Site Building

Creating a useful website you can manage

A business website gives people a place to understand what you offer, find useful information and take the next step. Start with a small set of pages you can keep accurate, clear and useful.

Give each page a clear job

Think about what visitors need to know and what they should be able to do. They might want to contact you, book a service, explore your work or buy a product. Put the information they need close to the relevant action, with clear labels for links and buttons.

Sketch a simple route through the site before choosing layouts. Gather your text, images and contact details, then decide which pages they belong on. Material you have already created can provide a useful starting point.

Choose a way to build that suits you

Hosted website builders usually bring editing, publishing and hosting together. A self-hosted site can give you more control, with more responsibility for setup and maintenance. Consider how comfortable you are making changes and how much time you can give to keeping the site working.

If you work directly with website files, Notepad++ is a free editor for Windows. Its colour-coded code and search-and-replace tools can help when editing HTML and CSS, including changes across several files. Keep a copy of your working files before making widespread changes.

Make pages clear and easy to use

Choose readable text, consistent spacing and navigation labels people can understand. Keep important information easy to find. Check how pages appear on a phone, including menus, forms and buttons. People should be able to follow the page and use its controls with a keyboard as well as a mouse.

For sites where you can edit the styling, CSSPortal provides browser-based generators and references for features such as buttons, colours, spacing and layouts. Previewing a style and copying the generated CSS can help you make small changes while learning how they work.

Add features with a purpose

Start with the features your visitors need. A contact form can collect enquiries, an embedded video can explain a process and a landing page can support a particular offer. Each addition should have a clear role and work with your existing platform.

Check where form submissions go, who can access them and how you will respond. Consider whether embedded services add cookies, slow the page or send visitors elsewhere. Explore the categories below when you have a specific task to solve.

Publish changes you can maintain

Keep website files and images organised, with names that make them easy to recognise later. Save copies of important work and know how to restore an earlier version. Updates, backups and checking that the site remains available are part of running it.

If your hosting provides file-transfer access, FileZilla Client is a free tool for uploading and downloading website files. It lets you work with folders on your computer and hosting account, using the connection details supplied by your host.

Check the cost and the finished experience

Free plans and trials can help you explore a platform. Before committing, check:

• Publishing: Can you put the site online and use your own domain? Will it display the provider’s branding or adverts?
• Ongoing costs: What will hosting, renewals, extra features and any usage allowances cost?
• Control: Can you download your content, keep backups and move the site if your needs change?
• Everyday use: Can you update a page, receive an enquiry and complete the main visitor journey yourself?

Before sharing the site, follow its main routes as a visitor. Open the links, submit a form and check the result on a phone. A small website that works well gives you a practical base to develop.

How we classify our listings

• ✓ Personally tested — We have used the product ourselves.
• ◇ Research reviewed — We have examined available product information and relevant research, without claiming first-hand use.
• ○ Directory listing — A concise introduction based on available information; no hands-on testing or in-depth research is implied.

The directory is developing incrementally. We’ll add research and first-hand testing as we carry them out, while keeping straightforward listings useful for discovery.