Why I don’t build websites for everyone…

Posted by Evan in Website Development

When I first started creating websites I would create one for anything and everything. I would practically beg people to let me create a website for them. I would usually host them on some free service like Geocities and Freeservers. I didn’t care at all how much the sites were used, I just wanted to build websites!

Today, I operate a little differently. Not only do I not have the same amount of free time that I used to, my thinking on websites has changed considerably as well. I used to think that websites were simply a way for computer geeks to use their talents in a way that would be accessibly and understandable to the general public. Now, I understand that the web is a medium for communication. It shouldn’t be cluttered with useless websites that aren’t serving a purpose.

Most of the time I still feel the urge to create websites for every mom-and-pop shop on the planet, but I’m balanced by the understanding that sometimes a website isn’t the best thing for a business or organization. Take my church for example, they’ve been talking to me for years about building a website, but I never fealt like they were ready for it. Sure, a simple brochure site wouldn’t have hurt, but they weren’t ready to really take advantage of the web and what a website could offer them. So, I waited… and waited. Now, they’re ready. I think…

I also have trouble getting excited about building a website that won’t get much traffic. Perhaps it’s the success of Living-Dead.com that created this expectation that every site I put my time into should have thousands of visitors per day, I don’t know. I have trouble getting excited about building a website that no one cares about.

So, what’s the secret to getting me to build a website? Simple, show me that you care about having a website. Show me that you know why you need a website. Tell me why people would want to visit your website. If you can tell me those things, I’m here to help.