How to Build a Website: Yourself or with an Agency

If you are wondering how to build a website for your business, you have two routes: put it together yourself in a website builder or order it from an agency. This guide covers the steps, the costs and the point at which it pays to hand the job over.

How to build a website in seven steps

1. Decide what the site is for

First decide what a visitor should do: call, send an enquiry, book an appointment or buy. The whole site is built around that one goal.

2. Register a domain

The domain is the address of the site. Choose a short name that is easy to say and spell. Companies and trades in Croatia can get one .hr domain free under certain conditions, and other domains cost up to about thirty euros a year.

3. Choose a platform

• Wix and Squarespace: everything in one place, from about fifteen euros a month. A good choice for a simple site.
• WordPress: a free system you install on your own hosting. More setup, more possibilities.
• Shopify or WooCommerce: if you plan to sell online.

4. Get hosting

If you choose WordPress, you need hosting, the space where the site lives. Good hosting for a small business site usually costs €50 to €200 a year.

5. Prepare the content

This part takes the longest. You need a home page that says what you do and where in the first sentence, a separate page for each service, an about page, contact details, photos and a few customer reviews.

6. Build the pages and check them on mobile

Most visitors come from a phone. Check that the site opens quickly, the text is readable and the phone number can be tapped to call.

7. Publish and submit the site to Google

After launch, open Google Search Console, a free Google tool, and submit the site. Google then finds your pages sooner, and you see which searches you appear for.

Doing it yourself or hiring an agency

	Doing it yourself	Hiring an agency
Cost	From about €15 a month, or hosting and a domain	A one-off build price
Your time	A few days to a few weeks	A few hours for briefing and materials
Copy	You write it	Usually included
SEO foundations	Depend on your knowledge	Included from day one
Enquiry tracking	You set it up	Included

Doing it yourself is a good choice when you are just starting, have the time and the site serves as a business card. An agency pays off when the site needs to bring new customers from Google.

I cover market prices in How much does a website cost.

The most common mistakes

• A home page that does not say clearly what the business does and in which city.
• All services on one page, so none can rank for its own search.
• Large photos that slow the site down.
• Contact details hidden at the bottom.
• A site that is not linked to the Google Business Profile.

When you want someone else to build it

I build fast sites for local businesses, with copy, SEO foundations and enquiry tracking from day one. Read more on the website design page, and book a free 30 minute call through the contact page.