Do you know what it takes to start a business website?
Checklist
- Planning
- Research
- Structuring your site
- Choosing a domain name
- Choosing a hosting provider
- Choosing a web designer
- Adding content
- Promotion
- Maintenance
Planning
Planning will help you set your goals. Try also to spot the pitfalls and the opportunities for your business idea.
Research
Do some research to find out the feasibility of your project. You could also learn from others experiences, ask general questions in forums, talk with people, etc.
Website Structure
Start thinking about the structure of your website. What sections and features will be required and how content will be grouped and managed.
Choose your Domain Name
A domain name will be required for branding your business website. It will also help you to build credibility. You will be using it for marketing and promotion. Your company name should be your first choice, but if it's unavailable, try something related to your activity. Keep your domain name short, pronounceable and easy to communicate.
Choose a Web Designer
If you are serious about starting a business website, you will have to find a web designer. I'm assuming you don't have enough experience in web design. Concentrate your efforts defining required features and providing the roots of your site structure. Define your target market, and the services and products that will be available to them. This information will help your chosen web designer to make decisions about the appropriate backend for your project, your web hosting requirements, colors, graphics and fonts to use on your design.
Choose a Web Hosting Company
With the help of your web designer, you can find a good hosting company for your website. He will be able to guide you about your minimum requirements, based on the features he will need to implement your design. Remember that support and reliability is very important.
Adding Content
Once you have your site up, you will need to start adding content. If you have provided some initial content to your web designer, you can skip this step. A CMS can be very useful when it comes to add, edit, remove and organize content.
Promotion
You will need to drive visitors to your site. You can submit your site to the most important directories and search engines like Yahoo, MSN, Google and DMOZ, fees for including your site can apply. Also you might need a budget, to buy advertising for branding purposes and to drive targeted visitors to your site.
Maintenance
It's very important to have your information up to date, so you will have to dedicate some time or assign a person or a group to maintain your website.
Author: Edgard Durand
http://capmex.biz/web-design/business-website-checklist
