Everything You Need to Know Before Having a Website
Getting a new website is exciting, but it can also feel a little overwhelming once you start hearing words like domains, SEO, hosting, favicons, and integrations.
You don't need to become a web designer before hiring one. But before you invest in a website, I think it's helpful to understand what you're actually getting into, what you'll need, and what you'll be responsible for once it's live.
So let's make it simple.
First things first: do you need a website in 2026?
If you're already booking clients through Instagram, getting inquiries from referrals, and keeping your business moving, you might be wondering if you even need a website.
Yes, you do.
I've written more about why in Why You Still Need a Website Even If You're Crushing It on Social Media, but the short version is this: AI is increasingly helping people decide who to hire, and it needs reliable information about your business to make those suggestions.
Your website is where that information lives. It's your place to clearly explain what you do, who you work with, where you work, and what makes your business worth considering.
So if you're ready to get one, here's what you should know before you commit.
You'll need a domain
Your domain is your website address, like yourbusiness.com. It's separate from your website itself.
Think of it this way: your domain is the address, and your website is the house.
If you don't have a domain yet, you'll need to purchase one. If you already have one, you do not need to buy another one just because you're getting a new website.
YOUR OPTIONS:-
If you don't have one yet, you can purchase one through a domain registrar or directly through your website platform.
Squarespace lets you purchase your domain and build your website in the same place, which can be convenient if you want to keep everything together.
-
Already have a domain you love? You can leave it where it is and connect it to your new website.
You don't have to move your domain just because you're moving to a new website platform.
-
If you'd rather manage your domain and website in one place, you can transfer your domain to a platform that supports domain hosting, like Squarespace.
The important thing is that your domain needs to stay registered and renewed. If it expires, you can potentially lose access to your website address, so make sure your payment information is current and auto-renewal is turned on if that's what you prefer.
You also want to use a reputable domain provider. Your domain is one of those business assets you don't want to lose track of.
Bottom line: You need a domain, but you have options for where it lives and how you manage it.
Your website platform matters
Your website platform is where your website is built and where you'll go to make changes after it launches.
There are plenty of platforms to choose from, and they're not all set up the same way. Some require more outside tools or extensions to add certain features, while others include more within the platform itself.
I design on Squarespace because it's beginner-friendly and gives my clients plenty of room to grow. It's an all-in-one platform, so you can build and manage your website without having to rely on a bunch of third-party tools or extensions.
You can add a blog, sell products or services, create forms, and connect other tools within the platform itself.
That's important to me because your website shouldn't become something you’re afraid to touch after it launches.
You'll probably want to change things eventually. Your services will evolve, you'll have new work to show, and you may decide you want to add something you didn't need when we first built the site.
You should be able to do that.
Bottom line: Choose a platform that works for your business now and gives you room to add things later.
Your website has an ongoing cost
The design of your website is one expense. Keeping your website online is another.
Your website platform will have a monthly or annual subscription, and your domain will need to be renewed. The exact cost depends on the platform and plan you choose.
And honestly, website platforms aren't always cheap.
That's okay. You're paying for the technology that keeps your website running and gives you the tools to manage it. Just make sure you understand what your plan includes before you sign up.
You may also have separate subscriptions for other business tools you connect to your website, depending on what you use.
Bottom line: Budget for your website as an ongoing business expense, not just a one-time design investment.
Your brand is a huge part of the foundation
Your website is one of the main places people experience your brand, so you want the visual direction to feel cohesive from the start. Your colors, fonts, logo, and overall style all come into play once we start designing.
If you already have a brand you love, great. We'll build from it.
If you don't, you don't need to figure it all out on your own before starting your website. With my custom brand + website design, I'll curate the color palette, font pairings, and logo suite for you, then carry that direction through the website.
You also don't need to have every detail figured out before we begin. The point is to create a foundation you can continue to build on as your business grows.
Bottom line: Your website doesn't need a complicated brand. It just needs a thoughtful, cohesive visual foundation.
Your photography matters
Especially in the wedding industry, your photography is a huge part of how someone experiences your business online. For photographers, it's the work itself. For planners, venues, florists, content creators, and other wedding pros, it gives potential clients a much better idea of the work and experience they're hiring you for.
