Tips for Clicks - Getting Started - First Steps to Launching a Web Site





*Getting Started*

First Steps to Launching a Web Site!
Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy
- Norman Vincent Peale

Step One
Register Your Domain Name
You may decide to begin designing your web site before considering which resources you will use to publish your web pages, but clearly the first step in publishing is to decide on a domain name. This is the web address typed in, or bookmarked in a browser used to visit the respective site on the Internet. The process of registration involves a number of choices including the name, a top-level domain extension (.com, .net, .org, .ca, etc.) and a domain name registration service.

Step Two
Design Your Web Site
This step seems to be the most arduous challenging your creative, graphical and writing skills. The content and design of your site should consist of an ideal balance between text and graphics. Spelling, grammar and accuracy will lend much credibility to your site. Fundamentals of good design include consideration for ease of navigation from one page to another. Interactivity is becoming more popular in web design. Interactive components include guestbooks, opinion polls, feed back forms and tools like currency exchange calculators. Web site technology continues to grow influencing more people to consider have their site developed by professional web design companies. Your decision to design or own work or hire a company should be directly related to your own knowledge of web design, the nature of the web site and the level of technology you feel should be incorporated into your site. Many decide to work at their own pace and rely on some level of professional consultation. The design of your site should change from time to time and at the very least include updated content, encouraging visitors to not only return to your site but to rely on it as an integral source or reference.

Step Three
Select a Web Host Company
This step will often be included in Step One. Registering a domain name requires particular information associated with the pending web host company. Registered domain names are usually visible to the Internet. Many registration services and web hosting companies will "park" your domain name until your design work has been completed. The web hosting industry is competitive. A good rule to keep in mind is simply that you get what you pay for. If it sounds too good to be true, it just may well not be. The nature and size of your site are important factors of consideration. Any requirements for a fair amount of interactive components, customer support, amount of traffic, access for uploading and secure hosting for on-line purchasing are all areas to consider wisely. Once a web host company has your domain set up you will be ready for publishing your web pages.

Step Four
Promote and Market Your Web Site
To gain a strong presence on the Internet there is much one can do to promote a web site. Submissions to search engines, banner exchanges, reciprocal links, other media advertising, inclusion on business cards, stationary, invoices, statements and signage are all very effective.

Step Five
Enhance, Improve and Update Your Web Site
These endeavours are ongoing. Branding is a vital marketing objective and a fair degree of consistency is paramount, but beyond that, updating, improving and enhancing will only improve your site, attract steady and increased traffic and avoid stagnation You may discover that in time adding interactivity accomplishes a higher degree of functionality allowing for more communication and participation with your web site's visitors. Such functionality can include on-line shopping, visitor surveys and submission tools. Such improvements present a higher level of professionalism garnering more trust from your visitors. See also Web Marketing.