There are a lot of decisions to make when developing a first website for business.  This page was written to help explain the options on what’s commonly needed to move forward.

Getting Started

For a new website the best place to start is to review the top rated competitor sites in your industry. An industry assessment will give you an idea of the pages that are commonly provided for and the type of content each page will typically include.  After you’ve taken notes about what you like and feel is representative of your own business, we recommend that you outline your ideas in a simple, bulleted list format.  Keep in mind that it is never acceptable to copy the content verbatim from another site but you can certainly get ideas about what to say, just rewrite it in your own words and change it enough so that it reflects your business.

Web Development Platform Options

Websites are of two types, STATIC or DYNAMIC.  A traditional website is static.  It has individual pages wherein the HTML code for each section (header, body, footer, sidebar) is included on each page.  With a static site each page is edited directly using a wyswyg editor or in code view. The current web standard for static sites is HTML5, and the previous version was XHTML.

In contrast, a dynamic site stores all text content in a database and then renders the pages upon page load using a theme template (page parts). A dynamic site is commonly referred to as a CMS (Content Management System) since it includes an administrative access panel for adding content and making site changes.  A dynamic site is needed for blogs, e-commerce, visitor polls, forums and other content where users interact with the pages.  The most popular self-hosted CMS platforms are WordPress and Joomla.

Domains and Hosting

The domain (website URL) should be purchased by you. While many web developers will purchase the domain on your behalf, if it is registered under their name then they will be the registrant on file (legal owner) of the domain and consequently may choose not to release it to you. If you need a domain the most popular options are GoDaddy.com, NameCheap.com, and Domain.com. The most popular domain extension for business is .com, though .net is also a popular option when the .com domain is not available. For organizations .org is used, for government websites .gov is used, and for educational sites .edu is used. Some domain providers will try to up-sell you by suggesting that you need to buy variations of your domain name and/or the other common extensions (.net, .biz, .us, .co), etc. These are not needed for most businesses — only larger brands will need to purchase the variations to prevent piggyback domains. Keep in mind that most people will search .com if your extension is not known.

As with domains, the hosting company should be registered in your name. When you select hosting you will have two hosting server options — LINUX or MS WINDOWS. Linux is typically the best option since it is generally less expensive and it uses PHP, which is much more common for web development than ASP/ASPX which Microsoft servers use. For example, the CMS WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal all use PHP, so require a Linux server; and the majority of web contact forms only work with LInux.  With hosting there are a few options. The least expensive is “shared”, wherein a number of people share a block of space.  There is also dedicated servers which do not share resources, so are faster.  In the past a dedicated server was needed for SSL certificates (a requirement of e-commerce), yet this is no longer the case. Now, many hosting companies do offer a fixed IP on shared hosting, which is the cheaper option. There are also virtual/cloud servers. You can learn more about the hosting platform options at https://hostingfacts.com/different-types-of-web-hosting/ Recommended hosting companies are InMotion and HostGator, both which offer basic SSL without additional charge.  The better hosting companies include cPanel which includes PHPMyAdmin and other utilities to manage the site, including databases creation and backups.

We do not recommend that you use your ISP for hosting since very few provide full hosting access and often require calls to their support department to perform routine hosting functions.  If you intend to use GoDaddy with WordPress, it is best to use their cPanel hosting, not their managed WordPress hosting.  Yet keep in mind that GoDaddy charges for SSL, whereas many hosting companies provide it for free, and GoDaddy servers are slower than the industry average.

Website Content

If you choose to work with us, we’ll ask you to make a list of the pages that you wish included in the website; this is commonly referred to as a sitemap. Where possible please make a note about the type of content each page will contain — this is especially important for advanced functionality such as slideshows, galleries and portfolios, e-commerce (shopping carts), and password restricted pages. If you intend to have sub-level pages (drop-down menu links) please represent the top-level and sub-level page/s as you want them added to the menu.

Please note the images that will be available for use, and specifically if images will be needed. Images can be provided in all common formats, which includes .JPG, .PNG, .TIFF, .PSD, .EPS, .AI, and .PDF. For the home page slideshow the images need to be a minimum of 1900px width, and will work best when the focal content is centered since the edges may be reduced some on smaller resolution devices — especially with Parallax. We will size, crop, and optimize the images as needed for contrast and color correction. Images can be provided as email attachments, through a file sharing application (Dropbox, WeTransfer, Google Drive, etc), or by direct mail (CD/DVD). If images are needed there are many stock photo resources online, most which charge approx. $3-$10 per image. For your own images please ensure that they are of suitable quality; a digital SLR camera will typically provide better images than the camera on a phone. Where possible please provide the original digital image, not images added to Facebook or MS Word since both of these will add compression which lowers the quality of the images to reduce file size.  Image size and quality is especially important for images that are rendered large such as slideshows and full-size gallery/portfolio images. Images should not be taken from the web without permission.

Logos for modern websites are typically rectangular in shape and sized relatively small so as to display well in modern website headers. For vertically tall logos a layout with sidebar navigation or where the logo is centered is typically best. Image names should be keyword specific (not the digital file name) and include dashes or underscores between file names.

