Setting up a website can be a formidable task. There are many who will help you for a tidy fee, but using others to set up your website is the second best solution for building your website. Why?
* No one else has your vision, and others cannot duplicate your vision.
* Others are not as concerned with controlling costs.
* Creating your website gives you creative control.
* You can make changes when new techniques and information is presented.
* You will make your website as simply as possible, and believe me, simple is better.
* You will be in control of your website. If you always depend on others you will never really control your website. (Unless you have plenty of cash to spend.)
Don’t get me wrong. There is a time and a place for professional web builders and programmers, but you need to have enough knowledge of your website to know what you want and what you need. If you don’t have that knowledge you will never be satisfied with those helping you, and you will be a great frustration to those who try to help you.
You can’t build a website in a day…and your website will not be perfect. Don’t expect it to be. Building your website will take time and patience, but anyone can do it.
Believe it or not, you do not have to know HTML to create your website. There is software on the market that can be purchased reasonably which is very good. I know…I use such a product.
What steps do you need to take before you create your website?
Plan your website. Know what you want to accomplish with your website. Read as much as possible on website design. Don’t be in a hurry. Building an effective website will take some time.
Plan the type of content you want to use on your website. Seventy to Eighty percent of all content on the internet is written content. A website with good content will grab more visitors than a website with poorly planned content.
Domain Names
A domain name is an important part of your internet storefront. It is your calling card. It is the name that most people will remember. Choosing a domain name is an important part of website design. A well thought out domain name is invaluable. Create a domain name that describes your business. The following is an example of a procedure someone might use when choosing a domain name.
A person named John wants to start a paper supply business. A domain name might be – johnsbusiness.com BUT johnspapersupply.com would definitely be a better choice. If John guarantees fast service he might use fastpapersupply.com or maybe speedypapersupply.com. John might even hyphenate the domain name to improve readability like speedy-paper-supply.com.
Use a domain name that is easy to remember. Don’t try to use misspellings of a more popular site’s name. It’s not professional and it simply doesn’t work.
Take some time to choose a name that describes your business, and check with a domain name licensing company if that name has already been used. When you find a good domain name license it immediately. I prefer to use a dot-com or a dot-net extension because they are the most common Domain Name extensions, but others are available.
Domain names usually cost between $10 and $15.
Note: It’s best NOT to purchase your domain name and your web hosting from the same vendor. If you want to change web hosting at a later date you may have problems with your domain name if they are purchased from the same vendor.
Website Hosting
A website host comprises the physical computers where your website resides and the software to provide compatibility with your website building software and the internet.
Several Key Considerations when choosing website hosting are:
Does the web host guarantee 99.9% up time? It doesn’t matter how professional your website is if your visitors can’t access your site. Nothing is more important to your success than your website being online.
Does the web hosting provide a statistical package? The web hosting I use features the “awstats” statistical package. This feature is invaluable for analyzing visitors, content, keywords, website productivity, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Does the web hosting provide a cgi-bin directory to allow auto-responder setup? The phrase “the money is in the list” is quite true. It is crucial to be able to build your list through the use of an auto-responder.
Does it provide a money back guarantee?
Good web hosting can be found for less than $10 per month.
Easy Website Building Software
Believe it or not, you don’t need to know HTML code or hire an expensive website designer to create a professional looking website. There is very good full featured software on the market that can be purchased reasonably.
When choosing a software package asking the following questions will be helpful:
- Does the software provide a core set of home pages?
- Is it easy to edit pages?
- Can you insert raw HTML code into your pages? (Does it let you insert “Buy Button Code” or “Auto-responder code” directly into your page?)
- Is it flexible enough to grow with my business?
- Can I use it on multiple websites?
- Does it come with a money back guarantee?
- Is it inexpensive? (less than $50 one time cost)
Other Website Considerations:
This article can’t address all possible needs of new website owner. But the following are areas that should be addressed by any internet businessman.
- How do I market my product or services? Will I need an auto-responder? Is Article Marketing cost effective?
- How can I track my marketing results? (Keyword tracking and sales tracking software)
- What graphics and photo editing software is available?
- Do I need a business suite software?
Building a website doesn’t have to be a formidable task. Determining your domain name, website hosting, and website building software will help you take great strides in building your internet empire.
Copyright 2010 J-me