4 Simple Steps To Start Up Your Website Today

 

 I started my first website back in 2013, and I can remember how horrible it was as a beginner then. Thankfully today it's MUCH easier to get a website live. You don't need to know a thing about coding or servers, thanks to web hosting companies like Bluehost and WordPress.

To create a website, you need to follow 4 basic steps.

1. Register your domain name

Your domain name should reflect your products or services so that your customers can easily find your business through a search engine. Your customers may also expect your domain name to be similar to your business name.

Your domain name will also be used for your email address. While you can use a free email address such as hotmail, sending emails from a business address looks more professional.

To register your domain name, you will need to find an accredited registrar and pay a fee. Accredited registrars are organisations who are authorised by auDA, the Australian domain name administrator, to provide services to people who want to register a new domain name, renew their existing domain name, or make changes to their domain name record.

2. Find a web hosting company

You will need to find a web hosting company to get your domain name on the internet. Most of the major internet service providers offer web hosting services. They can also provide you with multiple email addresses.

Monthly fees for web hosting vary depending on how large your website is and how many visits you get.

3. Prepare your content

Think about what you want your customers to be able to do via your website. This will help you work out what sections or pages you want to include. Consider what information or transactions your customers will want and make sure the site is structured to make it easy for them to find and do the things they need.

Just as you might hire a professional to design your site, you might also want to consider hiring a professional to write and structure your content.

A website that is well designed and easy for customers to use will help your business stand out. Having relevant and appropriate content and images will help customers understand your products and services and will make them feel comfortable with buying from your business.

4. Build your website

You can build your own website or have a professional web developer build it for you. Websites need to be kept up to date, so make sure you plan for ongoing maintenance.

You can use a website publishing package to build your own website. These are similar to word processors, but also have inbuilt features to convert your text and images to web content and send it to your website.

Having someone else build a website for you is a good idea if you're new to online business. A professional web developer can build your site quickly and provide guidance on successful web design. Hiring a professional can be particularly useful if you are looking at having an online shop or offering other services through your website.

You will need to design your website so it can be easily used on smartphones and other mobile devices. Optimising your website for mobile use means that the growing number of people using phones and tablets to access the internet can use your site while they are out and about.

Check out next post to see more about how you can increase your website traffic and improve your search ranking (search engine optimisation).