A guide to creating and optimizing your first website

So, you want to create a website? With some help, you’ll be on the web in no time. There are multiple steps to creating your first website, some of which I didn’t quite understand when I first started. Over the years, I have created and maintained several websites for various businesses, and some of them were simply blogs for fun, to reach out to others, and have conversations with people outside of my immediate circle.  

First things first

Choosing your website name might be easy or it may be pretty difficult, depending upon how much thought you’ve given this. I can’t say there is a right or wrong way to choosing your domain, but there are a few different tips that I can offer to save you some stress down the line.

  • Grab a pen and paper and jot down any possible names that you like, you can also make a list of descriptive words that may go into the name of your brand. Once you have a healthy list, you can head to the domain websites and check to see if your desired domain names are available.
  • If you plan to do business over the phone or in person, you will want to be sure and choose a website name that is easy to say as well as easy to hear. This is important because if you plan to grow your business through word of mouth traffic, you want to make sure that your business’ name is being passed around correctly. This is also a slippery slope for those who use unique spelling for their brand, if you need to spell out your business’ name, you might want to rethink it (unless you always have business cards on hand, then you’re all good there.)
  • Don’t choose a name that is too close to another brand’s name, especially if you two will be competitors. This is an easy way to give away your potential customers, which is never a good thing.
  • My own personal tip – before I buy a domain, I make sure that the website, perfectly spelled is available across the current social media platforms (instagram, facebook, etc.) I register those before I purchase the domain so that I can make sure that I don’t have to worry about someone else using my business name.
  • Make sure that your brand’s domain is being spelled correctly. I have heard of a few people who have created a website, only to realize later.. That they made a big mistake. Sometimes, this happens and the only reason the domain was available was due to the spelling error, that there is another company out there with the correct spelling, which could land you in trouble later on.

Next…

You will need to decide which company you’d like to host your website. This is a part of the process that I think you’ll want to invest a little bit of time into, although it is the step before the fun really starts, it is an important part of your journey. Web hosting companies are not all created equally and they can impact your site’s ranking overall. You will want to go with a reputable brand and read the fine print. Some things to consider when shopping for hosting include;

  • Does it come with an email address? More than one? If you have a team working on your website, or you have multiple points of contact, you may need more than one email address. An email address is quite standard with most hosting companies, however some will only offer one address on their basic plan. One thing I can say is that having your own dedicated email address from your website looks much more professional than a standard @gmail address.
  • I can talk about anything on my website right? Wrong! For example, websites that talk primarily about certain controversial topics are not eligible to have their websites hosted by a handful of companies because it either goes against the company’s beliefs, terms of service, or other various reasons. This is unfortunate for those who unknowingly pay and attempt to have their site hosted, only to find out later that it simply won’t work out.
  • Uptime – If your site will bring in heavy traffic, you definitely want to be online and ready for visitors. Some hosting companies may charge less but at the end of the day, if your site isn’t online very much, what is the point?
  • Dedicated Server? Or Shared? – A dedicated server is necessary in some cases, such as websites that have a high amount of traffic (think, Target or Walmart.) or utilize a large amount of resources like videos and things of that nature. Shared hosting is ideal for blogging or review sites with a small amount of resource consumption.

Finally

Okay you’ve gotten some very hard parts out of the way, next you can install WordPress and begin designing your website! Installing WordPress is fairly easy and only takes a few minutes. In fact, the entire process is named “the famous five-minute install.” simply head to wordpress.org and find your way to the installation guide.