Factors to consider when developing a website

Limited or Flexible? 

​There are a number of options for hosting a website. Different options offer different packages.
Below I've listed a check list of factors to be considered when deciding how to host a website

Technical - Independence
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INDEPENDENCE
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  • Do you want to be dependent? (i.e. you employ somebody else who is the only person who knows how to make the changes; you can't make changes and you have to wait for him to have time to do the updates)
  • OR independent? ​(i.e. easy to update and you can always make the changes yourself)
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RECOMMENDATION: I'm 100% in favour of being 100% independent. I have heard far too many horror stories from artists whose websites languished while they tried to get an individual to change them.
HOSTING
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Hosted on your own server OR on a shared server?
  • The impact of this decision in part depends on how good a service is offered by a shared server solution. It is generally a good idea to look at what sort of set-up a host has for it their host servers go down. Do they have robust back-up arrangements?
  • If you're very successful you might run out of bandwidth - and that's when you see a website which is inaccessible.
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​RECOMMENDATION: Whatever your method of hosting make sure you have enough bandwidth and your website can always be accessed easily
CODE

​Coded by you OR by somebody you employ?
Picture
Do you want to be this person - or do you want to be an artist and fill your website with your art?
One thing is certain code is not easy and changes all the time. You can spend a lot of time trying to learn code without becoming good at it - and any knowledge you acquire will need to be updated over time. 
  • Another thing is very clear - people who are happy to take your money to code your at the outset may not be so willing to provide the follow-up required as and when you need it. I've lost count of the number of artists I know who have been left high and dry without access to their website or any means of changing it. You MUST avoid this and not make your website dependent on one person.
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RECOMMENDATION: Be independent AND avoid spending time learning how to code when it's possible to access templates which do it so much better - AND stay update much more efficiently.

Technical - Accessibility
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SCREEN SIZE/FLEXIBILITY - DESKTOP VS. MOBILE
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  • Traditional fixed screen size OR responsive templates which resize the website to the screen it's viewed through
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RECOMMENDATION: If creating a new website or updating an old one make sure that you use a responsive template. Over 50% of browsing traffic is now via mobile devices.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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 Absent or Integrated?
  • The extent to which a website offers and/or accommodates an RSS feed and/or links to or by social media sites says a lot about whether or not the design and template meet contemporary needs.
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RECOMMENDATION: Go for options which have 'marketing savvy' i.e. are compatible with social media and marketing via an RSS feed

Technical - SEO
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SEARCH

​Does it need to be indexed by search engines?
  • Check whether your site is indexed by search engines - not all are (e.g. Weebly free sites are no longer indexed)
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RECOMMENDATION: ALWAYS get a website which can be indexed by Google. Anything else is a waste of time if you are marketing your art.
ANALYTICS

​Basic or sophisticated?
  • Are you reliant on their statistics or can you use a better package
  • Bottom line - can you load the code so you can access Google Analytics?
  • Do you understand what all the statistics mean 

​RECOMMENDATION: Make sure you can access Google Analytics for your website - and READ the explanations of what the different performance measures mean

Financial
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PRICE
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Paid or free? Are you clear what you will be paying? 
  • You can pay an awful lot or very little. A key question is whether you are paying for more than you need? 
  • Is the server dedicated (very expensive) or shared (much cheaper)?
  • Remember if you sell your art then the cost of your website is (in most places) a business expense that can be offset against the tax you pay.
  • Do try and get some good advice about options for where you live from somebody who doesn't stand to benefit from your decision
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RECOMMENDATION: Always total the annual equivalent for a paid site - and compare with alternative options
DOMAIN PURCHASE
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Purchase with a website package or purchase independently?
  • Think about if you want to change who you have your website with at some point in the future. Do you really want your domain name to be a hostage to fortune?
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RECOMMENDATION: NEVER purchase your domain name from the website host. ALWAYS purchase your domain name independently of whoever you host your website with. It might make setting them up a little more complicated but it's worth it for the security it offers and the ease with which you can get out of any unsatisfactory hosting scenario.

Webware & Cloud Computing
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TEMPLATE
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Unique template OR webware?
  • It's very easy these days to take a template provided by a website host and to change it to make it your own. 
  • Unique costs money and it also means you need to pay somebody again any time you want it changed.
  • The design does not bring traffic. You could be paying a lot of money for a website nobody visits.

