Event Recap: Wonderful Website Workshop for Women

On February 13, a beautiful, spring-like Saturday, a group of women from various backgrounds and industries gathered to learn more about websites: why have one, how to go about making one and how to maintain one. All the women in the room were there for different reasons — wanting to start a blog, create a website for their business or simply wanting to brush up on their tech skills.

We were first introduced to FEW Strategic Partner Divya Marie Kato’s background as an artist.  As our host for the workshop, she showed us that despite having no background in I.T., she was able to create a website from scratch, which meant that we could, too! She said she had only one goal for the workshop: “Make WordPress less scary monster and more approachable pet.” She went through the two main ways to get a website made — hire someone or do it yourself — and explained the advantages and disadvantages of both.  She then shared the ups and downs of her website building journey and even showed us her very first website, drastically different from her site now, which led to the first point: Be open to change. As you grow and change, so will your site.

Divya also gave each of us her signature gift, a carved pencil with the words, “When in doubt, draw” on it. 

She explained the majority of the work will be analogue as you create the copy for your site. Whether it’s you or your web designer (who will push you for content!) you will need to have this in place first. Lay the groundwork. Map everything out first. Think of your website as a book.  What pages will you have? What will people read on each page?

So, why do you want or need a website? Who will your audience be? What will they gain from your site? Some questions to thoroughly consider for those thinking of creating their own website. While building a website is no longer a complicated process, even for those who aren’t computer whizzes, it is crucial to spend time on maintenance, security and backing up. Divya stressed that ignored updates can easily slow down your site and make it susceptible to bugs. Check in daily and make sure you back up!

Divya also walked us through the digital basics: choosing the platform, creating your domain name — is it brand-able, easy to say and spell? — checking the speed of your website and what tools to use for that, responsive design when choosing your theme — how compatible it is across mobile devices — the WordPress dashboard and essential plug-ins to add extra features and capabilities to your site.

Main Takeaways:

• Analogue then digital.
  There’s no need to start off digital! You can plan out your website, pages and content on paper and then move all of it online when you’re good and ready.
• Utilize your connections. 
  If you have limited resources, trade your skills with a friend. Proofreading in English for user-feedback, logo design for translating into Japanese, etc. (There are incredibly talented women in FEW from various industries — all you have to do is ask!)
• Clarity and your top five “Why’s.”
  You should be able to state the top five goals for your site. Additionally, users should be able to see these goals. Is your site confusing or cluttered? Ask a friend!
• Marie Forleo’s B School
  The online business course Divya did and highly recommends to those starting up their own businesses. It includes a whole module dedicated to websites. B school is enrolling now for 2016.

Two Useful Sites:

• Canva: Graphic design
• Website Setup: A step-by-step guide for website building

Personally, I found the workshop was a wonderful opportunity to overcome the technical and mental blocks that had prevented me from taking my first step forward into making the blog I had always dreamed of. Are you taking the one month challenge? I am and am looking forward to catching up with the group again to see how their websites turned out and wish you the best as you create yours, too!

Thank you, Divya, for helping us demystify WordPress and overcome the previously overwhelming concept of making a website through tools and a handy guide as well as encouragement and support.