Launching a website is easier than ever. However, if you’re new to the world of website creation, it can be an overwhelming process.
There are a few key focal points to prioritize when launching a website. Here are the five essential considerations to keep in mind while creating your online presence.
Table of Contents
Domain Registration And Hosting
Domain registration and hosting are at the crux of your site creation goals. Your domain name should reflect your brand or the offering you plan to provide. If you have a business name, try to have your domain name reflect it as closely as possible. If you need inspiration for a business or domain name, play around with Name Fatso for inspiration.
Consider choosing a hosting service and website platform before registering your domain name — unless you have reason to believe it may be in high demand. Most hosting services also provide domain registrations, removing the need to transfer or connect your domain and simplifying the process ahead.
Site Purpose And Needs
Clarifying the purpose of your website and how you need it to perform is a crucial step before choosing a platform. No-code site builders like Squarespace have a lot of helpful features and a simple user interface that suit most needs. However, if your website needs extra customization and integrations, consider using WordPress instead.
Determining your needs will also help you decide if you need a developer to help you. If your website is intended to drive transactions, it’s worth hiring a developer and copywriter to craft it.
Design And User Flow
Consider how your user should feel and behave when they visit your website. Your site should be in alignment with your brand, which should reflect your target audience.
When designing a user flow, the goal is to minimize friction. Make it as easy as possible for visitors to click through your website and get back to where they started. Add several action buttons throughout the pages to reduce scrolling and strike while the iron is hot.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is the bridge between your content and Google. Google crawlers read through website content to determine its relevance to specific queries. For example, if you search “Short hair inspiration” you’ll see several blog posts pop up; it’s SEO that determines in which order they’ll appear.
Getting on the first page of Google takes a long time and targeted effort. Yet, many website owners put SEO off until later, which means the efforts take even longer to catch on.
Take some time to research SEO as you’re creating your site so you can put a plan in place from day one.
Cybersecurity And Protection
Cybersecurity and protection tend to get put on the back burner when creating a website. There’s an erroneous belief that only large websites get targeted by hackers and cybercriminals. In reality, these individuals are opportunists looking for the easiest target, which tends to be the little sites.
Invest in ample security and monitoring to keep your website safe. Schedule daily backups in the event a data loss should occur. This simple act could save your website one day
End Note
Creating a website is easy, but it should be done with planning and intention. Keep these core considerations in mind as you design and execute your website launch.
