What is a website?
Well, depending on the perspective you use, it can be one of the following options or a combination of all three:
- As a physical-virtual entity , it is a set made up of programming codes, images and texts, which when interacting with each other create a specific entity that includes various web pages and is accessible through the Internet.
- As a digital platform , it is the integration of themes and plugins/widgets (pieces or segments of software that provide specific functionalities) within a Content Management System (or CMS), which is the most common option, or custom programmed using HTML and other programming and web design tools or languages.
- As a business tool , it is the basic main cell of your digital presence.
Before the ” WWW “, when someone wanted to refer to a poor and unsuccessful business or project, people would say: ” it doesn’t even appear in the Yellow Pages “, referring to those enormous volumes, thousands of pages long, that listed businesses with their addresses and phone numbers.
Today, the phrase that has replaced that one is: “ it doesn’t even have a website .” Once you understand what an aesthetically pleasing and operationally functional website can do for you, you won’t want anyone referring to you, or your project, that way.
Whether you own your own business, want to promote company products or services or your own as a self-employed worker, or advocate for a specific cause, you will need a customizable digital space that works for you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
How professional this space is depends on whether you create it yourself or with the help of family and friends, or if you put it in the hands of professionals in the field. Contrary to what many people think (or some tell you to abuse your budget), the second option does not have to be expensive or cumbersome , which we have clearly demonstrated with Web Latina projects .
Can I Make and Maintain It Myself?
The short answer is yes. Of course you can. You can do almost anything you set your mind to. However, when your car has a major mechanical or electrical problem, you don’t try to fix it yourself, you go to the Auto Shop. And when you have to have a tooth pulled, you go to the Dentist and you don’t start it yourself with those old pliers you have on the tool rack.
An old saying goes: ” Shoemaker, stick to your last ” and there is no doubt that, although everything can be done by oneself, the complex things, the ones that really count, and those that can bring us vital results for life or business, are best left in the hands of specialists , even though learning a little about the subject not only doesn’t bother, but can help a lot.
A website is not just a collection of pages and forms that you can build with cheap website builders, which are abundant on the Internet today. A professional website is the digital face of your business , the first impression (and often the only one) that many prospects and clients will have of you, your project or your cause. The team or person (even if it’s you) who takes care of your website must have the following knowledge:
Programming and Web Design
- Intermediate to advanced knowledge of HTML (the main Internet language), Javascript and PHP, among others.
- Broad command of the Content Management System (CRM) to be used: Drupal, Joomla and WordPress among the most important, the latter being the one used by the most websites in the world.
- It’s not enough to master the CRM, but also the wide range of Themes, Plugins and Widgets that make your site work, leave a memorable impression and serve as a tireless ” presenter and salesman ” 24/7. These elements are frequently updated, and when they are updated they are not always compatible with each other, so an expert is needed to determine the best way to continue achieving the same results under the new conditions.
- And last but not least, even if your website is hosted (yes, because the codes, images and text have to ” live ” somewhere) on a server managed by its owners, a seasoned web programmer knows how to deal with server updates, PHP versions that keep coming one after another, resource management, and protection from hackers and spammers, which is of crucial importance if you don’t want to be targeted by their scoundrels.
Marketing
- Some programmers and web designers (like ours at Web Latina) realized that they also require specialized knowledge of the other side of the coin: connecting with your target market, and customer relationship management (known as CRM), which is not limited to the website, but if things are done right, this can be the basis for success in that field.
- A web expert today needs to have at least a basic understanding of branding strategies and, of course, know how to optimize sites so that search engines can find you ( what is known as SEO ), because a very beautiful site that no one knows about is worthless.
- The expert you need must know how to handle multiple platforms (Google and Bing / Yahoo, Facebook and other social networks, WhatsApp… etc.) and the most varied tools, both design and marketing, that allow them not only to implement strategies, but also to measure, evaluate, and improve them.
- For your website to be effective and fulfill its purpose, you need to dedicate time and expertise to the design of the messages, to the traffic flows of your visitors through your site, to the essential Calls to Action (or CTA in English), and to dozens of many more things that are what generate the impact. And sales!
Seeing all this, you might be imagining that it is very expensive to have a team or an expert to do all this for you and that it is only available to medium and large companies.
No more! And if you continue reading the last block of this article, we can prove it to you.
Do you want a site that makes a difference?
The question in the header of this final block is pure rhetoric. Of course you want a site that makes a difference, that helps you position your brand, your products or services, and that generates more sales! If not, why would you invest a dollar or a minute of your time (which is even more valuable) in it?
And the best way to achieve this is through a joint effort . On the one hand, you have to use the services of experts , especially those who specialize in small businesses and know that it’s not that you don’t want to pay, but that you don’t have enough money. And then they agree with you on joint growth strategies, thanks to which they charge you very little and only really benefit if your business grows and succeeds. These experts are not simple ” providers ” of services. They are allies of you and your project, being part of a shared destiny, because they will only do well if you do well.
On the other hand, you should ally yourself with experts who not only do professional, up-to-date, dynamic and very creative work, but who also help you learn, to be able to do things by yourself without having to wait for someone’s availability, and much less pay someone for every little thing you need to do or change.
In our experience of almost 15 years designing advanced websites and winning marketing and positioning strategies, only that COMBINATION is capable of MAKING THE DIFFERENCE .
Some motivators “ hook ” you up by saying that “ the sky is the limit ” and that’s not true. Of course there are limits: budget is a limit, competition is a limit, the state of the local or global economy is a limit. There are limits. What there isn’t is IMPOSSIBLES .
Being realistic, creative, persevering and having the right allies and the right tools , even the ” impossible ” (which usually means just something that takes a little longer) can be achieved and accelerated . Try it and tell us!