BASICS OF BUILDING A WEBSITE
ANYONE CAN BUILD A WEBSITE…RIGHT?
It is true that anyone can build a website today with the pre-built templates and ‘website packages’ that companies offer. The website packages are very tempting with the offer of a free domain (with annual hosting plan), as well as including free images, free plugins, 24/7 support and instructional videos. All you have to do is complete the text, drop in your images and answer a few simple questions and…BAM…you have a website!
A FEW BASIC INGREDIENTS FOR BUILDING A WEBSITE
DOMAIN NAME
Your domain is your online address. Is it important for your keyword to be used in your domain name? In the ‘beginning’ of internet, the answer would be yes. Not so much today. Google is more interested in the relevant content on your site. You want a name that is easily remembered as well as relevant to your brand. It is ALL ABOUT your brand. Do I need more than one domain name? Possibly.
MOBILE FRIENDLY WEBSITES
A mobile-friendly website is a site that will reformat itself for handheld or tablet devices. With that said it will provide an optimal viewing experience as well as easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices. That is just the beginning. Are mobile-friendly sites important? YES! In April 2015 Google announced their mobile update called ‘Mobilegeddon’. The majority of searches are performed on mobile devices. If your site is not mobile friendly it is possible that you won’t even rank in search engines.
WHAT IS THE BEST PLATFORM TO USE
Choices, choices and more choices! Which one is the best for me? WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento…The list goes on.
WHAT ARE PLUGINS AND WHICH ONES DO I USE?
Plugins are ‘add-ons’ that are installed to the back end of your content management system that enables it to perform extended functionality. Themes come with basic plugins and depending on what you want your website to do you will most likely need additional ones. You will also need plugins for SEO and Security.
ARE WE DONE YET?
This is just the beginning…planning stages. Yes, planning stages. Thoughtful consideration needs to go into:
- What domain is best for me?
- Do I need more than one domain name?
- What content do I need on my website?
- How do I structure my website for ease of use?
- Can Google crawl my website?
- How do I know if I have a mobile-friendly website?
- If I have a mobile-friendly website, is it optimized?
- What is the best platform to build my website on?
- What theme should I use?
- What are the best plugins to use?
- Is my website secure?
- Which hosting company is best for me?
DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
I can help you ‘get it right’ the first time so you don’t have to spend more money starting over. Once you have a functional website that is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing…you need to get found.
I have been building websites since 2001 and the best thing I can tell you is ‘I LOVE WHAT I DO AND IT SHOWS!’
Let me put my expertise to work for you! Contact me today!