Have you ever tried baking a cake from scratch? And I mean, really from scratch. Without a recipe, without measuring cups, and without the ingredients laid out in front of you. Unless you’ve baked dozens of cakes before, this would be paralyzing. 

This situation asks you a daunting question: Where do I start?

This is how website building felt for me, but add the stressors of time limitations, coding and web design inadequacies, and the desire to prove I could do it. 

I needed some hand-holding, but I had no mentor and no hand other than ChatGPT. ChatGPT has its place, but it can make website building more convoluted than it needs to be or than what I had time for. 

In comes beehiiv. beehiiv’s Website Builder revolutionized everything for me. In one weekend, it rescued me out of the deep hole of trying to build a website on my own and allowed me to launch a visually appealing website. 

You shouldn’t have to be a Renaissance man in design and code to be able to share your passion with the world. And with beehiiv, you don’t have to be everything. It helps you to focus on where you shine, creating content.

Why Trust Me? 

As a content editor, I started working with beehiiv about a year ago because of beehiiv’s ability to empower creators to build thriving newsletters. With a background in technical writing, I leveraged my knowledge of SEO strategies and optimization to pivot into B2B and D2C content, helping brands like beehiiv maximize their reach and engagement. 

You know how kids usually go through an “ugly duckling” phase where they’re still figuring out their style/hair/makeup? Kids who are growing up in this era of Instagram and TikTok don’t seem to go through that; they just come out of the womb knowing how to do their makeup. 

Similarly with content creation, there is so much content out there that people don’t have as drastic a growth arc as the initial creators had— Remember Jenna Marbles on YouTube? 

When I built my first site, it felt like every decision, no matter how small, could make or break me. I didn’t know anything about coding, and the world of domains and hosting was lost on me. Even writing copy was stressful because I wasn’t fully sure of the vision of my site. 

And while I was working on one area, I would be bombarded with thoughts about all the other things I needed to work on and become overwhelmed. Every decision depended on another decision. How could I choose the best template when I hadn’t finished writing copy yet? But I also struggled writing copy without knowing the layout. 

It’s all these chicken and egg situations, which comes first - domain name vs branding? SEO vs copy? 

But with beehiiv, a lot of these “chicken-and-egg” problems are solved because getting started is made simple.

Traditional platforms like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace didn’t work for me as a beginner because I felt like I needed to be a designer and a developer. But I just loved creating content and was looking for a way to get my ideas online. 

I could narrow down my struggles to three areas— design, tech setup, and copywriting. I knew I had a good eye for aesthetics, but trying to make an entire website cohesive and professional was difficult. 

I wasn’t particularly techy, so the learning curve for setting up domains, hosting, and connecting the two was steep. Even something I knew how to do, like copywriting, posed a challenge because I didn’t want to come off as too formal or too casual. 

Regarding design, traditional website builders tend to throw all the options at you. 

This is a glimpse of the WordPress dashboard. I initially started website building with WordPress, probably the most bloated platform. It has a deep control panel with many options like Pages, Appearance, and Plugins. I had to learn some technical setup, which was another complicating factor. 

Initially, I was super excited by Wix’s drag-and-drop editor, but it was bloated too! As a beginner, it paralyzed me because more options meant more possibilities of choosing the wrong thing. It took me longer to launch websites because I was constantly going between the different options. 

Squarespace has beautifully polished templates, and because of that, the endless customization options came with the pressure of producing something perfect. My website launch was delayed because they expected you to come in with branded assets and be copy-ready.  

There was a period in time when everyone wanted to learn design, and I felt like I should learn too. I watched so many videos trying to learn as fast as possible. But I didn’t have the time to dive into design theory. 

WordPress was the trickiest because I had to customize absolutely everything- from line spacing to font size. I went through layers of settings and kept “optimizing” because I felt like there would always be something better. 

I went to Wix to try their drag-and-drop editor, but how am I supposed to have the time or energy to figure out the spacing between my sections? I started dreading adding new elements because they came with a complicated list of settings. 

