A website gives a business, church, school or personal brand a permanent home that you control, unlike a social media page. You do not need to code. You do need three things: a domain name, hosting, and a way to build the pages.
The three parts
| Part | What it is | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Domain name | Your address, like yourbusiness.com or yourbusiness.com.gh | Paid yearly |
| Hosting | The computer that serves your site to the world | Paid monthly or yearly |
| The site itself | The pages, built with a builder, WordPress, or by a developer | Your time, or a developer's fee |
Choosing a domain
- Short, easy to spell, easy to say over the phone.
.comworks everywhere..com.ghtells customers you are Ghanaian and is good for a local business..com.ghdomains are managed by Ghana's domain registry under NITA and sold through accredited registrars (many Ghanaian hosting companies). You will usually be asked for business registration documents, and approval can take a few working days. A.comneeds no documents.- Register the domain in your own name, with your own email. A common and painful problem is a developer registering it under their name, then leaving. You should always be able to log in to the registrar yourself.
Three ways to build it
A website builder
Wix, Squarespace, Shopify (for shops) or Google Sites (free, very simple). Hosting is included; you drag and drop.
- Good for: a small business that wants to be online quickly and do it themselves.
- Watch for: monthly fees that add up, and difficulty moving the site elsewhere later.
WordPress
The software behind a large share of all websites, including this one. You rent hosting (many Ghanaian and international hosts install WordPress in one click) and choose a theme.
- Good for: flexibility, blogs, organisations, anything that will grow.
- Watch for: WordPress needs updates and backups. An unmaintained WordPress site is a common target for hackers who insert spam links, so keep plugins few and updated, and use strong passwords.
Hiring a developer
- Ask to see sites they built and still maintain.
- Agree in writing: what pages, how many rounds of changes, the price, the deadline, and who owns the domain, the hosting account and the content (you should).
- Ask what maintenance costs after launch, and get the admin login for your own site.
What every site needs
- What you do, in one sentence, at the top.
- How to reach you: phone, WhatsApp, email, location with a map.
- Opening hours or how to order.
- Fast loading on a phone with a data bundle: compressed images, no autoplay video.
Before you build anything
If you mainly need to be found locally, start with a free Google Business Profile. If you mainly sell through chats, start with selling online. Build the website once those are working.