How to Create your Website
There is a lot of mystery regarding the internet and the process that clients need to go through to create a web presence. If you have a project and are considering contacting The Internet Works for an estimated cost then can we recommend that you read this page as it will hopefully explain the process in plain English.
Domain Name – The domain name or URL is the address/name every website needs so that people can find your website on the internet and log on. Your website address should be easy to remember and also be related to your business. Your domain name or website address will also be used to submit your website to the major search engines.
Web Hosting - Your website will also need to be stored on a web server. A web server is basically a high specification computer that runs 24 hrs per day. When potential customers log on to your website, they are also seamlessly connecting to the server which downloads your pages to their computer.
It is vital that the server is reliable. Reliability is measured by uptime and downtime, the higher the uptime the less lost business. It is also important that the server can cope with potentially high numbers of visitors connecting to it at any one time.
Web Design – Is the process of making the content presentable to your target audience. It is important that visitors to the site can quickly and easily access the required information. The design should present the content in an intuitive manner, making effective use of typography, colour, layout and site organisation. There are also legal issues to consider when designing the website. You have to ensure that you comply with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
The design is usually undertaken and approved before any of the Programming or hard coding is started. It is advisable to give the designer a written brief you can both refer to as the project progresses.
Content - The content on your website is one of the most important aspects and should be given a great deal of consideration. If possible it is advisable to provide the majority of the content prior to the commencement of design as this will help the web designer get a good understanding and insight into your business and can also have a big bearing on the eventual design solutions produced.
An existing company website or brochure is a good place to start. We also advise that your website be content rich, as this helps in ensuring your website is well ranked in the search engines.
Images – If you wish to use images on your website you may be asked to supply the original or a good quality copy of the image. Images are best provided in digital format. The images you use may be your products, your company logo or general photographs. Remember it is an offence to use images that you do not own or have a valid copyright agreement to use.
Search Engine Optimisation - Normally known by its acronym SEO is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to your web site from search engines. Usually, the higher a website is presented in the search results, the higher the website "ranks" and ultimately the more searchers will visit that website.
Without SEO, your website will never get found and will never gain any sales. The Internet Works can carry out a marketing audit to assess the effectiveness of your current website SEO, looking at how search algorithms work and what people are searching for.
Websites that effectively use SEO have the optomisation built into the web site at the development and design stages. The term "search engine friendly" is be used to describe a web site that been designed to be easily accessible by the search engine.
Search Engine Submissions - Once your website has been built and optimised, you will need to go to each of the major search engines to tell them that your site exists.