Jan 16 2008
Need Website Help? Starter’s Guide To Building a Website
I’m guessing the reason you are here is because you need some sort of help creating a website or fixing up your current website or something related to Internet marketing. When you decide to create a website for your business, there is a list of things you should know that will help save time and get a better idea of the entire process and what is involved in getting a website up and running. This list refers to a basic website and does not include more complex websites such as e-commerce websites or content management systems. Although e-commerce and CMS’s are websites, they are much more detailed and complex and require much more planning on top of a basic website and what we discuss here. SO, I can tell the tension is building up so let’s get on with our list.
What’s Involved In Building a Website?
You need a website concept. You must first have a reason to build a website. It might be a website for selling your paintings or it might be a website to provide information about a certain topic you are an expert in or it might be a website about your personal lifestyle. Whatever the reason, you must first have a website concept.
You need a domain name. Once you have your website concept and you are ready to move forward, you will need a domain name. A domain name is the address of your website and should be somewhat descriptive of your website concept. For example, our
domain name is www.NeedWebsiteHelp.com. This is descriptive in what we do and helps potential users and web traffic get an idea of what the site is about. A great place to get your domain name is www.GoDaddy.com . Just do a search for your desired domain name and www.GoDaddy.com will tell you if it’s still available.
You need a website hosting account. This is an account that makes your website work. Simply put, all of your website files and images will be stored on this account. There are many great hosts including Blue Host and Host Gator . A hosting account acts as a suitcase for all of your website files, scripts, images and data.
You need to build your website (or have someone else build it). If you have any HTML experience, you can take a shot at this yourself. There are many great resources out there as well as NeedWebsiteHelp.com which you’ve already found! One website particularly helpful for learning HTML and other various programming languages is W3 Schools. They offer an array of free information with easy to follow tutorials. If you have other things to focus on and don’t want to build the website yourself, you can always hire a website design agency to help you out. Basic websites usually range anywhere from $400 all the way up to $3,000 and possibly more depending on what you are looking for. Complex sites such as e-commerce can cost in the range of $2,000 and up as high as you can imagine depending on the functionality involved.
You need content for your website. You don’t just want a blank website up there do you? Well, get writing some content. Show the user value with your content and grab their attention and you have a happy user and possibly a customer or client. So, put your thinking cap on and bust out some great content for your new website.
With all of the things mentioned above, you can get a website up and running in no time for minimal cost. This list is for a basic website. Many more steps can be added to this list but this isn’t the scope of this article. This is to give the small business owner or website newbie an idea of what it takes to create a website for the world to see.
On a side note, if you do run a business and don’t have a website up and running, now is the time to get moving on this. You can always start small and build the site over time. It’s like the old saying, “you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket!” Well, you can’t sell your products or services online if you don’t have a website either…which in some circumstances, could be like winning the lottery if you do it right!
Related Posts:
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.