How to build your own website as an artisan: what you really need, in what order

People searching for how to build a website as an artisan usually start from the wrong question: which tool should I use? Another one comes first: what is the site for. If the answer is clear, choosing between a site builder and WordPress takes ten minutes and the site is live over a weekend. This guide puts things in order: goal, tool, domain, copy, photos, Google profile, time. At the end, the shortest route for anyone who runs workshops.

First of all: what is your website for

An artisan's website does one of these three things well. Rarely all three at once, and it doesn't need to.

• Being found. Someone searches "ceramicist Faenza" or "luthier repairs Cremona" and has to land on you: name, town and Google profile matter more than design.
• Showing your work. A bespoke tailor's shop lives on photos: finished garments, details, the cutting table. The site is the portfolio Instagram never puts in order.
• Getting contacted or booked. A ceramics studio that runs workshops needs whoever lands there to understand when, how much and how to book, without messaging you on three different channels.

Pick the main goal and write it down in one sentence: "I want anyone looking for a wheel-throwing class in Bologna to find my page and book". Every decision that follows is measured against that sentence.

Site builder or WordPress: how to choose without being sold anything

The two routes are more alike than they look. A site builder (Wix, Squarespace, Webflow and the like) gives you editor, hosting, HTTPS certificate and updates in a single subscription: you install nothing and maintain nothing. WordPress is open source software you download from wordpress.org and install on hosting you pay for separately: the site is yours piece by piece, but theme and plugin updates are on you. The right question is not "which one is better", but "how much time do I want to spend on it after launch".

• Choose a builder if you want to open the laptop once a month, change two dates and close it. You pay a subscription and never think about hosting, backups or security.
• Choose WordPress if you want full control, expect to grow (blog, more languages, a catalogue) or already have someone who knows how to maintain it. WordPress.org lists PHP 8.3 or greater, a MariaDB 10.11+ or MySQL 8.0+ database and HTTPS as requirements: if your host doesn't offer them, change host.
• Don't choose on the first-year price. Almost every provider has an introductory offer and a higher renewal: look at the renewal price list, not the discount.

A luthier with ten instruments to show and a contact form is perfectly fine on a builder; a tailor's shop that also wants to sell online ends up on WordPress within a year. The only real mistake is switching tools every six months.

The domain: name, extension, who registers it

The domain is your site's address and you should buy it yourself, in your own name, before everything else. Three practical rules.

1. Short and easy to say. Your name or the workshop's, plus what you do if needed: "rossiceramics", "bianchitailoring". No hyphens, no numbers, no acronyms to explain over the phone.
2. Extension: .it if you work in Italy. According to the .it Registry, a .it domain can be registered by any adult with citizenship, residence or business headquarters in a European Economic Area country (plus the Vatican, San Marino, Switzerland and the United Kingdom); the name runs from 3 to 63 characters and is registered through a Registrar, not directly with the Registry.
3. Register it yourself, with your own account. Even if the builder offers it "included", check you can transfer it elsewhere: if you switch tools, the domain has to follow you. Yearly renewal, roughly modest, but the figures change from Registrar to Registrar: read the price list before buying and turn on auto-renewal.

Copy that works: who you are, what you do, where, how to book

Copy is the part everyone postpones and the one that decides everything. You don't need long pages: you need four clear answers, in this order.

1. Who you are. Name, craft, how long you've done it, where you learned. Three lines in the first person: "I'm Giulia, I've been making ceramics in Faenza since 2015, my studio has four wheels" is worth more than any "artisan excellence".
2. What you do. One section for each thing you actually sell: commissioned pieces, repairs, workshops. For each one: what's included, who it's for, how long it takes, how much it costs. If the price depends on something, say what it depends on.
3. Where. Full address, how to get there, where to park, whether to ring a bell. For a studio in a courtyard it's the difference between a customer who walks in and one who phones.
4. How to book or ask for a quote. One main channel, explained: "write to me here, I reply within two working days", or a calendar with dates and a button. For workshops, say upfront whether a deposit is needed and how it's paid.

Write the way you talk: short sentences, no strings of adjectives, no "passion" every other line. And one rule for the homepage: within five seconds I must understand what you do and where; if I have to scroll, it needs redoing.

Photos: few, real, yours

For an artisan, photos are the main copy. The first version doesn't need a photographer: it needs natural light, a recent phone and half an hour with the studio tidied up.

• Four subjects are enough: the studio, hands at work, the finished piece, you. Whoever books a workshop wants to see the place and the face of the person teaching.
• Landscape for the site, portrait for social. Shoot both versions at the same time so you don't redo them.
• Resize before uploading. A phone photo weighs far more than the web needs and slows the page down.
• No stock photos. A generic hand on a generic wheel is spotted instantly and says the opposite of what you mean.

Your Google profile: it often brings more people than the site

Google Business Profile is the listing that appears on Maps and in search results when someone searches "ceramics studio" in your area. Google confirms that adding or claiming your business comes at no charge and that, once verified, customers find it on Search and Maps. For anyone with a physical studio it is the most effective thing in this whole guide.

• Fill in everything: category, address (or service area, if you work on site), real opening hours, phone, link to the site.
• Upload the same photos as the site: studio, work, you.
• Ask every happy customer for a review, right after delivery or the workshop: five real reviews are worth more than any theme.
• Test site and profile from your phone. Google uses the mobile version of pages for indexing and ranking (mobile-first indexing): if the "book" button isn't visible on a phone, it's as if it weren't there.

How long it really takes

Less than you fear for the tool, more than you think for the content. A realistic order, not counting breaks.

1. Copy and photos: an afternoon each. That's the real work. If you prepare them before opening the builder, everything else flows.
2. Domain and tool: an hour. Registration, account, a simple theme. Don't try ten.
3. Assembly: a day on a builder, roughly a few days more on WordPress between hosting, installation, theme and the two or three plugins you actually need.
4. Google profile: half an hour to fill in, plus the verification days, which depend on the method Google offers for your business.

The site is never finished, and that's fine: the first version has to answer the four questions and have a button that works.

What you can postpone (and what you can't)

• Postpone: the blog, a properly done English version, the newsletter, the online shop, the final logo, animations, the booking plugin with ten options.
• Don't postpone: HTTPS switched on, phone and email visible on every page, the Google profile, a check from your phone, the answer to "how do I book".

If you run workshops, the most delicate point is precisely the last one. Handling dates, seats and deposits on a DIY site means holding calendar, form and payment together with different tools: we compared 7 ways to manage bookings, and almost all of them hold up as long as bookings are few.

The alternative: a free Handsome profile, and the site stays useful

If your main goal is getting workshops and experiences booked, there is a shorter route for the hard part. On Handsome the Maker profile is free: you get a public page with your studio, workshops with dates and seats, and the catalogue where customers who weren't looking for you find you too. The customer pays a deposit online and settles the rest on site; the money goes directly into your Stripe account and Handsome takes 0% commission on your takings: only Stripe's fees remain. Anyone wanting extra tools has the optional Maker Pro subscription (9.90 euros a month or 95 a year).

The site doesn't become useless. It stays the place where you tell who you are, show commissioned pieces and handle requests that aren't workshops: from the site you add a "book a workshop" link pointing to your profile, and all three functions are covered. The full DIY-versus-platform comparison is in Website + Calendly or Handsome.