When asked "How do I make a website?" how do you answer?

Question

A (non-technical) friend of mine has asked me how to make a website. I get this question all the time. After a few questions I found out that she has an idea that could turn into a commercial site. I described three options to her:

a) Get a book/enroll in a class/follow some online tutorials and learn how to do it. She's pretty smart and her personality seems like a good match for this sort of thing so I'm sure she could learn but she doesn't have a lot of time spare. Maybe if she started with one of those WYSIWYG editors at first? I stressed that this would take a longer than a couple of weekends of playing around.

b) Hire someone to build it. Ranges from ultra cheap to ultra expensive, crappy to good and everything in between. I didn't mention sites like Rentacoder because she hasn't worked on a project like this before and doesn't know what to ask for. At this stage she'd likely ask for a Youtube-MySpace-Google for a few hundred bucks because she doesn't yet understand just how much is involved.

c) Find someone technical and partner up with them. I explained that this can either work really well or be a disaster because she'd have to give up some of her ownership of the idea.

How do you respond in these situations?

Answer 1

Depending on the nature of the required website (ie whether she needs shopping carts etc) I often recommend first creating a blog, although it's often not the best format, it can be used to quite good effect at times. I've seen a number of small retailers for example, using a blog to advertise their wares.

Answer 2

It depends on the person and their motivation. Your friend sounds like she should take option b) or c). She's probably not so much interested in the technical aspects of making a web site as she is in seeing her idea come to life, or maybe running her own company based on the idea.

Answer 3

Buy her a book for her birthday on ASP.NET or PHP.

Answer 4

If you have someone who to trust then only 3rd option is realistic. first one takes years to give out good result and with second one you never know what you get.

Answer 5

Well in general there are several steps:

1. Determine the subject of the website.
2. Determine the target audience.
3. Decide on a general layout and look and feel.
4. Decide which techniques to use.
5. Design the overall structure of the site.
6. Collect content and images.
7. Implement the site.

Most of the times, these steps are carried out by more than a single person. Because they all require their own specialization.

Answer 6

It depends on how confident she is that this thing will succeed or, alternatively, how unwilling she is to share ownership. I'd definitely not recommend (a) for something that has commercial value. Beyond the time-to-market factor, initial impressions are something that is very hard to overcome. If she has the cash and is possessive of ownership, then (b) could work well. It's a bigger financial risk, though.

I'd probably go with (c), but then again I'm on the other side of the equation. There are lots of ways of structuring a partnership that would help her maintain ownership, though probably not complete ownership since no one wants to work for nothing. Some combination of b/c is probably best - some less pay in exchange for a small stake in the business. I'd definitely see a lawyer before doing (c) and maybe even before doing (b) just to make sure any agreement she has with the developer precludes them taking the code and running.

Answer 7

There are really two questions here: should she learn how to write a website and, if so, how.

If she has a commercial idea and she only wants to learn how to write websites to market it, I would suggest that she does not bother. Outsource instead.

HTH, Kent

Answer 8

I think that the only realistic options are B and C. Non-techies will almost never come to grips with real web site development. With all due respect to those who have advocated technologies such as ASP.NET or PHP - it won't work. In fact, you are likely to be fielding questions for weeks on end as to why things don't work. You'll have to bear these questions until the person, having failed, gives up.

If they have the resources, then I would strongly recommend the "hire an expert" route. In either realistic case, they must get a legal agreement in place. If she does hire an expert, be sure that the agreement expressly stipulates that this is a "work for hire". If your friend doesn't demand a work-for-hire clause then she will have no legal means to stop the developer from using the exact same code she just paid for in creating a competing site (at least in the U.S.). Just to emphasize: they would have no legal means to prevent the developer from starting their own competing site without a work-for-hire clause - the courts won't even hear the suit.

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Now, if it is really just a brochure site or something similar, and they still want your advice, then it depends on whether they use a Mac or something else.

If they are a Mac user, I tell them to try booting up iWeb and using it to feed a .me account. Just plug in some pictures and some text, upload to your .me account and you are done.

If they are a Windows user, I direct them to Register.com or a similar online Web Site template-based site builder.

For your sake, don't volunteer to help unless you are really sure you have the time to essentially build the whole thing for them! You can ruin friendships this way: friends and family, having no clue what really goes into the construction of a site, almost invariably assume that it is "trivial" for you. If you delay or fail to get things done quickly enough, they'll almost always assume that you are blowing them off and they'll resent you for it (can you tell I've been there?).

Answer 9

A bit of topic but here it goes...

We have ONE web designer at our company(we are about 10 programmers), we usually make some jokes like: "You do not work, you just sit there making drawings all day long" (just for the record, she is very competent and does her job pretty well).

So one time she stares at my monitor for about 2 minutes while i am working on a web application, and at some point she says: "Sooo that's what you do? Formulas and stuff?".

From that day on we all say "I do formulas and Stuff" when asked for what we do at work, as for most people, saying that and saying you develop web applications is the exact same thing.

Answer 10

Developing a web site is not as trivial as places like GeoCities or Google Pages would make it appear.

Here is a list of things you need to know about or consider when publishing a site.

Answer 11

If she owns a Mac or doesn't mind to acquire one, I would suggest her to have a look at iWeb. Otherwise, starting a blog on a platform such as blogger would be a nice first step for a non-technical person.

Answer 12

I always give the same answer, HTML. I say what it does and then tell them to get a book. If they get what it is about they will follow their own course of action.

Answer 13

Unless you're a web designer, 'how do I make a website' is a similar question to 'how do I make a television'. You don't, you buy one. So this question is probably 'How do I procure a website?'.

This breaks down into:

1. Working out what you want:

   • What user features do you want
   • What do you want the UI to look like?
   • What admin features do you need?
   • Do you already have a graphic design/logo/color scheme, etc.

2. Finding someone to make it for you

   • How do you find them? Referrals? Local web dev companys? Friends?
   • Do you care which technology they use?
   • Are you going to project manage it?
   • How do you know they're doing a good job?
   • Are you clear on issues like scaling, support, maintenance?

Ideally, find a single company who is comfortable helping you work through all the issues. Less ideally but also good, find a consultant or company that will help you with the top level stuff and assist with production of technical specs that you can then take to a development company to produce.

(Edited for formatting)