If you’ve never gone through it before, the process of having a website can seem daunting and needlessly complicated. On top of that, some companies spend lots of money on marketing without really giving out information that would help the customer, dangling pretty race car drivers in front of you, while offering a low level of services for a high price and keeping you in the dark about how it all works. Here is what you need to know to have a professional website:
But first, a word of warning. Never ever enter into a relationship with an internet agency or service who promises an “all-in-one” solution. Yes, they will take care of it but they will own your domain name, they will control your hosting account, they ultimately will own your web traffic. If that relationship ever goes sour, or that company goes out of business you risk losing everything. Make sure your domain ownership especially is under your name, this is an asset of your business that you don’t want to risk.
Pick a domain name. Brainstorm… but all the good words really are already taken! Test some names to see if they are available. If you’re seeking a unique word, there are lots of brand name generators on the web, sometimes these deliver silly results but can help get your brain in gear.
You must purchase your domain name, once you find one that’s available. Here you should know that there’s a difference between owning a domain name, and having a hosted website. As an example, you may want to own 40 domain names related to your business, covering all the variations and keywords. You have to purchase all 40 domains, but you probably only need one website. One of your domains will have a hosting account associated with it, 39 of your domains will be “pointed” to that one url that hosts your website. All hits to all 40 of your urls will funnel to the one website.
The good news is that most domain registration sellers will also sell you hosting, sometimes in a nice price package. Do the research, compare what the companies offer… you want to have a relationship with them for a long time. Yes, you can transfer registrations and move websites, but this is fraught with down-time and potential loss of web rankings and web presence.
If you like dedicated personal service, you may want a local re-seller at a slightly higher rate. Often these folks live in your community and have a wealth of knowledge and experience in technical areas and programming that can come in handy. Very rarely are they professional designers, however.
At this point you have a domain name, and hosting space reserved. Your url is active, but when you go there it says “Under construction, please check back later.” This construction analogy is helpful: You’ve bought the land (domain name), you have an address (url), you have a builder’s permit (hosting account), but there’s no house (website).
Building the website: often your hosting control panel will offer SiteBuilder services, or you saw an ad for a do-it-yourself solution. As a professional designer, I encourage you to try those things! Go for it! You’ll either be happy with your result and won’t need me, or you’ll realize why you want to hire me to do it right. Back to the analogy: you can build your house yourself, but should you? Is that the best use of your time? Is the learning curve worth it to you? Have you built a house before?
So you’ve poked around with SiteBuilder and at first you’re proud, but in six months you’re humbled and embarrassed by your home-brewed website. Someone tells you his nephew is a computer geek and will build you a site. You pay this kid $80 and you get a flaming logo and your site launches to the sound of a dragster racing down the strip. Having the skills to make cool things is not the point.
Let me be very clear: the internet is for everyone and all levels of use and communication. The internet should be fun. But, if you take your business seriously, you’ll want your website built by a professional designer, not someone’s nephew, and not by the programmer your sister knows. Using our analogy once again: you’d want your house professionally designed by an architect and not by the electrician. Yes, I’m sure the electrician has seen a lot of houses, and has some interesting ideas, but your professional electrician will give you amateur design.
Summary
- purchase domain name
- add hosting services
- hire a professional designer