Copyright © 2013 Romany Thresher

What you need to know about setting up a website

Part 1

Having a website is a fantastic marketing tool for you and your business. Every brand personality, entertainer and most business should have a website. It is a representation of you and your business. It is your shop window and a place to send people to, to find out more about you. It gives people the opportunity to get to know you and to see what you have to offer them.

Do I really need a website?

What if I cannot afford a website?Personally in my opinion in today’s world one should always have a good computer, internet connection and a good website. Think of the real world for a moment. You go to the shop to buy the products you need. You go to an office to meet up with a consultant, lawyer etc. Now you will have a virtual office or shop being your website.

People are looking for easy and convenient. Make it easy and convenient for your customers to do business with you. If you do not make it easy and convenient, you will ultimately lose their business to competitors who are making it easy and convenient and this includes brands and entertainers.Can you afford not to have a website?

What if I cannot afford a website?

Which place would you go and eat at in the above image?

Presentation is key! We do judge a book by its cover! If you look cheap and nasty you will attract cheap and nasty. If you look like you mean business, you will attract other people who mean business.

A domain name works the same as your street address and it would look like this www.mydomain.com or www.mydomain.co.za or .org .co.uk .eu etc.

This is the address you will use when you want to send someone to your website.

What is a Domain Name?

www.romanythresher.com

Your domain name is like the title deeds to your property make sure that it is registered in your name and NOT someone else's

Where and how to register a domain nameRegistering a domain name is very easy. There are many places you can register a domain. However a specific domain extension can only be registered in a certain country or region.

E.g..co.uk can only be registered in United Kingdom.co.za in South Africa

My recommended domain registrars

www.godaddy.com for .com .org .net .tv .mobi and many others

www.namecheap.com for .co.uk and .eu and many others

www.easy2access.co.za for .co.za

In my opinion I would not register my domain name at the same place as you host your website. This can prevent any potential conflicts if you decide to move your website somewhere else. But this is a personal choice.

What is the difference between a website

and web hosting?

Think of web hosting like a piece of land that you rent. A space on the internet

Your website is the shop office that you are going to build on the piece of land you rented at the webhost

A good standard web hosting package should cost you no more than $12 a month and should include the following:

Good Basic Web Host Package

Unlimited Domains or at least 5 or more allowed in your package

Unlimited MySQL databases, unlimited disk space and bandwidth

24/7 Support

Unlimited Email Addresses

WordPress Installation

Back up Support

They all offer much more but not going to list it all in this presentation. You must decide what is important to you.

If you want to make use of lots of video, graphics or audio then you will need a much more powerful hosting plan and you will look at paying around $30 or more.

There are other hosting options for people wanting a secure server, or maybe a dedicated server.

This is very IMPORTANT!!!

When you sign up you must ask for your Cpanel andFTP login details. A lot of web developers don’t like giving you this information, saying that it is for security reasons.

You paid for the hosting therefore you have the right to have access to the product you bought.

Types of Website Platforms to develop your website

Html Dynamic Website

If you want a very specific type of style, look, feel and functionality then the best solution is to build your website using a web developer.

Limitations: You will need to be dependent on the web developer making changes for you so choose one you feel comfortable working with.

Expect to pay a premium for this type for website.

WordPress

WordPress is a good platform to use to build your website because it is user friendly and gives you the ability to change your content as and when you need to. WordPress is also a very powerful blogging platform and it’s mobile friendly.

Search Engines love WordPress. It integrates well with social media and there are plenty of useful plugin features to help you achieve the results you want.

I would recommend that you invest in paying a WordPress specialist to set it all up for you and to also design the look and feel.

Limitations: Can have some design limitations but overall it is more than sufficient for most people.

Read 10 Good Reasons Why WordPress

Other open source optionsThere are plenty open source options on the internet. The other 2 most popular products are Joomla and Drupal which are also good for developing your website.

You need to decide what’s best for you, based on your goals and objectives.

Limitations: You may not find a web developer knowledgeable in these platforms. These platforms are not always user friendly.

This article here explains it really well and worth looking at before deciding which option you want to go for.

Website in a boxWix, Wozaonline, and most of your web hosting companies offer aWeb in the box option.

Websites in a box sites are generally very cheap and you get what you pay for. In my experience a lot of people start here and end up being very unhappy and spending more than they bargained for in the long run.

Limitations: Generally these products are designed to only work with the product’s software and there can be limitations when you need a web designer’s assistance and more often than not the core files cannot be edited.

In most instances a web designer has to start from scratch.

In-House Agency Platforms

While these can make some great websites it can come at a very high price and not something I would recommend.

Limitations: In-house agency platforms come with many limitations. In most cases your website look and feel can only be customised by an agent in-house. You can have design limitations. In most cases you are unable to edit your own content you are completely dependent on the agency.

This can be an extremely costly experience and in most instances if you want to move to another web developer you will have to start from scratch.

They also do not allow you to have access to your FTP or Cpanel which you may need at some stage for other puroposes like uploading audios or having a Blog or even having an additional website.

Choosing a Web Developer

Choosing a web developer

As we niche in our industry web developers have their specialist areas. Some are Drupel developers, Joomla developers, WordPress developers. It is good to find out which platform they specialise in to help you make an informed decision as to whether the web developer and the platform they design in is a suitable solution for you.

Choose someone you feel comfortable and someone who understands you because it is going to be a very long relationship going forward.

Choose someone’s whose style you like.

Choosing a web developerYou must communicate clearly to your web developer what you want and give them all the relevant information you need them to have to give you the results you are looking for.

The biggest hold up for web developers are clients who do not give them the content or information they need to get the job done.

The majority of web developers are not business owners

Web designers build websites based on the information you give them. Their job is to build you a good website. It does not mean they know what’s the best website solution for your business and how to design a website based on your business and how your customers connect with you.

Do not expect this of them. It is your responsibility to do your homework. Speak to an online specialist or brand specialist or someone who can guide you through process and “no!” it is not your mate down the road who recently had his website designed.

Doing it yourselfNot all but Most DIY websites look very amateurish, it really does. First impressions count.

Avoid trying to develop your own website unless you are a developer or you are a creative. Rather save up some money and have a professional help you to design your website.

A professional website does not cost a lot of money these days and in more likely than not will be worth the return on investment. You can lose a lot more business by looking amateurish.

Your time is best spent marketing your business, looking for new clients and servicing existing clients.

While the web developer is developing, you can be networking.

And finally the end of part 1…There are 3 main elements of designing a website. The look and feel, the content and the call to action.

Unless you are a creative and have a good eye for it, then don’t do your own look and feel. Spend the money if you want people to take you seriously.

The copy, I cannot begin to tell you how many people think it is not worth spending money on getting good copy written. This is such a big mistake especially if you are not a natural writer or don’t have the talent for it. CONTENT IS KING! We’ve all heard that saying, so why is it that most people fail to spend money on ensuring the content communicates to the intended audience?

There must be call to actions on your website. What do you want people do to after they read your page?

Contact Me

If you would like us to help you develop your website using

WordPress contact me: romany@romanythresher.com

Connect with me on any one of the social networks below.

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