The text of the pages is best provided in MS Word, WordPad, or Notepad with each document named per the page it is to be added to. You can also provide text by email or PDF (rendered from a Word doc). Graphical text (using a scanner or similar) cannot be copied/pasted, so it not recommended. Please ensure that all text is web-ready (proofed for spelling, grammar, and completeness). Content to be linked to — PDF, Excel, Word Docs, etc should be named as you want them added to the site and should include dashes or underscores between file names.

Business Email

For domain specific email we recommend using an authenticated mail server such as Google Workspace (previously GSuite), CPanel webmail, GoDaddy Workspace email, or Microsoft Exchange email. These mail servers have very good security as well as spam protection. To work with a website contact form the hosting server needs to authenticate the email.  The email setup will require verification that you are the owner of the domain with the addition of records added at the hosting account (commonly MX Records, CName, and/or TXT).   If you don’t need a contact form then a Google email address that includes the domain name in the prefix is a good option.  For example: yourbusinessname@gmail.com.

Social Media

Social media options are many, for which Facebook and LinkedIn are enough for most businesses. If you intend to provide frequent promotions or write a lot of blog posts then Twitter is also recommended. For sites that are portfolio driven (artists and craftsman) then Pinterest and Instagram are good options. Houzz and HomeAdvisor can also be effective for interior designers and builder trades. That being said, it can be difficult to regularly maintain social media sites so we recommend starting with a couple of platforms and then adding more as your time management allows.

Review Websites and Testimonials

Review websites are important since they are often highly ranked (high authority rating) and as a backlink will benefit your SEO ranking. The two most popular review site options are Yelp and Google Review (Google My Business). Angies’ list and industry related review sites can also be important for some businesses.  Keep in mind that while Yelp has long been a popular review option it is known that they will hide legitimate reviews if a company doesn’t pay them their advertising fee.  We recommend that you focus your review efforts on Google, especially since the reviews are often displayed at the top of the local search results.

Testimonials are commonly added to web pages and can be added in a carousel format within a page, on a sidebar, or a page can be added for them. It is important to note the source of the testimonials so as to let your visitors know they are legitimate.

Blogs and Video

Blogs are a good option for many businesses since it allows you to provide information about your business and industry (especially useful for keyword targeting), offer promotions, share resources, and otherwise interact with your visitors. Websites with good resource content, especially changeable content, which a blog provides, will commonly rank better, be linked to, and be bookmarked which increases the likelihood of increased traffic and repeat visitors — an SEO ranking criteria. As noted above, blogs require a CMS platform.

Video is a great option if they are professionally done, and while a video can be linked to directly, the best option is to host it elsewhere and embed it into a page (YouTube or Vimeo). YouTube can be easily embedded to a web page or added to Facebook. We typically recommend creating a YouTube channel if you plan to include videos over time. It is important to include keywords in your video title and description for SEO benefit.

Directory Websites

Top ranked and industry specific directory sites are important since they provide backlinks, which in turn improves one’s SEO ranking. Popular directories are YP.com and Superpages.com. The best directories for a business/industry does vary some, so a good option is to do a name search of your top ranked competition to see the directories that link to them, and from this create a list of where to link your own business website to.

Security

Website protection is provided for in part by the hosting company and in part by the security plugin chosen and the settings on the website itself.  Keep in mind that CMS websites, like WordPress, are common malware targets since they require a variety of scripts that can be potentially exploited to hack the database.  In addition, hackers frequently gain access to a website if the hosting account’s email server is used (webmail) and the password is too easy or not secured properly.  In this regard it is best to use a password generator (lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols) and to copy/paste the password, don’t type it in in case there is a keylogger.  For CMS websites, the platform version, theme, and plugins will require periodic updates to provide routine security and compatibility fixes. To assist our CMS clients with security we provide a discount on maintenance updates, which includes daily security monitoring, plugin and theme updates, platform upgrades, and site and database backups (typically $10-$20/mo).

Website Tracking

After your website is online it is a good idea to utilize tracking tools.  Two of the best free options are Google Analytics and Google Search Console.  Site tracking will provide you the number of daily visitors, the number of pages viewed, the duration of the visit, their city/country, the device used (desktop, tablet, mobile), the referral link, etc.  GA tracking code can be easily added for most websites.  For GSC you upload a file to the hosting server, or verify your site by the domain. Both of these use your Google login. Bing also has a webmaster tools yet Google is still by far the most popular search engine so this is where your primary attention needs to be.

The Developer’s Role

I know that some people will question if they do in fact need a web developer? If you’re the hands-on type, and you have images ready for web use and a good idea of what you need to say, then there are a variety of free and low-cost builders that you can use, which include Squarespace, Weebly, or Wix.  The concern with the builders is that they only provide the framework, and many have limitations on what can be added and edited so won’t provide the flexibility needed to effectively customize the pages.

In contrast, if you work with us we evaluate hundreds of the best modern layouts to ensure that the one selected effectively meets the needs of the business.  We assist our clients with content development, we configure the settings, provide for SEO and security, and customize the layout to meet industry expectations while providing continuity with existing branding.  We then create the pages with consideration of what works best, while utilizing the best elements and features available.  When you hire a professional web developer you are getting more than a development framework, you are enlisting their expertise and experience on what is needed to ensure that your business is received well by visitors and can be easily found online.