Thursday, June 7, 2012

Building a Website: Five Easy Steps to Get Started

As the internet takes center stage in our lives both for commercial and domestic purposes, learning how to start a website is crucial. Educational institutions, business organizations, nonprofit organizations and private practitioners have all considered creating websites to increase their online presence and expand their potential. Websites differ based on the type of business in operation. To start a website one needs to understand the prerequisites of website building. Here's is how to start a website.

The popularity of websites is probably because of the ease of creating one and its benefits to a business. It does not require any special skill or technical expertise and instead proves to be a self learning process. You can also create a website at a relatively low cost. The steps given below will ensure a hassle free website building process.

1. Web hosting:
Web hosting plays a significant role when learning how to start a website. When you create a website, it has to be hosted to become available for public viewing. The first step on how to start a website is to look for a company that offers web hosting services. This company will host your website and other web pages for a nominal charge or either free of cost. You can also choose from the types of web hosting services such as free web hosts, standard, dedicated, virtual or shared hosting.

2. Choose an appropriate domain name:
If you want to start a website, you can either opt for a domain name or even proceed without it. But, it is advised that you buy a domain name for your website. A domain name gives your website a better name and identity. It also helps people to remember the URL to your site easily. The reason why people don't want to buy a unique domain name is on account of the cost. You can get free domain names as well. A short domain name is better for memorability. Strengthen the domain name by adding a popular keyword.

3. Website planning:
Proper planning is important before you start a website. Ask yourself two important questions "What is your business about? Why are you creating a website?" This will help create a website that suits the requirements of your business and accomplish different business functions. There are types of sites- blogs, reference sites, news and sites that function as stores. For the last, you may need added features like a shopping cart and paying options. Therefore, plan the layout and content to be included in the website.

4. Website designing:
In the entire process of how to start a website, designing a website requires a lot of thought. When creating a professional website, you can seek some professional help so that you can create an effective and appealing web design. You can build your website on the lines of other similar websites. The content should be apt and precise and the sites should be easy to navigate. Visitors will not come back to the site if they do not find relevant information. A website should be made interactive.

5. Publish, promote and maintain your website
After you have finalized the design of the website and it is all ready to be set up, contact the web hosting company. They will host your websites using the available tools. To drive traffic to your site, you need to promote the site. You can do it through search engine optimization using content rich in keywords. Continue maintaining the site by updating the content displayed on the site.

Now, that you are aware of the basics on how to start a website, create an attractive website and change the face of your business.

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