I was personally intimidated by Squarespace because the design bar was too high. It took me forever to launch because I wanted it to be absolutely perfect. 

You would think that having many options would speed things up, but on the contrary, it made me procrastinate. Should I pair a sans-serif or serif font for my subheading with my “Playfair Display” heading? Should my landing page include moving visuals or just an image? Should I wait for my branding to fully solidify before I launch? 

The turning point was realizing that what I need is not endless options but restrictions. Enter beehiiv’s Website Builder. It was like I teamed up with a designer and developer. 

That debloated the game for me. All the possibilities got streamlined for me, meaning I didn’t have to wait for my site to be perfect, but I could just start. 

A strategy I use when I’m overwhelmed by a list of tasks is to start with the easiest task. But with other website-building platforms, every task felt like a difficult task. Choosing a template required many preceding choices, like learning design rules and using Pinterest to get inspo. 

Until I switched to beehiiv, where the steps were so easy that I found myself flying through. The simplicity gave me momentum. And seeing my choices being implemented in real time also motivated me to keep going. 

I can boil it down to 5 steps: 

And if I wanted to customize, I didn’t have to quickly learn CSS. I could also change the spacing between sections and see the change in real time, rather than having to reload the page and forgetting what it looked like before. 

For the landing page, I added my headline and a subheading to explain what my website was about, along with an image. 

Then, for the rest of the pages, I already had my content ready to go. And now I had a place to drop it into. 

Seeing my content on the page helped personalize the site way more than tinkering around with just the design aspect. It also helped clarify my vision and branding. 

beehiiv already has a built-in email form! No more trying to figure out ESPs or external tools. 

I picked out my color palette, my fonts, and before I knew it, I could see it all come alive on my site. 

Seriously, it was that fast. Unnecessary distractions cut out, and website building boiled down to the essentials. 

I love how concise and to the point building a homepage with beehiiv is. It’s composed of three elements: a headline, a subheading, and an image (which is optional), all on one screen. The simplicity is not only great for you as you’re building your site, but also translates well for readers, drawing them in. 

One of the biggest time savers beehiiv provides is their signup form. Figuring out email capture as a beginner was such a struggle. I didn’t know which ESP to go with, how to set up an integration, or embed forms. 

But with beehiiv, email capture is already built in, so say goodbye to figuring out integrations. And if you don’t know what an ESP is, beehiiv makes it so that you never need to know (But if you really want to, go ahead). All you need to know is that as soon as your site goes live, you can automatically start collecting subscribers. 

I’m usually second-guessing my choices after my site goes live, but with beehiiv, all the different elements are tied together seamlessly. I didn’t have to become an expert in design or coding to have a professional-looking site. 

I love Brandon Storey’s landing page, simple yet professional. Potential subscribers know exactly what the site is about and how to subscribe. 

I’m grateful for all the traditional platforms because I learned a lot, but let’s be honest, the learning came through an almost unnecessary amount of stress, anxiety, and mistakes. I wish I had jumped straight to beehiiv’s Website Builder, but since I can’t, I highly recommend that you do!

You don’t need to overcomplicate things to achieve a professional-looking website. All the gadgets and gizmos don’t ensure that you will have an eye-catching website or a growing readership.

The one thing I stick by is to focus on creating what is meaningful to you. That is what will draw subscribers, and having a platform that understands your goal is huge. With other website-building platforms, it felt like their goals were different from mine. But with beehiiv, the speed at which I could publish made it feel like they were invested in my website launching as well. 

But you don’t have to take my word for it, try beehiiv out for yourself! There are a few options for plans, and you can even start out for free. 

The easiest website builder for beginners is one that doesn’t require you to code or know the intricacies of design, but helps you build momentum to publish. 

When you’re considering website platforms, a few things to look for are those with professionally designed templates, a built-in signup form, and streamlined customization options. 

The website that is most suitable for you depends on your goals. But if your goal is content creation, beehiiv is the way to go! 

beehiiv was made by content creators for content creators, meaning it provides you with everything you need to publish, without overcomplicating it.