Whether you are getting ready to set up a site for business or personal use, it is important to have a strategy in place. This site will represent who you are and be the hub for your users. The most important step in a successful site is setting it up correctly, which includes having a business plan and identifying who is your target market. 5 Mistakes People Make When Setting Up Their Website
Knowing who your users are will help you market towards them to increase traffic. If you are selling a product or service you will need to set up an e-commerce site for paying and shipping information. If you are setting up a personal site you will need to decide what features you require such as: photo galleries, video storage, and the ability to interact with your users.
Setting up a domain and host
A domain name is a personalized name that you give your website, it in turn points to a unique IP address. Your users will only see your site by the domain name that you have registered. Whether the site is for personal or business use, a website should have a unique domain name. Your domain name will make it easier for users to remember your site and gives your site credibility. Set Up Your Own Domain Name
- Set up your domain name through a domain register like domain.com. You will be able to search if the name you have in mind is available for registering.
- Choose a company to host your domain. This is who will keep your site up and running.
- Buy/register your domain name, which you can do easily through your host company. Or you can give your host company your new domain to begin the transfer.
- Build your website! You can choose a website builder through your host or use another website design program.
Helpful tips:
- Many host companies will include free domain registration when you sign up with a hosting service.
- Be careful when choosing a hosting plan, many companies will put ads on your site as part of their hosting agreement.
What is a CMS?
A CMS is the content managing system used to publish content (copy and images) to your site. Once you have made a change to the CMS and press publish, the change will be live on your site. How Does a CMS Work?
You can work within the CMS and preview your content before publishing, in order to make sure it is displayed correctly. It is a user-friendly way to make edits, add additional content and manage how you want your content to appear. You can also link to social media, and add contact information. Many hosting sites have a CMS that you can work with easily work with to build your site. You will be able to manipulate templates and design styles without needing to know how to code.
Holly Checchia 