When you begin you business, you must also think about designing a start up website. It is important to have an online presence of your business. In this post we shall discuss some of the key decisions that you will have to make before designing a start up website.
- Objective & Budget: First and foremost you need to be very clear about the reason for building a new website. Is the new site going to be the primary channel of your business? Determine the target audience of your new site and your design preferences. Preferably put these down in writing – this will help create clarity of thoughts, and you can use this as a discussion point later if you want to hire a web design professional for designing your start up site. Once you have identified the reason for creating a new website, you need to decide on the budget and timelines available.
- Finding a Domain Name: The domain name of your website is also an important parameter that decides the kind of traffic that the start up website will attract. You would need a professional name for your start up site and you may need to purchase the domain name from someone who already owns it. However, keep in mind your budgets for the site and do not allocate a disproportionate chunk of it in obtaining the domain name alone. If your domain name is already taken, be creative and use workarounds such as adding symbols like . or – or even adding additional letters to the initial idea.
- Web Design: The website design, but it is best to adhere to certain ground rules such as small images, simple and easy to read fonts and font colors and a three column layout. Also keep in mind factors such as cross browser compatibility when designing your web pages. Selecting a web host is also important as the web host must be reliable and offer uninterrupted services.
- Site Content: The content of your start up website must be both user friendly and search engine friendly. For this, make sure that your content is informative, keyword-rich and well written. A list of relevant keywords must be made before content writing for the website.
- Hiring web design professional: Before hiring a professional designer ask for a sample of his web design work, preferably in an industry similar to yours. Also, consider pricing, prior experience and client feedbacks before choosing your designer. You can also purchase ready to use design templates and do it yourself. Another option is to use free website making software that are available such as website builder. Be sure to finalize this before you embark on the journey of creating your new website.
