The internet provides an important element for the success of a vast number of businesses; driving and enabling everything from product promotion to review capabilities and providing the public with a means by which to purchase company products and services. It’s therefore vital for a business to create and maintain a high-quality website.
However, for many businesses the early stages of creating a website are also the most difficult. Perhaps you’ve never created a website before, or you simply don’t know what a successful business website entails? Regardless, rest assured that there are numerous resources available to you; not only to guide you through the preliminary steps of creating a successful website, but also in getting the site up and running - and maintaining it.
To set up a commercial website, you’ll first need to register a domain name and also buy some web space, which is essentially a home for your website’s files. Both can be provided by a webhosting company. Next, you’ll need to build the website itself. This takes the form of a set of web pages and images that combine together to make the website. However, there is a process to achieving each of these steps.
To register a domain name, for instance, you’ll first have to check that the name you want is available. Once you find a domain name that is available and appropriate to your business needs, you’ll need to register it - a service that costs about £10 a year, depending on the type of domain you register. Typically a .com domain will cost more to register than a .co.uk domain.
While choosing your service providers, remember that while there are many companies you can register your domain name with; many organizations choose to register their domain name with the same hosting company that provides their web space.
A sufficient amount of hosted web space can cost anywhere from £200 per year to £200 per month, with shared hosting being a more economical option and dedicated servers costing a little more. However, in choosing which type of
hosting is right for you, you'll want to take various points into consideration; for instance, uptime and security. If these features are vital to your website’s operation, it might be worth investing that little bit extra towards the use of a dedicated server as opposed to shared hosting.
Once you’ve taken these important initial steps, you’ll need to create content for your website. Again, there are many tools to help you achieve the content you want, and a number of resources that can make the process simpler and more rewarding. Website graphics are also important, as they give site visitors a set of visuals with which to associate your products with your brand. Once you’ve created your content and images, you can upload them to your web space.
However, while the steps to setting up a website seem simple enough and potentially can be achieved by almost anyone, many individuals will choose to hire a specialist to design and maintain their site. Even so, it comes down to business owners to decide how they want their site to be set up and to decide upon an overall feel and look for the site.
So, whether you plan to build a website yourself, or to hire someone to do it for you, it pays to equip yourself with basic knowledge regarding the requirements of setting up and running a business website.
Andrew Regan writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