​RECOMMENDATION: Pay significant costs for your website design only after you get established online and become a successful business. If you plan to become a very successful business
ACCESSIBLE
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Accessible via one computer OR accessible via webware and cloud computing from anywhere in the world?
  • I have logged on and changed my websites in different countries around the world - because I rely on webware. Webware is not loaded into a computer - it sits in "the cloud"

​RECOMMENDATION: Don't be afraid of webware - as long as the provider is reputable
SEE OPTIONS FOR WEBSITE / SOFTWARE / HOSTS BELOW

Website Content and Design
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PAGES
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Limited or unlimited?
  • I find it very odd that artists still buy websites which allow them less than 10 pages.  I've always had unlimited pages and it allows for flexibility when designing - and when changing - a site. 

​RECOMMENDATION: NEVER buy a website package which severely limits the number of images you can use

​IMAGES

Limited or unlimited?
  • Some sites limit the number of images you can upload​

RECOMMENDATION: Unlimited. Anybody who is paying a significant fee for a site which only allows a small number of images is being ripped off.
NAVIGATION
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Clumsy or easy?

​RECOMMENDATION: Ease of navigation - on both desktops and mobile devices - is crucial to the length of time people spend on your site. It's no longer good enough for a website to be easy to navigate on a desktop.
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Alternative Hosts 

Below are a list of website hosts used by artists. At this stage I'm not evaluating them - but will do in the future.

Webware Websites - including host

These are webware sites where you need to pay to get the sort of flexibility for a good-looking website.

Weebly
A popular option used by many artists.
  • It has a menu of features and themes. Some are restricted to the priced plans. Features work on a very easy drag and drop basis. You can change design in terms of font type / size / colours.
  • There are four options - free, starter, Pro and Business. This is a comparison of the priced plans. All the priced options offer increased functionality including your own online store. 
  • (Note: This site uses Weebly and what at the time was called the "Starter" option - and it's possible for it to use a lot more images than it is doing at present)
Wix
Another very popular option also used by a lot of artists and crafts people - including some of my friends.
  • Menu of features and themes
  • Pick the template you like
  • Subscriptions include
    • 4 basic options (cheapest includes wix adverts) - basic without ads is 6$ per month
    • 3 business options including ecommerce
  • 100s of templates, unlimited pages
  • uses web apps to extend functionality
Squarespace
  • VERY popular with artists
  • Started off oriented towards blogging and has become a lot more. Over time has morphed into an extremely stylish website with the best responsive templates for portfolios of visual products (for photographers and illustrators and artists) and associated ecommerce store.
  • Information is clearly provided via a Feature Index and a Tour
  • Neat process for finding a suitable template for what you want to do
  • Includes a range of apps for iPhone, iPad and Android (more limited features)
  • Includes hosting on their dedicated servers.
  • There is no free option. There are three priced plans and they're not cheap - and IT'S DIFFICULT TO FIND THE PRICING - but this is a quality option.

(I thought long and hard about Squarespace before opting for Weebly and if I was opting for a purely portfolio oriented site then this is the one I'd probably go with)
Google Sites
  • themes used by Sites are intelligently optimised so that they work and look great on desktop, tablet and mobile devices
  • ​no need to learn about code or programming
  • the templates use content blocks like other webware
  • some standard pages are pre-set up
  • you can view draft and published versions - and preview edits before you publish
  • the site is part of Drive, but doesn't count toward storage limits.
  • all sites are secure and you can use domain names you already own
  • you need to use the latest version of Chrome, Firefor of safari to access Sites
Sitekreator 
This is the site I started out with 17 years ago and it has created very many websites for artists. However in my opinion it's not kept pace with change which is why I will be moving my portfolio site from it - just as soon as I can get my head around how much work that involves.

The moral of the story is to find and stick with a website host which follows innovations fast even if they aren't market leaders in introducing innovations.

Webware Blogs including FREE hosting

Free hosting means you can start up and get online within the hour.

Blogger - a Google product - designed for blogging rather than websites.
  • It allows you to have your own domain name but hosting is free and uploads are virtually unlimited.
  • Essentially blogging software but the Pages facility allows for the inclusion of a lot of static information.
  • Easy to upload images but no scope for galleries or slideshows or videos except via third party links which are feasible.
  • Some people are concerned about the security of your content. However Blogger continues to keep going while very many other places people have hosted blogs have come and gone.
This is my very popular art blog - Making A Mark
This is my very popular art blog - Making A Mark

More information
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Here are some articles about setting up a website

Artists talking about different options

  • Why I moved to WordPress by Sophie Ploeg - offering her experience and opinions about the pros and cons of Wordpress. Essentially more options and control and more work (although I've actually found the flexabilities on some alternatives that she didn't).
BACK TO: Websites for Artists
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