30 Jan 3 Ways To Create A Website For Your Business in 2022
Updated: 10 July 2022
Thinking of creating a website for your organization, business or yourself? Not sure where to start this endeavour? If so, then this article is for you. In it, we will look at 3 different ways in which you can get a website for yourself.
In doing so, we wish to point out that it is possible to create a website without formal programming training. However, of course there are downsides or limitations to each approach. Depending on the features and needs of your website, you may or may not have multiple options available to you.
Custom coded or hard coded websites
At the dawn of website development, all websites were hard coded. In other words, programmers had to painstakingly write each line of code. When put altogether, the code of your website would create a frontend interface for users to interact with. From this premise, we can already infer a few critical characteristics of custom website development.
Every website is completely unique
No two custom websites are alike. Even where they have the exact same frontend functionality and appearance, their backend code is likely to differ. This is because like any language, two coders can use different words to form sentences with the same meaning. Some coders are able to create a website efficiently with fewer lines of code, others require much more.
Each coder has their own logical process or style. Consequently, should a website be passed onto a different coder, he or she may not understand the backend without strong documentation by the first programmer. As a business owner, you are thus beholden to the tidiness of your original website developer and their willingness to ensure legacy in your website.
Time and expertise need to be available
Custom websites take plenty of time to code up, particularly if the website is packed with functionality. Programmers would need to understand every function you require then proceed to create individual lines of code. Through which, repeated testing of the code needs to be done.
Naturally, this would mean that only trained programmers would be able to create custom coded websites. While there are plenty of pre-written code and examples available online, they typically require clear logical implementation and customisation. If you are not familiar with programming, we would advise you to avoid this option.
Full customisation and generally better security
Since every line of code is written on its own, you can be assured that full customisation is possible. There are few limitations on hard coded websites except for where the main body of code crashes with your new demand. Even in this case, you could if time permits, rewrite the base code to allow for this new functionality.
Additionally, since your website is not dependent on any 3rd party sources, it is generally less vulnerable. Instead, any would be attackers would have to exploit holes in your website’s code. They will not be able to attack vulnerabilities in third party software and thus access your website in this way.
Content Management Systems (CMS)
Over time, CMS platforms have emerged in order to provide more options for website design and development. Of course, in return, you are often required to pay to use the CMS platforms. Here’s a look at the 15 most popular CMS in 2022, and over 43% of all websites are powered by the WordPress CMS.
The central idea behind a CMS is that it provides a user-intuitive interface for creating websites with ease. Typically, this involves a modular approach, where you can create your website by choosing modules to be placed on it. With this in mind, let us take a look at some resulting characteristics of CMS web development.
User friendly
CMS platforms are built to be highly user friendly. With the caveat that you solely require a basic website, you do not require knowledge of programming to use a CMS. Instead, page building software is utilised where you can select, drag and drop modules. On the back end, once a module is selected, the base code is automatically written.
What this means is if the basic module functions are sufficient, you could have a website up without writing a single line of code. Instead, you can rely on the options and open fields provided to key in values or additional functions. However, should you require any customisation of the standard modules, you will have to get your hands dirty with code.
Fast development but cumbersome code
As covered earlier, the base code of each module is automatically written when it is selected. Consequently, your website could be up and running within a much shorter period of time. Furthermore, each module’s base code is written to work with any other code on the CMS. This means that you need not worry about conflicting codes affecting the operation of any one module.
However, with the convenience of pre-written code comes one downside. In order to cover for the many possible combinations of functions or modules, the base codes are often hefty. Having a chunkier code allows it to be sufficiently flexible but does in turn slow down your website. This is why it is advisable for you to proceed with customisation and clean up after picking all your modules.
Legacy
Website developers often mention the term “website legacy”. The idea here is that a website should be able to be handed to another developer without too much friction. Instead, the documentation and logic flow should be apparent and easy to understand. Unlike custom coded websites, generally CMS websites already have a standardised code. This allows developers to easily take over from each other.
Vulnerability
It is important to mention that CMS websites rely on the distributors of their platform’s resources. In other words, if the platform has any vulnerabilities, hackers could easily exploit them to access your website. This is why it is important to be in tune with the CMS’s latest news and updates to determine if your website has any weak spots.
Hiring a web design agency’s expertise
After having read about the differences between hard coded and CMS websites, you judge for yourselves which is preferable for your needs. Having said that, regardless of which approach, we recommend that you hire a website design agency with expert knowledge in building websites. These digital & web design agencies generally offer a wide range of digital services and would professionally fulfil your scope of work.
While it is obvious that you would require strong coding expertise for hard-coded websites, you also stand to benefit from CMS websites. Many web design agencies are trained in CMS website development. As such, they are able to proficiently create your website on the platform, with speed and accuracy. Furthermore, any customization of the modules can be deftly performed by their developers.
Another highly underrated benefit of having an agency’s assistance is their up-to-date knowledge of the vulnerabilities of the platform. This allows them to shore up your website’s defences and rapidly restore your website should it go down.
Choose MediaPlus Digital as your web design partner
MediaPlus Digital is a well-established WordPress website development agency with more than 10 years of experience, having built thousands of business websites for companies.
Our web development team creates mobile responsive websites based on a solid wireframe approach as the foundation – this creates intuitive and attractive usability for users and a web design that optimises for seamless user flow navigation. As a premier web design agency, we pride ourselves on providing sound advice to clients and effective project management, so contact us today!
