Your domain name may feel like one of the easiest steps in creating a website, and it’s true. Choosing a domain name is as simple as seeing if your choice is available and purchasing it. That being said, you may want to put a bit of thought into your domain name before you purchase it. It is after all how people are going to find you, refer to you, think of you, and brand you. In short, your domain name can help build your company and brand or it can inhibit your company’s growth.
So a logical question might be, how do you choose a domain name that will help your company? The answer is to make your name easy to spell, easy to remember, unique if possible, and to do your absolute best to try to get your keywords in it. Once you have a domain name choice, your next step is to register it. If it isn’t available you can offer to purchase the domain name from the person who owns it or come up with a viable alternative.
2. Choose a web host.
This is important because you want to choose a host that will have very little downtime, that will have competitive rates, that is easy for you to use and that will be available to answer questions when you have them. Another thing to look at are the features the web host offers. Some hosts offer all sorts of ecommerce features including shopping carts, forms, Ezine management and design, autoresponders, digital product delivery and more.
Consider the needs of your website before you sign up with a host. For example, if you plan on having a forum on your website and your host doesn’t offer forum building and management features, you will have to find a way to integrate forum software into your existing program. It can be done but it is an extra step. Additionally, if you want to blog, it might be useful to find a host that already integrates blogging features into your website.
Price is obviously a concern for many starting businesses, however hosting isn’t generally very expensive and there are free hosting options now with Google and other open source hosting services. They may not have the features you’re looking for, however they are cost effective.
3. Navigation structure.
Before you begin creating your website, it is a good idea to grab a pencil and paper and flowchart your website. What is your navigational structure going to be? What pages will you have? How will your internal linking structure look? A general rule of thumb is to never have any page more than three clicks away – it is cleverly called the three click rule. Once you have a navigation structure worked out on paper, then it is time to begin looking at the design of your website.
4. Design.
There are a number of factors that go into a successful website. They include:
• Logo. Logos are an excellent tool to brand your image. It may be worth the time and money to hire a professional to create a logo that you can take with you on every piece of marketing material you have.
• Colors. The colors of your website will want to reflect the tone of your business. For example if you have a website related to nature, food, gardening, or health then the colors you might choose will be greens and colors that represent freshness. Conversely if you sell products that are of a more adult nature, then maybe you want to use saucy reds and blacks. Consultants and professionals tend to stick with cool colors.
• USP. aka Unique Selling Proposition. What is unique about your business? A unique selling proposition will tell others what is unique about your company while at the same time promising a benefit. For example, the famous M&Ms USP, “melts in your mouth not in your hands.” Spend some time brainstorming USP ideas. Test a few if you’re uncertain.
• Type of website home page. There are three basic types of home pages. Splash style pages, ad pages, and tabloid style pages. The differences are as follows. Splash type web pages generally have a large graphic and an invitation to enter. A ad page will generally have a sales type headline, a lead in section of copy, and a navigation bar with the major buttons. A tabloid style page has multiple headings and multiple text blocks. To determine what type of style would work best for your site consider your audience, examine your competition, and consider the purpose of your site.
• There are a few important factors to keep in mind when designing your website. Your website must be appealing and easy to use. A website must be easy to read, which means no flashing graphics or pictured backgrounds. Make it easy for people to read your website by using standard Ariel or Verdana font in black. Consider placing a form on your website to make it easy for customers to contact you. keywords
5. Optimization.
Keyword research is important to your search engine ranking. The higher your ranking, the more visibility. Search engine optimization for your web pages is a three point process. Incoming links help your ranking, keyword optimized content improves your rankings, and optimized pages. To optimize your web-pages take the time to find keywords that will generate the most demand and have the least competition. Include your keywords in your title tag, your domain name if possible, your headings, subheadings, and in your first paragraph. Also consider optimizing each page for a different, but similar keyword.
Your next steps, once your website is up and running is to market and promote your site. There are a variety of tools to use to get started including content, advertising, email marketing, networking, and promotions.