Before your website project starts, take a look at the photos you have and think about how they work together, not just individually. You want variety, but you also want the overall collection to feel cohesive with your brand. If your brand is light and refined, for example, you probably don't want the majority of your website to suddenly shift into dark, heavily edited imagery.
I'll help with the styling and placement of your photos throughout the website, so you don't need to figure out which image belongs where.
THERE ARE A FEW PRACTICAL THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW, TOO:-
If someone else took the photo, you're responsible for knowing whether you have permission to use it on your website. Check your photographer's agreement or ask them if you're unsure.
-
Many photographers are happy to be credited, and there are several ways to do this without adding a giant list of names to the bottom of your website.
Depending on the project, I like incorporating credits into galleries or linking directly to the photographer's website. That way, the credit is clear and the photographer's work can actually be seen alongside it.
-
If you don't have enough content yet, that's okay. I’m happy to provide stock photo resources when we need to fill a visual gap or add a little more variety to your site.
Stock photos aren't a replacement for your own work, but they can be a helpful way to round things out while you're building your library of brand imagery.
Bottom line: Choose photos that work with your brand, make sure you have permission to use them, and don't forget the credits. I'll take care of how they come together on the site.
Your website copy should sound like your business
Your website needs to make a few things very clear: what you do, who you work with, where you work, what someone can hire you for, and what it's like to work with you.
But it also needs to sound like your business.
That's where brand voice comes in.
Your website shouldn't suddenly sound completely different from the way you communicate everywhere else. The words should have the same personality and point of view as the rest of your brand.
And you don't need to arrive with your website copy already written. Website copy is included in my website design packages, so I'll work from the information you provide and shape it into copy that works with your brand and the structure of the site.
You'll still need to give me the important details about your business, services, process, pricing, and so on. I'm the designer and copy partner here, not a mind reader.
Bottom line: Your website needs clear information and a consistent voice. You don't have to write the finished website yourself.
SEO is worth understanding
SEO, or search engine optimization, is basically how you help search engines understand your website.
For a wedding business, that means making it clear what you do, what services you offer, and where you work.
Search is also changing. People are using AI-powered tools to ask more specific, conversational questions, and those tools still need useful information to pull from.
That's another reason having a website with clear, specific information about your business matters. Your services, locations, experience, portfolio, and expertise all give search engines and AI search tools more context about what you do.
I'll take care of the foundational SEO as part of your website design, including things like page titles, headings, descriptions, image information, and site structure.
If you want to go deeper, I wrote more about this in Why Your Website Is More Important Than Ever.
Bottom line: You don't need to become an SEO expert. Your website just needs to clearly communicate what your business is about.
And yes, you'll need to keep it updated
Your website isn't finished forever once it launches.
Your business will change. You'll update your services, add new work, change your pricing, add information, and occasionally notice a sentence that is very much from 2023.
That's part of having a website.
This is another reason I like designing on a beginner-friendly platform. You can make everyday updates yourself without needing to come back to me every time you need to change something.
And if you'd rather have me handle your updates, you can always outsource that, too.
You also don't need to redesign your entire website every time your business changes. You can update and build onto a good foundation over time.
Bottom line: Your website should be something you can maintain and grow with, not something you have to start over every few years.
Before you commit, know what you're getting
Every website designer structures their packages differently, so don't assume something is included just because you saw it in someone else's package.
Before you book, make sure you understand:
What's included in the design
Whether website copy is included
Whether branding is included
How photography is handled
What's included for SEO
Who connects your domain
What platform your website will be built on
Whether you'll be able to make your own updates
What happens after the website launches
You don't need to know the technical answers to all of these things. You just need to know who is handling them.
That's really the whole point of this post.
You don't need to become a web designer before you get a website. You just deserve to understand what you're investing in, what you'll need to provide, and what your designer is taking care of for you.
Then you can spend a lot less time wondering what the heck a domain is and a lot more time getting excited about the actual website.
Studio Soirée is a digital design studio specializing in custom brand + websites for wedding and event professionals.