How to create a website?

Building a website involves multiple key steps

1. The communication aspect which is translated by your graphic charter, your texts and your images.
2. The technical part:
   1. Which host will you choose?
   2. Which CMS will you use?
   3. Which site builder do you want to use?
3. Security: a site needs to be secure, especially when you are selling online.
4. Backup: no matter the size of your site, it is important to have an automated backup protocol.
5. The life of your site whether it is for a showcase site, service delivery, or online sales. A notion of recurrence is to be taken into consideration to make your website live.
   1. Setting up a blog requires regular publications.
   2. Selling a product requires a management of shipments.
   3. Selling a service requires the management of appointments and services.

Prioritize these concepts before website creation

Let’s start with the texts, photos and graphic charter.

For many people, this aspect is not a priority and yet it is the basis of your website design. You can have the best web designer, he will not be able to do anything without your texts and your pictures. Your texts and photos will have an impact on the way you present your business. And therefore on the design of your site.

A very simple example to understand: you don’t create a site for a restaurant the same way you would for a psychologist

1. Write your text, because only you know exactly what you want to sell or what you want to put forward.
   1. Writing text is difficult for you? There are people specialized in writing content for the web, do not hesitate to ask me for contacts via this link.
2. Concerning your photos, many sites use royalty-free photos, but very few respect the conditions of use of these photos. (Insert the photo credits in a place on the site).
   1. To highlight your activity, it is important to have a photo budget and to find a professional photographer who will be able to highlight your service, your image, your product.
   2. Think of highlighting yourself: a profile picture on your website will reassure your customer.

Make a map of your site

Imagine arriving in a city you don’t know and having to go to an address for an appointment. Of course today you have GPS to guide you, but long before you had GPS people made maps and plans of this city.

If GPS is your web designer, it needs your site map to be able to guide you through its creation and to guide your clients through its operation.

Yes, making a site map of your site is very useful both for the person who will design it and for you. Through your site map you will be able to define the menus, the number of pages, the legal notices, everything that is necessary to build your site.

And believe me there’s a lot to think about.

1. Home page
2. Contact page
3. The Legal Notice page
4. The page of the General Conditions of Use
5. The page of the General Conditions of Sale (if you sell)
6. The management of the Cookies
7. One or more pages for your services.
8. One or more pages for your products with descriptions.
9. A blog according to your activity (This becomes necessary for SEO)
10. And of course depending on your activity, there will be other additional pages to add.

Here is an example of a website plan made with xMind.

On the pages you will also have photos to insert.

The advantage of having a plan is also to have better cost management. The price of a website can vary depending on the number of pages, I invite you to discover my offers.

Follow me for the next episode…

Francis