We live in a time where the internet has become more tangible than the physical world. Smart devices and instruments that connect us to the internet are more common than wristwatches and sunglasses.
The internet provides us access to information that we already know faster than our own memory. For most people, customers, and business owners alike, the internet plays a significant role in how they interact with people and organizations around them. Moreover, the move towards the digital economy, digital money, and e-commerce is making it a necessity rather than an option for businesses to be available online.
Today, the internet is home to nearly half of the total world population. Billions of people from every part of the world are using the internet to learn, earn, and connect with other humans for everything they need. Other than just access to people, the internet gives businesses a lot more to benefit them. Having a professional-looking website is the first step to harnessing the benefits of the digital age for any business. Here is how you can get started.
1.Determine Your Purpose
Websites come in many forms and flavors. While they are all based on the internet, the operations they can handle and the purpose they serve are often very different. You also want to consider whether you will be building the site yourself or outsource this to a professional. Even for businesses, there are several types of websites that they can choose to build. Some businesses want to generate revenue from online visitors, some just want publicity, some want to inform and educate clients and visitors while others just want to showcase their achievements, services, products, and abilities. Narrowing down your needs will help you in the development phase later on, and also give you an idea of what it will cost.
2.Create A Domain
In the real world, especially for small to medium scale businesses, it is not uncommon to see multiple different businesses with the same name. This never happens in the online world. You don’t have to patent your name or get a trademark, it is just how the internet is built. Before you can commence website development you need a proper hostname, and more importantly, you need to make sure that the name is available and accessible. If your business name is already taken, there is a high probability; there isn’t anything you can do about it. You will just have to come up with another name. Or you could get in touch with the current owner of that website and find out whether they would be willing to sell that domain name.
3.Get Hosting
Now that you have the name of the business sorted and you have a rough idea of what you want to do with this facility, you need a place where you pitch your tent. The internet is a limitless space, there is no boundary or end to it. As long as we continuously add to the hardware that it exists on, it will continue to grow. In all of this vastness, you need some personal space, known as hosting, where you can erect your business domain and actually start getting visitors. There are a number of hosting services that you can look into. Some are free, others have a price tag, while some have a very high price tag. The one that will work for you depends on what you have narrowed down in step 1, the purpose of the site. Generally, free hosting is not a good choice for commercial operations. A well-reputed hosting service will not cost much. The domain name and hosting services are usually the smallest expenses when building a site. Annual hosting charges will be under $200 for a very beefy site. Basic hosting can be as cheap as a dollar a month.
4.Build Pages
This is the fun part and the expensive part. You can hire someone to do this or you can do it yourself. Depending on the site you want to build, there are different tools that you can choose to build the website. If it’s your first time, start with a website building platform and you can move to more bespoke solutions later if you feel the need to do so.
With everything in order, you can finally look towards SEO. Search Engine Optimization is like marketing for a business. It makes it easier for people to find you online when they search through a search engine. It also helps your site perform better on their devices when they want to reach you. Building a website is very straightforward and even someone with no coding or HTML experience can easily do it today.
