someone to hold their hand through that process. And that's where my first student came from And how I became a website coach. Today, I want to share with you a few of the things that I've learned from helping other small business owners, DIY their websites. The first one I want to talk about is choosing the right platform. In my photography life. The thing that I always have heard and said is that the best camera is the one that you have in your hand. The one that you'll use And the same is true for your website platform as well. While WordPress may be the very best in the top for SEO. If you can't go in and swap out a photo or update your phone number or your address or your pricing, then that tool is not the best one for you. We need to choose a platform that makes it easy for us to understand what's happening on the backend of our website. And that we're able to access a use fairly easily without too much confusion so that we can make those changes. For that reason, show it as a platform that I prefer and recommend. It's very user-friendly it's drag and drop. You also get to design the mobile side of your website, which is important because most of our users are visiting our websites from their phone these days. But also the flexibility and the creativity that you can have with this platform our tops for me. If you have a platform that you love and you understand, I say, go for it. Um, there are a few that I would not recommend just because the places where you can add, um, SEO Is pretty limited, but again, having a website that you can update and change and fix. And add content to is going to be way more powerful than having a website. Built for you on WordPress that you don't understand how to make any changes to or update. Because without that fresh content, that SEO doesn't happen.

ATR2100x-USB Microphone & Kate’s iPhone Camera-4: 2:32

If you build a website on a platform that you don't understand, or don't like using, it's not going to be worth it in the long run. Number two is learning only what you need to know. When you DIY in your website, you don't need to become a website designer. You need to know the basics of how to add photos, add text, maybe move things around. And if there's a certain animation or style or look that you're wanting to achieve. You need to know how to do that, but you don't need to know everything. I think the website design process can get very overwhelming if you start watching tutorials because they're teaching you things you don't need to know, you only need to know a limited amount of information to build your site.

ATR2100x-USB Microphone & Kate’s iPhone Camera-5: 3:04

The third thing that I've learned is the power of a template and a good template at that. I've worked with several templates and designers now. And the way that I would choose a template now, versus when I first started, DIY Inc have completely changed. So many people think, oh, I need a new website. And the first thing that they do is shop for a template. It's the fun thing to do. It's the exciting thing. And it gives you the visuals that are so hard to put into words, but I highly recommend figuring out first your strategy, your mission. And what you want your website to do. Now, when I look at website templates, I'm mostly looking for the overall vibe. Do I feel like the graphics are a match for what I want to say? Is there room for the copy that I need to write and include on this page. Are there a variety of layouts, Like photo here, text here and vice versa. Is there places where I can put a full block of text? Are there different layouts for photos and galleries and portfolio work? Are there a variety of pages that I can pull all of those parts and pieces from to build a page that really will connect and sell my client. The first time I DIY a website On show it. I had purchased a template. And ended up having to do a lot of work to make that template fit my brand and the messaging that I wanted to include. I had to pull a lot of pieces from other free templates or build some pieces from scratch to make sure that all of the messaging that I had written would fit on that site. It was a bigger challenge than I had imagined when I purchased the template. So now again, I do look at templates a lot differently than when I first started building websites. With show it, you do have access to several free templates. And then there are templates that you can purchase from individual designers that range in price from a couple of hundred dollars to$1,500 plus. There's a large variation in the quality and the value of what you get with those templates. So you really do have to do your homework. And make sure you understand what you're buying. I do always recommend starting with a template though, even if it's a free win, because it's going to give you some building blocks and some structure to your page. There are some like design things where we want to make sure we have enough space around things. We have white space. We have elements that are lined up and flow and help your eye move through the page. So templates will definitely help you with that. Even starting with those free ones.

