Starting a Business Tutorial Series: Building Your Website
One of the difficulties I have found in writing a Tutorial Series is that there is such a range of readers, from the beginner right up to the expert.
I decided from the beginning to try to write chapters which would be helpful to both groups and everyone in between. Beginners might look at it as a start to finish guide while I hope that even experts can find a few gems hidden within them. That being said, now that you have actually set up your company, its time to build a site to accompany it.
So many people do this as the first step, which I believe is a mistake. You gain so much insight from the Business Plan stage that if you had built your site early, you would most likely want to change it drastically afterward. In order to instill some sort of organization, I will be dividing the process into steps.
How to Build ItThis seems like a very basic one but to a first time entrepreneur, it can actually be daunting. Where do I start? What software do I use? What are my Options?
If you ask at any SEO or Webmaster forum they are going to tell you to learn HTML and use notepad to write it. I wouldn’t disagree with this advice and in fact this truly is the best way.
Unfortunately, it can also be the slowest as there is a learning curve, especially if you don’t even know what HTML is. I will discuss alternatives but first, if you want to give this method a try, there are a lot of tutorials out there.
As long as you don’t go the eBook route (most are scams and filled with ads), you should be all right. I recommend resources like w3schools HTML Tutorial but it really comes down to your own comfort level. By using notepad and writing each bit of code from scratch, it will mean fixes in the future will be very easy.
As an alternative, there are many programs out there that allow you to design your site independent of coding and are often referred to as WYSIWYG programs (What You See Is What You Get). These programs are great but because you aren’t actually coding, they have their limitations. I recommend that if you go down this route, use a split screen and see the code it is generated.
You may find it easier to teach yourself HTML by going backwards in this fashion.. The two best programs are Macromedia Dreamweaver and Microsoft FrontPage. The Microsoft program is cheaper but not as feature rich so if you have the money, definitely spring for Dreamweaver.
What I would not suggest under any circumstances is using online WYSIWIG programs combined with hosting such as Homestead.
Although when first starting out, it may look easy and inexpensive, it works out much more expensive and transferring your site is extremely difficult if not outright impossible. I will talk about free hosts later but they would also be something to avoid.
Site Design
When designing a site especially for E-Commerce it is important that everything you do or add is for a reason. The only acceptable reason is to improve customer experience and conversions. Now in achieving that goal it can be further divided into fast loading, clear intuitive navigation, simplicity, and general ease of use. Have friends or family test out the site and see if they can find what they are looking for. Many people doing their first site try to put as much info as possible in every page rather then smartly dividing it into several pages, being sure to keep intuitive navigation.
Also be weary of the “latest” tricks such as Flash unless they truly add something to the site and even then they should be an optional part. I can’t tell you how many sites I have bought, removed the flash, and relaunched which saw a huge increase in conversions. Unless you sell very technical stuff (and even then its questionable), don’t even use Flash.
Design Your Site for People, Not Bots
Many people when first starting out are under the allusion that getting their site ranking number 1 is the main goal and the key to success. It would surprise those people to know that my eCommerce site get 80-90% of their conversions from other places then the natural listings. Don’t let the fact that ranking in a Search Engine like Google is “free” cloud your judgement, because in business you always need to put a cost to your time.
This means for most people starting out, ranking number one in the natural listings is actually one of the most expensive options. So when designing your site, be sure to use natural language rather then keyword stuffing. Its OK to use your keywords wisely but once the sentence becomes difficult or impossible for your target market to read, they will associate you with the ton of spam sites out here and think twice before ordering.
For instance
“We sell widgets and widget accessories to meet all your needs” is good“We sell widgets, blue widgets, red widgets, green widgets and other widgets for cheap. Get your widgets and widget accessories or other widgets” is bad
Have people that know nothing about Search Engine Optimization read it and give their assesment. Even most webmaster forums will warn you that it sounds spammy. In the end keyword stuffing gains you very little as the major Search Engines rely a lot more on how sites link to you then they do on page content.
You may move up a position or two keyword stuffing your site but what good is that if you lose 10% of your customers because of it.
