Building a new website can be a daunting task. There is a lot to think about. From functionality to content to site maintenance, there are many things to consider. Here are 7 things to keep in mind as you work on your web project.
Define Your Audience and Goals
What is the purpose of your website? Are you selling products or sharing information? Who are you trying to attract to your website? The design, functionality, and content on your site will depend on your goals. Spending time at this stage will help you determine what core functions need to be included and what design would work best with the type of visitors you want to land on your site.
Needs vs. Wants
If you are using your site to sell products, then you will need a shopping cart and a way to process payments. If you are a professional designer, then you’ll need a way to show your best work. Before you start building a website, make a list of all the features that your site must include, and a separate list for things that a nice to have. This will help you focus on ensuring that your site will help you achieve your goals. It’s a great way to prevent your site from becoming over-complicated and expensive to develop.
Professionally Designed or DIY
Are you comfortable using a content management system? Or do you plan on having someone update your website for you? Updating your website yourself is a cost-effective way to keep your site fresh. There are many DIY web development solutions including Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress. You can also opt to have it professionally designed by a web designer or developer.
Updating Your Site
Updating your website yourself is a cost-effective way of keeping your site fresh. But it can be intimidating if you don’t know where to start. Platforms like SquareSpace and Wix make it easy for you to create new pages, update content and make tweaks to your site to improve performance. Another option to consider is building your site on WordPress. The WordPress content management system is user-friendly and easy to learn.
If your plan is to have someone else maintain the site and make updates, then make sure whoever you are going to hire is familiar with your CMS, and is available upon request. You don’t want to have to wait for days for simple updates because your webmaster is busy or worse have your website crash because they don’t know how to use the CMS properly.
Secure Your Site
Give your visitors peace of mind by getting an SSL certificate for your site. An SSL certificate encrypts data shared between a web browser and the webserver. It is used to decrease the risk of sensitive information such as credit card numbers, passwords, and usernames from being stolen by hackers. Some sites without SSL certificates will be blocked from corporate networks due to strict cybersecurity protocols. Other ways to keep your site safe is to
Develop a Content Calendar
Keeping your site up to date can be challenging. Having a content calendar will help you keep track of when and what type of content to post on your site. It can be a simple Excel or Google spreadsheet or an actual calendar. Writing things down will help keep you accountable and make things more real.
SEO
So you launched your website. Now what? You have to help people find it. Search Engine Optimization will help you show up higher in search, make your pages easier to find and lead to more traffic. SEO requires continuously tweaking to make it work for you. Set aside some time to do it and it will pay dividends.