HOW TO SETUP A WEBSITE (3 min read)

So, you’re curious How to set up a website. Here are some basics and things to consider. Bold terms are going to be placed into the glossary once it is built, I am still working on that as of March 2018.

To set up a website, The first thing to figure out is what the goal of the website is.

1. Marketing
2. Brand Experience and Interaction
3. Entertainment
4. Conversions
5. Sign Ups
6. Sales
7. News/Blog
8. Combination / More than one objective

Once you have the goal decided upon, the next thing to do is find a domain name that is one of the following:

1. A brand name
2. A keyword name
3. A fun name/memorable name
4. Company Name

Make sure all of the social media accounts can be registered as well, they should match the domain, or be as close as possible to stay away from brand confusion.

1. Will you have a developer available?
   1. YES
      1. Custom Platform
      2. CMS
      3. Static
   2. NO
      1. Hire Someone
         1. Can you code it yourself?
            1. YES
            2. Custom Platform
            3. CMS
            4. Static
         2. NO
            1. Hire Someone
2. Buy Hosting, based on your needs
   1. Get Hosting Yourself
      1. Big Sites need Big storage space and better processing
      2. Small sites need less space and less processing
      3. CMS uses more space than static/custom (usually, in the long run)
      4. Shared hosting is slow, has security holes, and spam-punishment spillover (advice: stay away from shared, get VPS at a minimum, save yourself the headache – if one person on any domain on the shared hosting gets spam blocked, your site goes with it until the host or yourself appeals it with a positive result, it’s annoying.)
   2. Hire Someone
3. Configure Your Email
   1. Make some email templates for your “noreply”, and standardize your email signatures
   2. Install DKIM at a minimum
4. Get Your SSL
   1. Use Comodo, costs money
   2. Use “LetsEncrypt” (some hosts have this built-in, you should ask, it’ll save you about 200 bucks a year, unless you are selling products through your website. If you collect credit cards do not use LetsEncrypt, they have no insurance included in their SSL license, Comodo does – I suggest letting someone walk you through this part if you don’t get it, it is critical.)
5. Configure the domain on the hosting side
   1. Use only non-www or www, not both unless they are 2 different websites
   2. Add security
   3. Add your CMS or start coding
   4. Graphics, video, images, text
      1. Learn about SEO
      2. Read about Device compatibility
         1. Implement what you’ve learned
6. Backlinks
   1. Link all social media
   2. Use open graph technologies
   3. Use analytics to find areas needing improvement
   4. Encourage sharing, or buy ad space on blogs
7. Share Ideas
   1. Collaborate
   2. Write
   3. Videos
   4. Social Media
      1. Engage
         1. Interact
      2. Connect
         1. Grow

There are the basics – ping me if you would like to chat, I do free consults.