The first step in any implementation of online presence, whether it be a new website, social media or even a new product, is to determine what you actually want to achieve from having it.
Planning a new website - what to do before you even think technology!
Who, what and how
Before you even think about developing or commissioning a website, make sure you have a business plan! Your business plan will have clarified:
Choosing a website style - Blog or Not?
Once you have defined your goals for developing a website, you can choose the delivery model i.e. is a website or a blog right for you? Although a blog (which is short for 'web log') is actually just a website, it does have some differences in writing style, layout and features:
Developing your own website
Is it possible to develop your own great looking, functional website that will get you found on the internet? Yes! There are generally two options for developing your own website – Template systems and Content Management Systems.
Analyse a competitors website
When you are thinking about developing a website, it is a good idea to perform some market research - in particular competitor research. There are a number of tools and techniques you can use to identify how competitors of yours have optimised their websites for success.
First steps to website design
Developing your website structure will help you figure out what content you need to create and will also help your website developer to understand your requirements better.
Top 9 Things to Optimise on Your Site for SEO
There is a huge list of things you can do to optimise your website for search engine optimisation (SEO) - which is effectively 'things that help people find your website'. Here are the top 9 that most people with a content management system (CMS) can do on their own to help enhance 'organic' (as opposed to paid) SEO: