Well begun is half done. You want a website? Read here what you need to know and prepare before launching a site, whether or not for your business.
First, take the time to consider:
- why you should have a website in the first place
- who you want to target
- What do you offer and how do you want to present it?
In this way you will create a good basis of fundaments and goals, which will help your brand and customers whilst your business can grow.
Your site should be:
- Visitor centred, provided with complete and correct information, activating
- Attractive yet readable
- Accessible: human, browser and device friendly
- Secure: all websites are pretty much under 24/7 attack
- Fast: you will lose visitors if the loading time is longer than 3 seconds
Create:
- A website address. Keep in mind that mistakes can be made when typing.
- Domain extensions (.net,.com,.org,.nl, etc.) are used for different purposes and target groups. Read more on Wikipedia.
- Decisive factors are availability and price. Secure the address quickly: when the domain is already in use, the costs can be enormous. The first year this can often be done for a few euros.
- Web hosting: compare on accessibility, speed, sustainability, price.
Furthermore:
- WordPress.org is free website software. Beware of bulky plugins or themes
- Think about the colour palette: colours and their meaning
- Your special wishes or requirements, something you've always wanted on your website.
- Look at your competition and which mistakes they make
- Cookies and privacy legislation: info
- Companies: what information should legally be shown at a website info
Personal checklist before launching your website:
- Spelling and other language errors
- Per page on completeness
- Remove unnecessary, duplicate or dummy content. Less is More
- Check the information on all your social media profiles
- Testing links, icons and forms.