Working with CMS
Websites are critical in our current era, and for professionals or businesses, its is often needed to be noticed. However, we're not all web designers, so what is the best option?
When creating your first site, it is hard to know exactly which site is best for your style. For most people, one of the big website builders, such as Squarespace or Wix are great options that provide flexibility for almost all situations, while those who know a bit more about HTML and CSS but hate the actual coding part might like WordPress or WebFlow much better. I'll dive into a couple of these options to help you find something that works for your idea, along with alternatives to truly do it yourself, by hand.
Squarespace
I personally recommend Squarespace for small teams that are aiming to get a site up and running as quickly as possible. It provides tons of options for making the site yours, while having some of the most variety options for making a blog, starting a business, and more. Squarespace's templates look great as well, making it much easier to get something that looks nice down, without requiring much effort. It, however, has fewer customization options and plugins than WordPress and can feel a bit limiting at times. I would always try to start a design in Squarespace, then if the idea isn't coming out how I want, I switch to WordPress to get a little more granular.
WordPress
WordPress is another great option for new sites, being one of the largest hosting providers in the world. WordPress has infinite customizability to really make the site your own. However, it is incredibly difficult to set up and use without knowing many ins and outs. Many of the custom customizations require some knowledge of HTML and CSS, as well as some background on WordPress itself in order to properly discern where you need to go to change something. Many small to medium-sized teams will hire professionals to come on and design the site entirely, then have someone do maintenance from then on out. But, once a final design is down, the site just works, and it is free forever (with ads) if you are strapped for cash.
Hand Coding HTML
While one of the CMS platforms may be easier to set up, often hand-coding HTML can be beneficial for those experienced and with an understanding of the various elements and intricacies that come with straight coding.
One of the main immediate benefits to this approach is the granularity that is provided, being essentially infinitely customizable. Many CMS builders try to keep you within bounds, only allowing you to put parts in the places they provide for you, where HTML coding can move aspects anywhere on the page,
Where the issues come in is that creating aspects that are simple for CMS platforms, like stacking elements, responsive design and more are increasingly difficult when hand-coding HTML.
Using sites like W3Schools or taking classes to learn more about the process are essential in order to create a site that you love and are willing to show the world.
Conclusion
There are many ways to get your site off the ground, though the journey that you take have countless paths to creating the site of your dreams. Whether it is a CMS or hand-coding HTML, there are plenty of options available to creating a website.
Smith, A. N. (2023, March 29). Best website builder (top 10 April 2023). Forbes. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/best-website-builders/
Team, F. (2022, October 19). 8 ways to make your website stand out. FORMAT. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.format.com/magazine/resources/photography/ways-to-make-website-stand-out