So you want to start a website eh?
Answer a few questions:
- Well, what is your website about?
- What is your goal?
- What do you want it to do?
- What do you want the website to look like?
When you want to start a website, you need to layout, some of the few questions listed above. To start, think what you want to do with it and what is the goal for having a website? If you want to sell shirts, offer downloadable items, have a chat room, or even just for simple blogging, there are multiple tools for you to use to create exactly what you need. A website is like your storefront. It is the image of your business, organization, group etc. Do not skimp out on this one! Some people will choose web companies like 1&1.com because it is cheap… some of the designs made look pretty sad. The thing that happens mostly with web design etc; the more money you spend the more awesome your site becomes, unless you put a little elbow grease in yourself. To get started, lets look at some steps when starting a website.
First steps:
1. Answer the top questions. If you can figure out what your website is all about, what your goal is, what you want it to do and what you want it to look like, then you are on your way!
2. Find the style of website you would like. Would you like to design it yourself with no knowledge of html? How about using grand Content Management Systems to have full control of your content and choose out of hundreds of thousands of templates? Or have someone design your site! All works. Just make sure it is all that and a bag of chips compared to your competitors.
3. Either contact your choice of web developing company or web hosting. (Take a look at our article on what web hosting companies to choose for your website building programs.) If you choose wysiwyg editors, choose wisely among the choices. If you choose to have a custom design ask questions, be sure they know their stuff. Your web hosting company or developers will thus help you set up your website.
When Choosing Hosting Company: I recommend Godaddy for purchasing domain names. Do not use Godaddy for Content Management Systems. Site 5 is usually good all around for web hosting.
4. Start building your content, mapping out your website. Planning is essential. This is the 20th century, your website is the storefront now! When starting to build a website, it is important to ensure that your site is laid out nicely, it is organized, has a lot of information and is straight to the point.
5. Apply everything to your site and start advertising. Don’t forget to check over for any errors! Now, start advertising!
Some things to keep in mind:
Here is a short list of things to keep in mind when starting to build a website. These are essential for your success of your website.
1. Keep your content to the point, informational and professional. You can have some fun with your content however! The websites that succeed now a-days are those who blog and have a lot of content. If you want to really stand out against your competitors and not just solely rely on personal marketing, blogging and your website’s content will help you out. These technique are also known as SEO (search engine optimization) and Social Media Attractive. If you have content that is to the point, informational and has the right popular keywords, your bound for success. For example, say your company is one that builds swimming pools. You would want to have content that allows your potential customers to learn how to take care of pools. You would want the content to be meaty, contain facts and filled with keywords all throughout the post that most people would search for in Google. (Be careful not to spam your post with repeating keywords!)
2. Social Media Attractiveness. Make people love you. Allow social buttons to live in your posts and websites. When someone finds something interesting on your website, people will tend to recommend it to their friends on facebook. This is a huge thing to have!
3. Cheaper is not better! There have been many clients who think they can cheap out on a website and be successful… This can be true in some cases, however they could be more successful. Keep an eye out for prices and what you get for your buck. There are programs out there that you can get awesome websites for reasonable price. If you really need to take your websites seriously, it’s recommended to stick to the traditional sense on hiring a web developing/designing company to do the work. Unless you are savvy with design, typography, html, css etc and you really want your website to be a step above your competitors, hiring a developer is a must. Think of it this way: this is the 20th century… The website is the face of the company. It is a must to be better than your competitors and up to date with the technology and functional.
4. Dont’ forget the mobiles! Will your audience be using their ipads, iphones, etc? Make sure that if your audience is tech savvy, that your website is viewable by mobile devices. This is the new wave of technology I just mentioned. If you want your website to stand out, and have a more wide range of functionality, ensure that your website can fit in mobile devices. You can even use this as a marketing tool!
Starting a website can be simple… sometimes too simple.
There are tons of available options out there that will help you build a website. Some of them make starting a website very easy. However, watch for those companies that promise you an awesome website at a very cheap price… those websites often look disgusting. Too simple, too 1990′s, they catch people who don’t know how to build a site or where to start. Here is a short list along with links to our posts of different types of website programs that help you start building a website:
1. WYSIWYG aka (what you see is what you get)
2. CMS (Content Management Systems)
3. Predesigned, selected templates
4. Custom Design Work
Don’t forget our services! We have been more affordable than traditional web development. At Render, we design WordPress websites and mix it in with traditional web development techniques. With custom web design, and you being able to handle your own content, you receive best of both worlds. Mobile friendly, SEO friendly, affordable, time efficient…. we think we’ve got the recipe for an awesome website correct! Contact Us Today for free quote or just to talk!
