Magazine Article

The following article is condensed and modified from an article that originally appeared in the November 2001 issue of Sounding Line.

Building A Web Site Yourself

Should you build your own agency Web site?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But if you decide to build it yourself,
know what's involved before you begin.
by Steven Brightbill*

Once the idea is hatched and the decision has been made, executing almost any project takes four basic ingredients: know-how, tools, skill, and time. If you personally have these four ingredients, you may want to attempt the project yourself. If not, or if you lack one or more ingredients, you'll probably want to find someone else to complete the project. Sometimes there are "in between" options, like building something from a kit or pre-made template in which some of the work is already done for you. Building a Web site is one such project that falls into this category — you can build it yourself, build it from pre-made templates, or outsource the project entirely.

This article focuses on the first option — building your Web site yourself.

Before you begin, it would be helpful to take stock of your understanding of the many technical and creative considerations that go into constructing a Web site. Also, be aware that behind every Web site effort, there are important business and marketing factors to consider.
If you're a typical agency owner, principal, manager, or employee, your primary focus is on the ownership, management, sales, service, and support functions of your agency, not on building its Web site. Unless you are uniquely talented and skilled and have a large amount of free time to undertake the project, you will probably farm out the site-building project to others. But, let's say you are uniquely qualified, have the time, and have been charged with the task of building the agency Web site. What do you need in terms of know-how, tools, skill, and time?

Know-how

There's much to know about building a Web site: getting things set up and started, finding service providers, developing a site purpose and Web strategy, defining an audience, planning the site, gathering and developing content, knowing HTML, selecting and using authoring software, creating graphics, designing the site, building the navigation and links, getting input and approvals from others, publishing the site, advertising the site, generating and monitoring site traffic, fixing bugs, maintaining the site, and more.
The know-how for building a Web site is not intuitive or self-evident, but learned. If you already possess such know-how, you've probably acquired it over a period of time outside of your normal agency duties. That's fine. But if you don't have the know-how and want to acquire it, be prepared to become immersed in an intense self-study effort and/or take a number of specialized courses. If you truly want to know how to build a Web site (and do it right), there are no shortcuts to mastering the process.

Tools

Building a Web site usually requires a few extra tools than are normally found on agency computers. True, if you know HTML and have a text editor (and most new computers come with bundled software that contains one), you can build a Web site. But there are other tools that can make the building effort easier, faster, and more satisfying.

Web authoring software (e.g., FrontPage, Dreamweaver, Visual InterDev, Trellix Web, etc.) enables the user to more efficiently build the site, design the pages, create the navigation and links, and publish the site to the Web. Completeness of features, depth of capability, learning curve, ease of use (or frustration level), and price vary from program to program. Determining which authoring software to purchase will likely depend on a number of factors, not the least of which is your willingness to commit to learning a new software program regardless of its price or capability.

Graphics software (e.g., Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Firewire, Corel Draw, etc.) enables the user to create, edit, modify, and prepare graphics and photos for incorporation into Web pages. A vast quantity of ready-to-use graphics and photos are available on CD-ROM and from other sources, but these can also be modified with appropriate software as desired. A digital camera, a scanner, and any number of utility programs and plug-ins are likely additions to your site building toolbox. While many tools are quite affordable, keep in mind that others are relatively expensive to buy, making it difficult to justify for a single shot effort.

Skill

Even if you have the know-how and the tools, you need to have the skill to effectively put them to use. The key word here is "effectively." Effective use implies much more than merely applying the correct keystrokes. Effective use is not a quality usually found in first time efforts, but is developed over a period of time, through trial and error, and with repetition and practice. Effective use is the product of experience.

Some of the tools mentioned, especially the higher-end, professional level software (e.g., Dreamweaver, Photoshop), are not for novices. The learning curve on these programs is quite steep and time consuming. Mastering these tools and developing proficiency requires many hours of regular use. And, like most any other skill, you must "use it or lose it."

And, if your Web site contains a number of e-commerce functions and interactivity with other computers across multiple networks, a whole new level of technical expertise is required to enable the back-end to function properly. This level of Web site development and management usually requires several people or a small IT department.

Time

If you indeed possess the know-how, have access to the tools, and have developed the skills to build your own Web site, you still need to have the time to build it. True, most anybody can eventually do almost anything they set their mind to, if they have sufficient time. But once you've decided to build a Web site, you probably have an expectation to have it up and running in a reasonable amount of time.
If you don't have the know-how, the tools, and the skills to build a Web site, and want to build it yourself anyway, you will need to spend a considerable amount of time acquiring and developing these ingredients before you even begin the site building process.

Also, keep in mind that the actual site-building process is near the end of the Web site development cycle. Assuming you've collected and developed all of your content, made basic site organization decisions, and have a good idea about page and site design, then you can start the construction process.

How much time should the effort take? That depends on many factors, not the least of which is the skill level of the site builder. Suffice it to say that the site building process takes as long as necessary to achieve the results you want and are satisfied with.

Should you build it yourself?

Building your own Web site could be a very satisfying and enjoyable project. Or, it could be a nightmare. If you legitimately have the four ingredients discussed above, and really want to build your own site, then building your site might be a realistic and doable option. But if you lack any of these ingredients or have the slightest reservation about doing it yourself, then consider other options.

As tempting as the do-it-yourself option might be, there are better uses of your time. But if you do it yourself, set the same standards and expect the same results from yourself as you would from the professional sources you'd otherwise employ.

*Steven Brightbill is a contributing writer and Assistant Editor of Sounding Line