Sometimes getting a new website launched can take weeks or longer before everything comes together. When you finally click the publish button it can seem like an absolute Miracle!
Here are some of the basic steps you will need to consider.
The Domain Name
The Hosting and Background technical support
The Email set up and Contact Information
Design, Colors, Look and Feel to represent your niche.
Content Creation – Images and Copywriting.
Ongoing Editing and Updating
Q. What do you need your website to do for you or your business? Is the content something that changes many quite a bit over time or something where the information is rather static.
Q. Is the website itself an integral part of your business or does the website exist solely to market your business?
The answer to the above question is often not considered. A business person is good at their business function. They spend most of their time looking after their business and the people they employ. Can they also look after the online presence effectively or do they need to outsource or hire someone to work within their company to take care of this?
More businesses are finding that they are now running two companies, one brick and mortar and the other online. How long would your business survive if no one was there to help customers when they walk in? Well, the same situation is now occurring in the online functioning of your business. This is a whole area that would need a few blogs to explain!
A Brochure Site: If your business offering will cater to many of the same things over and over again. You may want a website that works more like a traditional brochure site. That said, you need to update at least some portions of your site regularly. As well as change the whole thing at least once every two years so that it will not look outdated.
Consider a website similar to a show window. If you did not change your window for passers-by to reflect seasons, trends or new things, how many people do you think would stop and look? After a while, it would become so known that it would not look new or interesting anymore.
Remember website styles do change year after year and a website that has not had a major re-make in more than a year can look dated. This can potentially lose your customers interest in you.
A Multi-Action Site: If your business runs events or has items like sales that need constant updates, you may want to have a very different kind of website with altogether different functionalities.
If you are trying to let people know about events or what you have done over time, a blog site with additional static pages may be the answer for you. Previously, event pages were set up and changed on a quarterly or annual basis with minor updates close to the event dates. A blog can be the most current way to keep your followers up to date along with the use of Social Media posting.
Content Creation
Whether you are considering your online presence for the first time or as an update for an older site, one of your first considerations will be about content.
You may have heard that in the online world, Content is King. That is true. It used to be that with a few well-placed keywords in your copywriting along with a few graphics and a few photographs plus the correct SEO you could have a winning website. With all the changes in search engine optimization, SERPS, Chats, Bots, and Social Media, ads, lead generation, paid ads, etc. etc. where in the world do you start?
After working on content creation for websites since 1996 I have seen so many things change for our clients. It is like the pot is slowly heating up and no one is noticing.
We all have so much more to learn these days to bring our online presence up to 2020 standards. From what I hear there are ever new changes coming in the next decade that will decide the fate of your business and your job. Let’s start learning and putting new ideas into practice today…
There is hope though, like the rainbow that promises sunshine tomorrow, sometimes all it takes is a little tweaking of direction and you are off and running again.