There are a number of web design elements that determine the success of a website, some of which go beyond basic design. I’m referring mostly to basic website structure. And since WordPress is my preferred framework, those elements are the same core building blocks for every site that I build.
- Hosting platform
- Theme
- Plugins
Hosting Platform
Moving from a “shared” to “managed” hosting account was the smartest thing I ever did. I used a shared account for the longest time because the price was dirt cheap, I was familiar with how cPanel worked and I didn’t want to re-learn how to access and manage a database (I used to think that I needed to do everything manually for optimal security reasons). Silly.
But when pricing went mainstream, usage warnings became unrealistic for my low-activity sites, and customer support became indifferent and outright rude, it was time to get serious about finding a host that was not only dedicated to WordPress but also offered the kind of infrastructure that included features that precluded the need for plugins. To my surprise, I could pay the same-ish price for so-oo much more!
- Better firewalls and overall security (a convenient offshoot of protecting their own servers results in better security for me)
- Faster CPUs, more storage (read the fine print of your current contract)
- Better caching (no need for plugin)
- Automatic backups (no need for plugin)
- Built-in CDN (no need for plugin)
I’m not pitching any specific hosting provider here (but I will if you ask me) but I will always advocate that a managed cloud-based hosting provider is thee way to go!
Theme
I never used to care what theme I used until I noticed that the high profile WP channels I followed, used the same few themes between them. I didn’t think that themes really mattered. O contraire!
Not only can themes bog down your performance but if they’re not written with current technologies in mind (APIs, integrations, WP core compatibilities like block editing, etc.), you may as well be using Twenty Seventeen.
Well-coded themes not only keep your site fast but they offer additional customizations that again, prevent the need for some plugins (think headers, layout elements, shortcodes, etc.). And if you use themes built by developers who also build complementary plugins, you’ll spend less time troubleshooting functional incompatibilities.
Plugins
I think we can all agree that a good number of plugins that exist in the WP repository are bloated and subject to conflicts with other plugins (a cursory glance at WP Hive identifies red flags).
It’s not uncommon to hear about people using one plugin per feature (eg. SEO, backups, forms, security, custom fonts, adding icons, mega menu, header/footer, etc, etc), many of which can be eliminated out of the gate with a good hosting account (security, caching) and/or browser tools (SEO/copywriting, icon libraries, css/html testing environments, etc.). Needless to say, using one plugin per function is a highly inefficient way to build a website.
A designer worth their salt will not only know which plugins work consistently and flawlessly, but also which developers create them to co-exist with specific applications and tools (ecommerce, industry-specific usage, page builders, block editors, etc.).
Important: That same seasoned designer will have agency licensing in place to offset the cost for their clients to access premium features that might otherwise be cost-prohibitive. In other words, what might cost $200/yr for an individual plugin license should only cost a fraction of this when a designer owns a lifetime license for unlimited sites and passes on those savings to clients.
What If
But what if you’ve already built a website with a cobbled array of plugins, a theme that doesn’t offer any customizations, and a hosting provider that provides little or no support? What if only your friends and family know that you have a website.
Well, that depends.
Do you need to show up in search? If so, your priority is likely SEO (aka, copywriting), not a better website (unless your website is so bad that Googlebots can’t find you).
Do you want visitors to have a better experience when they visit your site? If so, then you probably do need a makeover. But what do you want that experience to look like? You should have a good idea of what your competitors are doing and how you want to be similar or different to them.
Do you have the time to manually reply to every email, support request, or technical problem? If not, is it because of your business model or your website or both? Maybe you need a consultative strategy session before investing in a website makeover (we do this too).
Where to Start?
To be sure, successful websites are a reflection of a successful business model. Plus, they have processes in place for visitor engagement (the whole point of a website). And of course, they don’t use free tools. There’s a level of performance that marries budget + business goals. There’s no avoiding that math.
But hey, if you can’t afford to purchase the right tools, there are always options. It just means that you’re looking at cobbling together free tools with the limitations and inferior performance that go along with them. More often than not, this also means troubleshooting solutions that aren’t problematic with licenced availability. But at the end of the day, if a shoestring gets you online faster, and you enjoy learning and fixing things, well, you just gotta do whatchya gotta do.
But at the most basic level, make sure that the things you have to invest in anyway are the very best choices: a good host + a good theme + the least amount of plugins (and only the most reputable).
If you have these 3 things in place, you’ve building your online presence on a solid foundation and give yourself the best possible chance of building a website that you can scale as your budget allows.
