When Is the Right Time to Design Your Website

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If you're just getting started with your business, you might be wondering when is the right time to build your website? And that is precisely the question I'm going to answer in today's post.

Click the play button below to watch the video or scroll down to keep reading if you prefer the written version.

Do You Really Need a Website When You’re Just Starting Out?

So if you've been online for any length of time, and you're thinking about starting your own business, you might have heard the advice that you don't need a website when you're just getting started. All you need is Instagram, all you need is a Facebook page. But there is a huge problem with that. When you build your business on a platform like Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn or any other social media platform; you're building it on someone else's land.

That means that if that platform goes down, suddenly your website or your presence is not accessible. Remember last summer when Instagram went down for a few hours and nobody could access it and people were freaking out? That is exactly what's going to happen to your presence if you decide to rely solely on your Instagram profile or your Facebook profile.

It doesn't really matter which social media platform it is. If you rely solely on social media, the minute that platform goes down, your whole presence, you are cut off from your followers and potential clients and any potential sales that you might get from it.

Your Social Media Profile Can Disappear At Any Time

The second reason why I don't like this advice is that all of those social media platforms can disable your profile at a moment's notice. And the reason can be as simple as thinking or interpreting some of your content as if though you are breaching their terms of service. You might not have done anything wrong, but it has been known to happen that people have had their profiles disabled and they've done nothing wrong. So do you really want that to happen to your profile if that is your only way of being in touch with your followers and potential clients, potential customers?

What About a Simple Landing Page?

Some people will tell you to build a simple landing page. That's fine, if you're just getting started and if you're pressed for time. In fact, I did a post about the benefits of one page websites a while back that you can go and read to learn more about. One page websites are fine if you're really, really pressed for time and want to get something up and running quickly.

But if you really are invested in this being your longterm business and something that you do to support your lifestyle, your family, your loved ones, then I would say take the time and build your website immediately. It does not need to be perfect, because it never is. It does not have to have all the bells and whistles, and it does not have to have as many pages as you think it does.

Building a Website Doesn’t Need to Be Complicated

All you really need is five pages to launch your website. And you don't really need as much copy as you think you do. While you might get inquiries, sales, clients, and leads through your social media or a landing page that you have, it’s not really ideal for long-term success. Especially as your business starts to grow and you start getting more clients through the door.

The Best Time to Start a Website Is Now

Honestly, the best time to start a website is now. As soon as you start your business. As I said, it does not need to be perfect, because your website will continue to evolve as your business evolves. And you really have no excuse for why not do it immediately, other than being potentially pressed for time.

The way you build a website today is not the way you built a website eons ago when I first started. When I first started building websites, I had to code everything by hand. There were very little website platforms that actually offered the features that made it super easy to build a website without really knowing code.

And today you have a plethora of choices there, you're practically spoiled for choice. My personal favorite is Squarespace, but there are other platforms out there that you can choose as a starting point for your website that don't require you to code. And they are really as easy as drag and drop, that anybody can build a website. On top of that, most of them provide a starting point template that you can use to actually make your website look good.

Because of that, I really don't think that you should be putting off your website for a later date. If you're really pressed for time and want to get something up and running quickly, start with a one page website and evolve from there.

A Website Makes You Look More Professional

Another reason why you'd want to build a website immediately is because it'll make you look more professional and more legit. Put yourself in your potential client's shoes for a moment. If you go looking for a carpenter because you're redecorating your top floor and you want to put a whole new floors and replace the entire word structures, you're probably going to go to Google. You're not necessarily going to go to Instagram or Pinterest or Facebook.

And if all you're getting is Instagram profiles and they don't really have anything that shows what they do, what kind of service they provide, what their portfolio looks like — are you really going to hire them?

Or are you going to go to somebody who has a website where you can see the range of services they offer, how much it's going to cost, the length of time it's going to take, what you need to provide them with, what they are responsible with, and similar.

The same applies to your business.

If all you have is a social media profile, where you talk about your services, it's really hard for your followers to find that specific post, when they need it. They're not going to go hunting through your entire posting history and to look at all the photos, and all the reels, and all the carousels, and all the stories that you have to find the information that they want about working with you.

Final Thoughts

So as you can see, there are several good reasons why I would recommend building a website as soon as possible. Yes, your website will evolve and change over time, but you need a starting point where you can send people so they can see what you have to offer and take the first step towards working with you.

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