Forum Moderators: mack
I've been developing pages for existing sites for years. But I'm now tasked with creating and launching a brand new site on my own. I've got a handle on the content development aspects but I know nothing about actually getting a site online.
Beyond registering a domain name and contracting with a hosting company, what other steps are involved?
I'd also appreciate any random and sundry tips you might want to share.
Many thanks!
Secondly, and related, remember that Internet users are fickle; if they are not perfectly happy with your site within seconds of arriving, they will leave.
These are kind of broad, but your question was also. I'll be happy to answer any more specific questions.
Kevin
In particular, I'm concerned about the basics of getting a site launched. Is it really as simple as registering a domain name, contracting with a hosting company and uploading the files? Seems too easy...
Of course you might like some people to come see your site.... that's where it get's a little more complex ;)
TIP: You are in the right place. Just read, read, and read some more...
Nick
Thanks again to Nick and Kevin for the input.
Here's a short thread you may find useful:
I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Started [webmasterworld.com]
2. Take every feature that requires maintenance and project it forward 5 years in worst-case scenario mode. Consider any trade-offs to limit it.
midori
There is some good advice here (as you would expect in these forums).
Like stated, building the site is easy, uploading is too, the nitty gritty comes when you need to optimise your site to get good rankings in the search engines. My advice to you is to build a very simple site to begin with. Keep the navigation simple and the loading speed quick. Once you conquer these then you can jump into learning web site optimisation using the site that you have built.
Do not jump in at the deep end and try to add all sorts of unbeneficial "extras" to your site otherwise you will be fighting the search engines for a higher PR. Oh, and stick to the rules... don't let anybody convince you that you can fool the search engines. The more friendly you are to the search engine the more friendly it is to you. Also, keep this in mind, its not just the site that needs optimising, your images need it too. If a site loads slow then basically it is easier for the navigator to click 'close' and then onto a quicker site rather than waiting for one to load. There are plenty of tools on the net to get you started.
A site map is a must, I use them all the time.
Good luck with your first site :)
Terry
The one thing nobody has mentioned specifically that will save you a lot of headache down the line is....
modularization (assuming that's actually a word).
What I mean is, use CSS and some scripting (e.g. PHP to name one of *many* options) to separate out various components. In particular, if you can keep the presentation (layout, color scheme, navigation components) separate from the content, your site will be much easier to maintain in the long run.
You will be so happy when you realize that you can change one line in a single "navigation.php" file and it will change the menu list for your entire site, or you change one line in a "mysite.css" file and it changes all your pages.
Cheers,
Tom
g1smd -- Your post on validation brought up another question for me.
The corporate site I'm maintaining now used to have nearly 1,000 of its pages indexed in Google (the pages were not well-ranked, mind you, but that's a separate issue). All but 50 of those pages appear to have totally dropped out of G. I've been trying to figure out why and looked at all the obvious reasons... but I put coding errors at the bottom of the heap. A lot of our pages are riddled with such errors. The validator on W3C spits out hundreds of items that I'm still trying to fix.
How much of an effect are those errors having on both indexing and ranking would you guess?
Thanks again,
midori
Cheers.
1. Business concept and plan.
2. Market research.
3. Revise business plan.
4. Market positioning.
5. Logo & Tagline. Choose domain name.
6. Map site architecture and content on paper.
7. Build.
8. FTP site and test.
9. Go live.
10. Promote.
Keyword research is in there somewhere also.
Are you building your first ever site or your first ever ECommerce site?
I tackled my first E-Commerce site a year ago and wouldn't have got anywhere without general basic site building experience. My advice is to learn the basics of site building before takling E-Commerce, its trickier than first anticipated. Of course if your up to the challenge then go for it but don't expect an easy ride.
Also, you will be paying for some software in which you have no experience using. I will private message you with a great free Javascript based shopping cart link that I think you will find VERY useful. You can use this to practice your shop building to get your knowledge up to scratch with the E-Commerce world :) They provide a great forum too for beginners.
Oh, it works great in Dreamweaver too ;)
Regards
Terry
