Frank, here's another perspective, I hope it might be helpful.
Back in 1995 the only way to make a website was with a plain text editor and an FTP program. This was very primitive compared to today, but....
It did force the webmaster to focus on what really matters, the content of the site. There was nothing else one could work on.
You know how your VCR has 17,000 features, and it's all very confusing, and gets in the way of the one or two things you do want to do with your VCR? Everything in our culture is way over designed these days.
The web is like that too. 17 billion features, few of which really matter when you get right down to it.
What matters is creating content that is so good that your visitors will naturally talk about it, and link to it. Content that will inspire your visitors to remember you, like you, trust you, and listen to your purchase recommendations.
It's the nature of webmaster culture to get all wrapped up in gizmos and plugins etc, because that's easy, and fun.
It's quite challenging to create a site that jaded net users will actually be enthusiastic about. We don't see this discussed so much, because it's hard.
If you don't have web technology skills, consider getting the simplest page builder you can find. Sweep 98% of all the options off the table, for now. Focus on your content, worry about that, it's a big enough job to keep you busy for some time.
Best of luck!
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