The 5 Key Things to Consider When Building a Website
by: Jurnell Cockhren
The majority of people are lost in regards to what they need or want in a website. Given the trends in our current digital age, we base a company's legitimacy on the appearance of their website. With the emergence of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, we have expectations on the usability of a company's website. As visitors and users, we have developed notions on how websites should cater to us. But what happens when we are the ones that now want to provide the masses with a website? You must be thinking, Where do I even start?. Don't worry, everyone is having or have had that exact thought.
Below are 5 items to guide you when considering building a website.
1. Website Goals
What are you trying to achieve with a website? Yes, that's hard question. Below are a few examples on how to answer it:
- E-commerce (you want people to buy products/services from your site)
- Blogging (Community building, informing the masses on a finite set of topics)
- Information (A place for general business information)
2. Domain/Branding
Your brand is everything. This applies to both individuals and large corporations. Usually, one of the first steps to taking control of you brand identity is to get a domain name that fits your goal. The domain name should be as specific to the service you're rendering or just listed as your business name if you have one. As a general rule, non-profit organizations use .org domains while other ventures use .com, .net, .co, and others.
3. Befriend some that owns a website
Before shopping for hosting companies and web development agencies, it's a good idea to talk to someone with some experience building websites as a profession, or at least have been in your shoes when setting up their own website. Usually, people will refer you to the tools and services they've used to build theirs. This cuts out a lot of the guessing in the next steps.
When composing your list, I suggest breaking your list down into the following sections:
- Visual appeal
- Content organization
- Ease of Use
This exercise not only allows you to conjure the power of lists, but also forces you to analyze websites you normally visit. You'll begin to notice various elements of those sites you'll like to see on your own. Don't forget to make notes!
5. Gather Content
There's a saying in website design, Content drives design. This means that the organization of content and the visuals themselves should complement to textual information you're putting on your website. For example, if you’re wanting to sell jewelry, then the names of the pieces, pricing, order information, and creators are important pieces of content. With that said, it behooves you to have images of jewelry or people wearing jewelry on your site.
Now you have an idea of the needed areas of focus when considering building a website. Feel free to jump into the comment section below. Reach out to email us to keep us informed of your process!
http://sophicware.com/blog/things-to-consider-when-building-a-website/
Resources
- www.vetswhocode.io
- Tech Inclusion Nashville Conference
- Change Catalyst
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