Tips for Starting a Website

We often get asked the question, who do I start a website or how do I get my business online? That is pretty easy question to answer, but there is a lot that goes a long with that. So here are some things you should do to start a website.

1. Know What You Want. Before you are able to start a website, you need to know what you want on the site. Browse around at other websites that are similar to what you want to do and jot down some ideas.

2. Purchase a Domain Name. A domain name is your www address, the name that people type browser to find you, the url. For example, davoproductions.com is our domain. There are a ton of websites that you can buy domains from. They are pretty cheap and a charged on a yearly basis. Most companies will give you a free domain name for a year if you sign up for a hosting package (we will get into what this is in a minute). If you decide to hire someone to build a site for you, do not let them buy the domain for you, they will own it. You will need to purchase this on your own to keep ownership.

3. Purchase a Hosting Package. A host is the company that handles where all you web files go. In order to have a site with pages, images, those files need to be online. That is your host then points your files to your domain. Anyway, when you go onto a companies’ site you see so many options for different packages. If you are starting a site, you will need a basic package. Then there is the option for Linux or Windows. Most websites run on Linux, so that would be the safer option, but if you are working with a designer, they may prefer Windows if they are running ASP.net for example to build your site.

4. Gather Content. Once you have your domain and hosting, it is time to start gathering your content. If you need to get photos taken, bios written, color schemes identified, now is the time to do it. You can gather things up in word documents or pdf’s.

5. Hire a Web Designer. You may be thinking, I can build a website myself. You may be able to, but why hire a caterer if you know how to cook or a photographer if you know how to use a camera? Same thing applies for the web. Companies like us do this for a living and know the ins and outs of web design. You may be not want to spend the money for a designer, but most companies like us are willing to work with you on your budget, trust us. If you have the above items in place, your designer will be able to bring to life what you want to do. That’s our job.

6. Advertise. Once your site is up, you will need to let users know the site is out there. You can advertise on Facebook, through Google or Word of Mouth. Search engines do a good job of picking up keywords your site has, but some times you need a little bit more.