Without a website, you don’t exist on the Web!
Why is creating a website essential?
Your prospects can’t find you, your customers can’t contact you, the public can’t get to know you.
The Internet has become an indispensable tool, used on a daily basis for communication, shopping, work, entertainment and, of course, information.
Consumers who want to find out more about a company, a brand, a product or a service will reflexively start their research on the Web – and in all likelihood on Google.
In short, whatever your activity or the size of your company, you can’t do without this tool, which is both a virtual shop window and a digital marketing lever. This means, first and foremost, creating a website tailored to your business needs, i.e. one that embeds the functionalities you need to run your business and achieve your objectives.
Nevertheless, creating a website is a complex web project. How do you go about it? Where to start? In concrete terms, what does it mean to create a website in terms of construction, visual identity, online presence and security? And who should you entrust with the creation of your website to ensure that all your requirements are met?
HOW DO I CREATE A WEBSITE?
When it comes to creating your website, you have two options: do it yourself, or entrust your project to a web agency.
CREATE YOUR OWN WEBSITE
There are many ways to create a website, but the most accessible are through CMS (Content Management Systems), tools that allow you to create pages and integrate information without the need for programming or knowledge of html.
The most popular are WordPress, Drupa, Joomla and Prestashop, each with its own speciality: the WordPress CMS is universal but works particularly well for blogs, Prestashop is dedicated to the creation of e-commerce websites, Drupal is adapted to large portals with complex architecture, etc.
These tools work on an identical construction model: you choose the nature of your site, then its graphic theme (which determines the layout, general appearance and graphic charter). Useful content, such as visual elements or text, is then included. Finally, you add functionalities using plug-ins to integrate forms or an online store, for example.
There are many advantages to creating a website this way: it’s easy to use, accessible to all, often free, and fast. But there are also many disadvantages: these tools are quickly limited, whether in terms of functionality or technical performance; they don’t allow you to create a customized site; and any changes you make are costly from a technical point of view.
If you choose to create your website via a free platform, you’ll quickly realize that it’s difficult (if not impossible) to modify most of the components of your site, customize its visual identity, let alone turn it into an effective digital marketing lever. Let alone create a complex e-commerce website.
As for creating your own site without using a CMS (which would be preferable), it comes down to mastering the arcana of programming. Not everyone can do that!
USE A WEB AGENCY
A web agency that takes on the creation of a website can either use a CMS to design the structure, then develop specific modules on a case-by-case basis to meet the specifics of the customer’s request; or develop the site from scratch to be tailor-made.
This second solution is indispensable when it comes to implementing complex functionalities, allowing many users to manipulate the site, integrating a truly secure private area (such as a customer area), guaranteeing the protection of personal data, offering a site in several languages, and so on.
The creation of a customized website relies on the work of developers who employ a framework: a dedicated web development environment, a kind of “blank page” on which to create a site from scratch and integrate the functionalities you desire. This creation process is based on know-how and experience that benefit the quality of the site, insofar as the agency you choose to work with has already developed platforms close to your needs as part of previous projects.
Some agencies specialize in a particular field, and bring added value to the table. For example, when an agency takes on the creation of your site, you benefit not only from its experience in web development, but also from its in-depth expertise in SEO.
Another advantage: beyond the website creation project as such, a long-term relationship is forged between you and your web agency. This means you can count on your service provider in the event of a problem, if you wish to add modules or functionalities, or to update your site.
