website guide for beginners

You like to browse the web a bit and use email but you never thought how all of this comes together.

This is what you need for you website:

1. Domain Name (URL)
To put it simply, it’s your “address” on the web. Domain name is the text name corresponding to the numeric IP address of a computer on the Internet.
E.g.: URL: "http://www.yourbusinessname.co.uk" and Domain name: "yourbusinessname.co.uk"
Every domain name ends in a top-level domain (e.g. .co.uk, .com, etc.). You would need to think about whether you do international business, or would mind if someone else reserves the “.com” of your chosen name.

2. Web-Hosting / Web-Space
On top of purchasing a domain name, you also need web space and a web-host. Web hosts are companies that provide (web) space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing internet connectivity.

It’s a little bit like saving a word-document file on to your computer. Instead of
saving the website-file onto your computer, where no one else other than
you could see it, the files would be saved on the web host company’s
computer (server) to be seen worldwide.

3. Website
Is the presentation of your business/product, saved in an electronic
(e.g. html) format and created by a web site designer like me.

4. Structure & Text
In order to fill the design with life it’s essential for you to sit down and
think about how you would like to present your business. There is no one
that knows your business better than you; its strengths, its selling points
and where you are better than everyone else.

I do offer a copy write service to help you to highlight your best features and
present you in the best possible way. But of course you can do it yourself as well.
Here are some tips on how you can make the most out of it:

• Start with deciding the site structure
• Number, contains and name of pages & how they are linked together
• What message you would like to bring across and who is your target audience?
• What is your unique selling point and what separates you from your competitors?
• Ask people who aren't familiar with your product - what would they look for if they would search it.
• Use easy words your future customers may not be familiar with the terminology of your business.
• Try to write short descriptive sentences and don’t overload the page with text.
• When possible show it with pictures, diagram, tables etc.