Every year, thousands of business owners decide: I’ll build my own website. Some succeed. They get a functional site, save money, and are happy with the result.
Others spend three months on it, end up with a site that doesn’t generate business, and eventually hire someone anyway — now with less money and less time.
The difference between these two groups isn’t technical skill. It’s whether they realistically assessed what the project actually requires before starting.
So let’s look at both. What does a good website actually involve — and where do most business owners hit a wall.
What Do You Actually Need for a Website?
Before you choose a tool or platform, understand what a good website actually contains:
1. Domain — your address on the internet (e.g. yourname.com). Costs €10–15 per year. Buy it from providers like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or your local registrar.
2. Hosting — the server where your site “lives”. With some platforms (Webflow, Squarespace, Shopify) hosting is included in the monthly subscription. With WordPress you pay separately (€5–20/month).
3. Platform or building tool — this is where you actually build the site. More on this below.
4. Content — text, images, logo. This is what most people underestimate. Without good content, no platform will help.
5. SEO basics — so that Google can find you. Meta titles, page speed, mobile adaptation.
Which Platform Should You Choose?
Wix — Easiest for Beginners
Wix is a visual builder with a huge library of templates. Drag, drop, done.
Good for: Simple business cards, local trades, personal pages. Downsides: Limited customisation, weaker SEO than competitors, difficult to migrate your site elsewhere later. Price: €17–35/month for business use.
Squarespace — Beautiful but Closed
Nicer design than Wix, more limited flexibility. Good for photographers, artists, creatives.
Good for: Portfolio sites, creative professions. Downsides: Little flexibility, expensive for what it offers. Price: €16–49/month.
WordPress — Most Powerful, Most Demanding
WordPress powers 43% of the entire web. It’s open-source, free, with unlimited flexibility.
Good for: Blogs, larger websites, people who have time to learn. Downsides: You need separate hosting, security updates, plugins. Without experience you’ll spend weeks just on basic setup. Security vulnerabilities are a real, ongoing concern. Price: Hosting €5–20/month + possible paid plugins and themes.
Webflow — Professional Tool You Can Actually Learn
Webflow is a platform used by professional designers and developers, but it has a visual interface. The result is cleaner code, faster pages, and better SEO than Wix or Squarespace.
Good for: Businesses that want a professional result with the ability to edit it themselves. Downsides: Steep learning curve. For a basic site you’ll need 20–40 hours of learning before you get a good result. Price: €14–39/month.
Shopify — For Online Stores
If you’re selling products, Shopify is the standard. Payments, shipping, inventory — all built in.
Good for: Product-based online stores. Downsides: Monthly subscription ($29–79/month) + transaction fees. Without the right experience, setting up a proper Shopify store is a project that takes several weeks. Price: From $29/month.
Step by Step: How to Build a Website on Webflow
We’ve chosen Webflow because it offers the best ratio between quality of result and the ability to edit the site yourself afterward. Here is the realistic process:
Step 1: Plan Your Structure (1–2 Hours)
Before you open any tool, write on paper:
- Which pages will your site have? (Home, Services, About, Contact — this is the minimum)
- What is the purpose of each page? What should the visitor do?
- What is the single most important message?
This is the most important step. Without a clear structure, all the following steps will be slower.
Step 2: Create an Account and Choose a Template (30 Minutes)
- Go to webflow.com and create a free account
- In the Webflow Marketplace choose a free template that suits your business
- Choose a simple template — fewer elements means easier editing
Step 3: Edit the Content (3–8 Hours)
Replace the text in the template with your own content:
- The headline on the home page must say in one sentence: what you do, for whom, why you
- On each service page describe exactly that service — don’t write in general terms
- Add real photos (not stock images) wherever possible — authenticity builds trust
Step 4: Set Up Your Domain and Publish (1 Hour)
- Buy a domain (we recommend GoDaddy or Namecheap for .com)
- In Webflow settings connect the domain to your site
- Check that the site works on a mobile phone
- Publish
Step 5: Set Up Google Search Console (30 Minutes)
- Create an account at search.google.com/search-console
- Add your domain
- Submit your sitemap (in Webflow you’ll find it at
yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml) - Request indexing for your homepage
How Long Does It Realistically Take?
Most guides are dishonest about this. Here is a realistic estimate for someone with no prior experience:
| Task | Realistic time |
|---|---|
| Planning the structure | 2–4 hours |
| Learning the platform (basics) | 10–20 hours |
| Design and content | 10–20 hours |
| Technical setup (domain, SEO) | 3–5 hours |
| Testing and fixes | 3–5 hours |
| Total | 28–54 hours |
That’s one to two weeks of full-time work — or one to three months if you’re doing it in evenings and weekends alongside your regular job.
And that’s just for a basic presentation site. Without advanced design, without animations, without multilingual support, without an online store.
When DIY Makes Sense — and When It Doesn’t
Build it yourself if:
- You have the time and willingness to learn (at least 30–50 hours)
- The site is simple: 5 pages, no special functions
- Your budget is genuinely tight and your time is cheaper than money
- You enjoy this kind of project
Hire someone if:
- Your time is worth €30/hour or more — then a professional site is cheaper than your lost time
- You need a site that actively generates clients (SEO, conversion structure)
- You have a deadline — a client is waiting, a partnership is pending, a launch is coming
- You need multilingual support, an online store, or integrations
- You’ve already built a site yourself but it’s not bringing results
The Truth Most Guides Don’t Tell You
Building a website isn’t hard. Building a website that actually generates clients — that’s a different project entirely.
The difference is in:
- Structure that guides the visitor toward making an enquiry
- Content written for clients, not for the owner
- SEO optimisation that brings the right traffic
- Speed and technical quality that builds trust
These things come from years of experience and hundreds of projects. Not from a weekend of YouTube tutorials.
A good website pays for itself. A bad one — whether you built it yourself or bought it cheap — is a cost with no return.
Thinking About a Professional Solution?
At Webline we build websites on Webflow and Shopify for businesses and sole traders in Slovenia and Austria. Every project includes SEO foundations, mobile optimisation, and a handover session — so you know how to manage the site yourself.
If you’d like to know what a professional site would cost for your specific situation — get in touch. We’ll prepare a free scope assessment and a rough quote.
No obligation. No sales pressure. Just a clear answer.
