Creating a website can take longer than you expect. It’s best not to cut corners when designing a website. Proper planning of how you want the website to be done can go a long way.
Oftentimes, I get clients who “just want the site to work” and “want it fast”. If you are hiring a developer, you can eliminate the waiting time by having your content, images, product description, etc. ready for them and have a design layout in mind.
So you’re ready to build a website? These are the things you might want to consider before building a website.
What is the ACTUAL purpose of the website?
Creating a website can be really fun and easy with many web building platforms currently available online. These tools can make your website great depending on the purpose it is for. The main question you have to ask yourself is if the website is just a blog, a website for information or if it will be a platform for you to sell your products or services.
Anyone can create a content website. It doesn’t require as much time and money. The most important aspect of such website is to keep the content interesting and generate a good amount of traffic. You can earn a good cash flow if you know how to monetize it properly by publishing ads from ad services such as Google Adsense.
E-commerce websites can be a little tricky as it requires some maintenance and proper settings for shipping, tax, inventory and invoicing. Website with many features can take some time just to set up as they require a learning curve which might be steep.
Who are your audiences?
When building your website, you need to take into consideration who it really is for. Write down the demographic of your audience. Will it be for male or female? What is their age group? What are their interests? Which country are they from?
This information will make it easier for you to determine the layout of your website and to target the appropriate target for your site.
Is your content focused?
Content-writing can get quite addictive and it’s fairly easy to get carried away. Though a site rich in content is encouraged, do try to stick with what your website is meant to focus on. Don’t spread yourself too wide or give your users too many options.
Have you done your keyword research?
It is very important that you determine what people will be typing into the search engines to find what you are offering. There are many tools that can help you to choose the best keywords based on the number of searches they have generated.
Take advantage of the many tools that you can use to make it easier and more precise to find the right keywords.
How are you marketing your website?
Once you’ve finally gotten all the above figured out and you’re done setting your website, it’s time to market your website.
Different social media platforms usually cater to different groups of an audience and your niche could sometimes be doing really well on a certain social media but not so much in another.
Also, consider creating a mailing list. Mailing list gives you the opportunity to send newsletters to keep your users up-to-date and also allow you to re-market your products to them.
