When creating a website, there are two main ways to invent your own website. You can either create the website from scratch by coding your pages, or you could use a pre-existing theme on a site like WordPress to create your website. There are benefits and setbacks for both versions of creating a website.
Choosing to create a website by coding could allow the user to personalize the pages that they create. Coding allows the user to create the website from scratch. According to the article “9 Reasons Hand-Coding Always Beats Site Builders,*” a user will have more control over their site if they code it themselves. Going through another website or having someone build a website for you could cause control issues since the user is not in control of the details. If the user decides to code the website themselves, the user will then have control of their website. It can help show of the skill in the area while also providing a personal touch to the website. However, coding does take time. One error in the code could prevent the entire site from being uploaded. The creator must be careful when creating code. Coding is beneficial in that it allows the user to create something out of nothing, but that takes time and also requires the user to be knowledgeable in the area because one mistake could prevent the site from operating correctly.
By using a pre-existing template on a site like WordPress, it is easier to get a website working since everything is already provided for the user. The user might need to pay fees for the domain name, but the aspects of the website are already provided for the user. According to the article “6 Reasons to Use a Pre-made Template instead of Coding a Website*,” choosing a pre-made template, on average, is cheaper than having a web designer personally customize and code a website for you. If a user is not tech savvy and is not knowledgeable in the area of coding, they could spend more money on a customized website than they would by using a pre-made template. Using a pre-existing template is normally faster to create than coding and is more user friendly if the user is not knowledgeable in the area of coding. However, with a pre-existing template, the user may not be able to have as many personal touches as a user who may have coded their website. A pre-existing template may also be harder to edit. With coding, everything can be made how the user wants it, but a pre-existing template has a limited amount of adjustments.
Which Do You Prefer?
For me, knowing how to operate a WordPress site is important for my future professional career plans. Although my primary career goal is to be an editor for a book publishing company, I do plan on having a freelance photography business on the side. As seen in the article “Eleven Reasons a Photographer Needs a Website or Blog*,” a website would help me promote my offline business while also expressing my love for photography. Knowing how HTML operates and how to make a website will help me set up a functioning business in which I can display my photos while also allowing my clients to know more about me. I will be able to share my photos, introduce myself, and provide a way to communicate with my clients through the website that I can make. Although I do not thrive in coding, I have enough knowledge in the area if I did want to continue to make a website from scratch. However, for me, I feel it is best for me to continue on the path of creating my own website through a pre-existing template because I better understand the operating functions. Although it may take me a few years to get a functioning business started, building a website is my first step on that path.
*Indicates a linked website embedded in the phrase.
© Jennifer McGowen 2020