Nowadays, it is really easy to set up a website. Your average teenage sons or daughters may be able to create one for you.
The key is to build an effective website, one that can add value to your business.
Here is the steps to build an effective website:
1. Planning. In this stage, you would consider:
- Why do you build a website?
- What information do you want to include on your website?
- Who are you marketing the website to?
- How often would you update your website?
- Are you selling products online?
- Where do you want to host the website
- What domain name would you use?
2. Design. In this stage, you design ways to:
- Accurately describe your product and services
- Make it easier for your customers to navigate your website
- Brand your business
- Structure your content effectively
- Present text, images and other multimedia elements.
3. Develop. This is the coding stage. You will need to consider:
- Coding website in industry standard web development
- Coding your website for different type of internet browser and computers
- Coding your website so it load fast
- Integrate a Content Management System if required
4. Implement. In this stage, you:
- Buy your domain name if you haven’t done so in step 1
- Buy a web hosting
- Set your domain name to point to your hosting
- Upload your website files and database files
- Activate your website
5. Marketing. This is the stage where you promote your website. You may wish to consider:
- Online Marketing such as search engine optimisation, directory submission, online media promotion
- Keywords optimisation so that your website can be found easily by your prospective customers
- Offline Promotion: include your website on your business card, tell everyone about your website, etc.
6. Maintenance. You will need to consider:
- Keep your website up-to-date so your customers know that you are in business
- Update your website if your products or descriptions change
- Are you using Content Management Systems to speed up updating process
- Renewing your hosting and domain name.