The most important thing is to think of your site as a first draft and a work in progress. The chapters in the weeks ahead should teach you a lot about marketing which is crucial to incorporate into a site design. Traffic is relatively easy to get but keeping it and getting the visitor to buy is the real challenge.
by jason :- the source is here
I decided from the beginning to try to write chapters which would be helpful to both groups and everyone in between. Beginners might look at it as a start to finish guide while I hope that even experts can find a few gems hidden within them. That being said, now that you have actually set up your company, its time to build a site to accompany it.
So many people do this as the first step, which I believe is a mistake. You gain so much insight from the Business Plan stage that if you had built your site early, you would most likely want to change it drastically afterward. In order to instill some sort of organization, I will be dividing the process into steps.
How to Build ItThis seems like a very basic one but to a first time entrepreneur, it can actually be daunting. Where do I start? What software do I use? What are my Options?
If you ask at any SEO or Webmaster forum they are going to tell you to learn HTML and use notepad to write it. I wouldn’t disagree with this advice and in fact this truly is the best way.
Unfortunately, it can also be the slowest as there is a learning curve, especially if you don’t even know what HTML is. I will discuss alternatives but first, if you want to give this method a try, there are a lot of tutorials out there.
As long as you don’t go the eBook route (most are scams and filled with ads), you should be all right. I recommend resources like w3schools HTML Tutorial but it really comes down to your own comfort level. By using notepad and writing each bit of code from scratch, it will mean fixes in the future will be very easy.
As an alternative, there are many programs out there that allow you to design your site independent of coding and are often referred to as WYSIWYG programs (What You See Is What You Get). These programs are great but because you aren’t actually coding, they have their limitations. I recommend that if you go down this route, use a split screen and see the code it is generated.
You may find it easier to teach yourself HTML by going backwards in this fashion.. The two best programs are Macromedia Dreamweaver and Microsoft FrontPage. The Microsoft program is cheaper but not as feature rich so if you have the money, definitely spring for Dreamweaver.
What I would not suggest under any circumstances is using online WYSIWIG programs combined with hosting such as Homestead.
Although when first starting out, it may look easy and inexpensive, it works out much more expensive and transferring your site is extremely difficult if not outright impossible. I will talk about free hosts later but they would also be something to avoid.
Site Design
When designing a site especially for E-Commerce it is important that everything you do or add is for a reason. The only acceptable reason is to improve customer experience and conversions. Now in achieving that goal it can be further divided into fast loading, clear intuitive navigation, simplicity, and general ease of use. Have friends or family test out the site and see if they can find what they are looking for. Many people doing their first site try to put as much info as possible in every page rather then smartly dividing it into several pages, being sure to keep intuitive navigation.
Also be weary of the “latest” tricks such as Flash unless they truly add something to the site and even then they should be an optional part. I can’t tell you how many sites I have bought, removed the flash, and relaunched which saw a huge increase in conversions. Unless you sell very technical stuff (and even then its questionable), don’t even use Flash.
Design Your Site for People, Not Bots
Many people when first starting out are under the allusion that getting their site ranking number 1 is the main goal and the key to success. It would surprise those people to know that my eCommerce site get 80-90% of their conversions from other places then the natural listings. Don’t let the fact that ranking in a Search Engine like Google is “free” cloud your judgement, because in business you always need to put a cost to your time.
This means for most people starting out, ranking number one in the natural listings is actually one of the most expensive options. So when designing your site, be sure to use natural language rather then keyword stuffing. Its OK to use your keywords wisely but once the sentence becomes difficult or impossible for your target market to read, they will associate you with the ton of spam sites out here and think twice before ordering.
For instance
“We sell widgets and widget accessories to meet all your needs” is good“We sell widgets, blue widgets, red widgets, green widgets and other widgets for cheap. Get your widgets and widget accessories or other widgets” is bad
Have people that know nothing about Search Engine Optimization read it and give their assesment. Even most webmaster forums will warn you that it sounds spammy. In the end keyword stuffing gains you very little as the major Search Engines rely a lot more on how sites link to you then they do on page content.
You may move up a position or two keyword stuffing your site but what good is that if you lose 10% of your customers because of it.
The most important thing is to think of your site as a first draft and a work in progress. The chapters in the weeks ahead should teach you a lot about marketing which is crucial to incorporate into a site design. Traffic is relatively easy to get but keeping it and getting the visitor to buy is the real challenge.
by jason :- the source is here
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