Why making a website is so hard
Hi homies. TLDR: Your website is hard to make because you don’t have the clarity you need- the clarity that brand strategy and a little branding will get you. You’ve skipped a crucial step and you’re going to pay for it forever.
Let me get this straight: it’s ok to make your own website and it’s normal to be frustrated. It’s ok to hire a freelancer within your budget. It’s ok to use a theme. It’s ok to take your time and struggle a little – that’s how people learn things.
But what isn’t really OK is the endless tweaking, of style and copy. No one else cares or notices, but it’s not OK with you. You’re going mad because you haven’t got the clarity of direction you need. There’s a step you have missed.
Maybe you’re obsessing over making it look better than you can afford, making it so no one will be bale to tell you’re whipping it up on squarespace. And it was going OK until <insert one of a thousand things that can go wrong here>.
Maybe you’re struggling to communicate what you want with a designer… they’re just not getting it. Why aren’t they psychic? Why can’t you explain?
I think you can tell it’s a bit of a DIY job (I used to be a webs designer but I’ve been out of the game for a while). But I think you’ll overlook this because I have a brand that speaks to you in some way (that I can’t totally predict).
I’ve been focussing on brand rather than technical things, because I know that getting brand right first will save me time making choices later. If I get someone to help me, it’ll be easy to explain what is needed and why, which will empower them to do their best work.
I think you will forgive a shit website, but you’ll ignore a shit brand.