Why create a website?

Before putting pen to paper (and mouse to keyboard), it’s important to think about the reason behind putting a site online. Millions already exist, so why do you need to create one yourself? Also, if you’re working for a company, perhaps you already have plenty of marketing material, so why do you need a website as well? I should mention here that I’m certainly not trying to put you off—far from it. Instead, I’m trying to reinforce the point that planning is key in any web design project, and although some people swear that “winging it” is the best way to go, most such projects end up gathering virtual dust online. Therefore, before doing anything else, think through why you should build a website and what you’re trying to achieve.

Companies and individuals alike have practical and commercial reasons for setting up a website. A website enables you to communicate with like-minded individuals or potential
clients on a worldwide basis. If you’re a creative talent of some kind, you can use a website
to showcase your portfolio, offering online photographs, music tracks for download, or
poetry. If you fancy yourself as a journalist, a blog enables you to get your opinion out
there. If you own or work for a business, creating a website is often the most efficient
means of marketing your company. And even if you just have a hobby, a website can be a
great way of finding others who share your passion—while you may be the only person in
town who likes a particular movie or type of memorabilia, chances are there are thousands
of people worldwide who think the same, and a website can bring you all together. This is
perhaps why the paper fanzine has all but died, only to be reborn online, where development
costs are negligible and worldwide distribution is a cinch.
In practical terms, a website exists online all day, every day (barring the odd hiccup with
ISPs), which certainly isn’t the case with printed media, which is there one minute and in
the recycle trash the next. Distribution is less expensive than sending out printed material—
a thousand-page website can be hosted for $10 per month or less, but sending a
thousand-page document to one person (let alone a thousand or several thousand) may
cost more than that. Likewise, development (particularly corrections and updates) is often
significantly cheaper, too. For example, if you want to rework a print brochure, you have
to redesign it and then reprint it. Reworking a section of a website often means swapping
out a few files, which is efficient and affordable. So, for large companies and individuals
alike, the ability to have relevant information online in a form that can often be updated
in mere minutes, thereby keeping all interested parties up to date, is hard to resist!