ATR2100x-USB Microphone & Kate’s iPhone Camera-6: 5:09

The fourth thing that I've learned also kind of plays off of templates, but it has to do more with the jargon and the language that's used. I've watched DIY struggle to figure out which element they want to change, how to choose that element on the screen. And a large part of that is just labeling. When you're building a template or adding things to a page and show it, you're going to select that element. On the left-hand of your design space, it's just going to say graphic or simple. Or video, and you're not going to know which graphic is the one you actually want to click on and swap out. The other issue that I see is all of those elements getting jarbled up. On the left-hand sides, you can't select them all at one time and move things around in mass. So really it's just about making sure that all of those parts and pieces on the back end make sense for DIYer and not just a designer, especially if you're selling templates. It's really important for where you are DIY or to be able to access them and understand them. Jargon wise and language wise, I feel like you can be really hard to look up. A tutorial for something. If you don't really understand what it is that you want to happen, if you don't know how to explain that in. The language and in the words that maybe a designer or an educator would be putting out there. And I know personally, I spent a lot of time looking up things like, how do I make this, do this? And it wasn't the right language or the right words. And so I wouldn't find the results that I was looking for. The fifth thing that I've learned is the value of having a roadmap and a plan before you start building your website. So often DIY or start with a template. And start just plugging things in. And what happens then is that there's no flow to a website. There's no user experience for the visitors to walk through And we don't end up getting visitors from that interested stage to that buying stage. A good DIY website that will actually sell your services for you starts with figuring out that strategy, writing your copy And understanding the pathways. We want to take people through to again, get them from interested into that buying position. Then we can get into the site design, which starts with formatting, our content, our media. And making sure that the images are sized properly and named properly to help with our SEO and our load speed on our site. And then getting into laying everything out, making sure there's that white space that the colors are the right colors and the fonts are the right fonts. And then that final phase of building your website is going to be making sure that it gets seen and that you're showing up. So figuring out those SEO pieces, launching the site, all of those good things. I laid out each of those steps for you in a free fillable workbook style checklist. That you can grab, add your Kate brand strategy.com/list. When you follow that roadmap, it takes the overwhelm out of the process. It makes it a lot easier to finally hit publish on a site that you're proud of. The sixth thing that I've learned is that motivation and accountability are huge piece of the puzzle. Truthfully while I know that a website that you're proud of and really gets your message home will help you grow as a business owner. Not having one is not going to stop you from running the day-to-day in your business. It may stop you from getting the right clients or enough clients. But it's not going to keep you from running a business altogether, which means that we put it to the back burner quite a bit. Right? It sounds overwhelming and stressful. So websites end up on our to-do list for a really long time. Having the motivation to get one done, knowing the value that it will bring you and how you'll be able to raise your prices and bring in clients that you love working with. And then having someone to be accountable to, to get that done is so valuable in the process. And again, makes it easier to hit that publish button sooner. I don't know about you, but there are so many things in my business that I have set as goals that no one knows about. And so they maybe just don't get done, but having someone that knows that you're working towards something and that can motivate you towards it. And be proud of you as you hit those benchmarks can be super valuable. And then the final thing that I've learned is how valuable it is To actually DIY your website versus hiring it out. Here's the thing I do build websites for other people. It's a service that I offer. But I see my small business owners getting so much value through the process of building their own website. When you're building your website, you're writing your copy. You're getting clear on who it is that you want to serve, what your values are, what your mission is and what your goals are. You learn how to talk to the people that you really want to work with, and that follows through, through all of your marketing. So when you go to post on social media or talk to someone in person, You've got that messaging and those values and that core mission all in place, and it makes that so much easier and so much more consistent. Beyond that is the value of being able to change things on your website as your business grows and changes. I don't want people to have to hire me every time they need to make a simple change to their website. Even the sites I built for people. I want them to be able to make a switch of a photo or update their phone number or their hours. Those little things that change frequently within a small business. It's important for you as the business owner, to be able to make those changes on the fly. I don't want you to have to wait for a website designer to be able to fit you into their schedule to make that happen. So, yes, there's just so much value in learning the DIY process and building your own website. Okay. Let's recap those lessons. The first one was choosing your platform. The second was learning what you need to know to build a website And not learning to become a full-time website designer. The third was the power of a template. The fourth was the value of having tools that are built for you as a DIY or, and not as a designer. The fifth was having a roadmap in place. So you make sure that you're hitting all of those important pieces And not just plugging generic content into a template. The sixth was the value of motivation and accountability. And then the seventh was the value of DIY and your website and how that helps you with the rest of your marketing and business growth. I hope this has been super helpful for you. Again, you can grab that free checklist roadmap at dearkatebrandstrategy.com/list.

Kate (2): 10:22

Thanks so much for listening. I'd love for you to share your favorite takeaway. From this episode with me, you can reach me over on Instagram at dear Kate brand strategy. I'll talk to you soon.