Every business seems to have a website these days but quite a few have a website that standout. Developing and designing a good website is not as easy it may seem. Developer could make you a basic website but it would fail to capture the purpose without marketer and graphic designer attention.
I believe that taking care of some key point before you embark in your website journey can help you develop a functionally rich and aesthetically beautiful website.
In this article I am going to discuss 20 key ingredients that will help make your next website project a success, of course we cannot cover all the 20 point in one article so we are going to break the article in three series.
First and most importantly;
1. Domain
I believe that there are no hard and fast rules when selecting a domain name but you still need to stick to some basics to avoid a disaster.
Your domain name should suggest the nature of your business or product, it’s important for your website traffic to get an idea about your business by the domain name. Also the right keyword in your domain name could help your website in listing above in search engine result page (SERP).
In the current digital era, your domain name is the foundation of your online brand. Hence, our domain name should be ultra-creative, memorable and easy to recognize at the first glance.
2. Hosting
Before you start searching for a reliable hosting provider it’s necessary that you start off with listing your specific requirements. Some of them may include;
- What kind of website are you building?
- How much traffic/visits you are expecting in next 12 months?
- Will you need a special version of software?
Evaluating your requirement will give you a better idea of what hosting plan would be most suited for your web presence.
Hosting plans are generally categorized in 3 categories;
- Individual Plans: Most affordable and suited for small size businesses. These plans provides support to single domain and may limit the feature and data bandwidth.
- Dedicated Servers: If you anticipate your growing needs than you may consider upgrading to dedicated servers. Dedicated servers provides you with better speed, data storage, reliability and support services. This plan price vary from $100 to $200 a month, price will vary based on the features being offered.
- Resellers Account: If you have several website that you are looking to manager than you will have to look into reseller account package. Reseller packages normally ranges from $10 to $25 per month
Conclusion: Before choosing the hosting service always check for service reviews and client testimonials. Things can get worst when you or your client website is down and you are unable to contact customer service.
3. Technology
Choosing the right technology can make or break your web project. Most developers are left confused whenever a new project lands on their desk.
Choosing the right technology for your next project will help you ensure that you do not take up unnecessary technical debt.
Steps to Choosing the Best Technology
- Understand Project Needs
It’s important that the team understands actual client goals, sometime the client have very little details and clarity on how to go through the solutions. Always try to understand the pain points that we are trying to solve through the solution. - Breakdown the Requirement based on Modules
Once you have all the project details, break it down into different modules from planning point of view. Some team’s plans to implement too soon which make them skip many small but important business considerations. It’s best to do everything on a design diagram. - Identify the Type of Business Solutions you are Trying to Provide
Once we have all the basic project needs as well as the business solution we are trying to offer we will be in a better position to choose the appropriate technology for web project;- If we are looking forward to use website for online transactions or product transactions at a large scale and if the primary source of revenue will be earned through online sales then it’s an e-commerce project
- If we have large volume of information we want to share through our website then choosing the CMS system would fulfill project needs
- If your questions have not been answered yet then you probably want to develop a custom solutions. A custom solutions is normally acquired when we want different components of our project produce unique output that basic system would not allow.
4. Purpose
Do you have a strong purpose for your website or are you developing because everybody have on?
I always emphasize on the purpose for the website whenever I meet business owner with strong drive to develop a website. Asking some basic questions can help us develop a better website;
- What value will my business will add through a better website
- What is one new thing that I am offering through a website
- Why should any of my customers come to visit my website instead of my competitors
What action you want your website visitors to take when they are on your website
So what do you want your visitors to do when they land on your home page?
- Once option is to offer them your monthly newsletter so that we can keep them updated with our work
- Purchase our product/service
- Contact us for product/service details
- Engage in conversation on our content
These are few goals that we can set up for our website as a challenge. But then you need to measure your result to improve, optimize and track your progress.
This is part one of three part series article.
This article was originally published on 7Design blog.
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