#OMHG – October 25, 2012: DIY Web Design

For today’s #OMHG chat we talked all about DIY’ing our own way to website awesome, we had a bunch of web designers on hand to help answer our questions + share their knowledge. While our lovely transcriptionist Geri is away on vacation I thought I would try a new way of rounding up our highlights-did you know that if you paste the link from a Tweet into a WordPress post (in the html editor*) this awesomeness happens?!*Actually this ended up being WAY more complicated then it should have been & I am feeling very grateful for Geri!

Question #1:

If you are a website DIYer, what software or hosting do you use? Do you find it easy to update? #omhg

— Lisa Harris (@moxieologyinc) October 25, 2012

I try to give my clients the tools to carry on the foundation I build – to make THEM DIYers. WordPress is my favorite tool to pass on. #OMHG

— Nikki Jeske ✨ (@designcoyote) October 25, 2012

@nisseworks blogger is easiest for minor customisations but wordpress is 100x better for deeper changes #omhg

— Claire Smith (@handfulsunshine) October 25, 2012

@ohmyhandmade I use Blogger for my blog, and @Storenvy for my shop. I love Storenvy, it's so easy to customize! #omhg

— Cody (@Lu_and_Ed) October 25, 2012

i've heard good things about hostgator. i will say, from the bottom of my designer heart, please don't use godaddy. #omhg

— stubborn press & co. (@tif_smith) October 25, 2012

Love the @shopify themes, they look professional and have loads of customization possibilites. http://t.co/7WiMpZud #omhg

— Sarah Stickland (@SarahClassenYEG) October 25, 2012

There was a little discussion about the benefits of selling on a platform like Etsy, using a hosted software like Big Cartel or having your own ecommerce shop. Also check out the post by Aeoldia from back in the day on choosing your shop software.

Its important to get your own domain name and at least have it forward to your etsy shop even if you don't have a full site there yet #omhg

— jen pepper (@peppersprouts) October 25, 2012

@pigandfish I think having your own shop has advantages – people feel like they're buying from YOU vs buying from etsy. #omhg

— Marisa (@MarisaEdghill) October 25, 2012

Kinda related, have you guys read this post about losing the identity of your brand on etsy? http://t.co/qlvvBbRJ … #omhg

— Cody (@Lu_and_Ed) October 25, 2012

Question #2:

Let's chat a bit about what elements define a successfully DIY'ed website/what are common issues + problems #omhg

— Jessika Hepburn (@ohmyhandmade) October 25, 2012

The best thing to do is organize your content first and then worry about the design…content should be #1 #omhg

— Lisa Harris (@moxieologyinc) October 25, 2012

Always remember the user! A beautiful site is pointless if people can't find what they need. #omhg

— Isa Maria (@NoisetteAcademy) October 25, 2012

@ohmyhandmade Inconsistency! That seems to be a common issue I see when I do consultations. #omhg

— Nikki Jeske ✨ (@designcoyote) October 25, 2012

i think the worst is, however, not updating content. that always makes me sad to see sites that are years and years old. #omhg

— stubborn press & co. (@tif_smith) October 25, 2012

http://t.co/zCPT3tl2 has images and fonts #omhg

— La Alicia (@laalicia) October 25, 2012

Question #3:

Okay, last ten minutes, quick! Throw down your resources for DIY'ing a great site-posts, sites, stock, fonts, software, GO! #omhg

— Handmakers Union (@handmakersunion) October 25, 2012

How about Don't Fear the Internet – http://t.co/9FvSGxq9 #omhg

— Marisa (@MarisaEdghill) October 25, 2012

Twitter is the best resource for getting website advice. People are always willing to help! #omhg

— curiouslt (@curiouslt) October 25, 2012

@laalicia @tif_smith #omhg I've used http://t.co/IMkVQqIu and it has saved my tail so many times!

— Brett @ IAMTHELAB (@IAMTHELAB) October 25, 2012

https://twitter.com/zoe_rooney/status/261525828658159616

Bonus Round:
We veered off of DIY web design and into how to get support from a designer or trade/barter services if you are having a hard time doing it all yourself.

Sometimes just getting advice from a web designer is enough to set you on the right path to a great first website #omhg

— Lisa Harris (@moxieologyinc) October 25, 2012

I'm all about making fun, useful, creative stuff: how do you barter creative services that are more than whats in your portfolio? #omhg

— Kat McBride (@KatMcBrideArt) October 25, 2012

@MoxiePear @OMHGchat #omhg Fav inspiration site (just used it to design a sweet logo) is @designseeds http://t.co/hb9MpWQX Avoid imitators!

— Brett @ IAMTHELAB (@IAMTHELAB) October 25, 2012

Just throwing this out there: I'd be willing to work out some sort of trade with a writer (would like to revise my site text). #omhg

— Erin M. Harris (@erinmharris) October 25, 2012

Well that is it for our month of DIY Branding chats I hope this new transcript format helps encourage you connect with the ultra smart #OMHG gang and we see you next Thursday when we’ll be kicking off our Holiday Survival theme!

Please note that we’ve been having trouble with Curatede for our full transcripts as they are moving their servers, so we don’t have a link to the full transcript.

What is #omhg? We are a community of talented, creative and caring people who visit every Thursday on Twitter from 1-2EST with the hashtag #omhg to chat about our monthly theme on Oh My! Handmade + life, business & everything in between. Empowering, honest, supportive & full of ideas, our chats leave us all feeling ready to take on the world-come join us and make some new friends!