Back to Website Basics

Many clients who contact Shel Design for the first time are confused about what is involved in getting a website up and running. So we've put together a basic guide to take away the mystery:

Register a domain name
"Domain name" simply means the website address (e.g. www.sheldesign.com.au). For most businesses in Australia, a .com.au is the best choice and must be registered for 2 year. We highly recommend considering the following:

• registering a name that is as close to your business name as possible. The best domain names are short, memorable and easy to type.
• registering variations on the domain name: plurals, alternate spellings, alternate extensions (e.g. .com, .net, etc)

Website Hosting
Hosting is like renting a house – you pay a monthly fee for the place where your website will live. When choosing a web host be careful not to rely on cost alone. You need to consider the uptime (% of time your site is available online), support, location and back up plans. For most small businesses, hosting that costs between $10 - $30 per month is sufficient (but you'll need to pay more if you expect high traffic volumes - i.e. visits to your website)

Building & Designing
Deciding how to build and design a website can be tricky. There are many template sites and tools available for not a lot of money, often through web hosting companies, however these are generally quite restrictive as far as design and modifications. If you want something more complicated or original, you’ll need a web designer or developer. Ask your business contacts for referrals: you need to find a website designer whose designs you like, as well as have great customer service (you need someone who can explain the process in plain English). Whatever route you choose, make sure the design fulfills your business requirements. Your website should look good, but it should also generate outcomes, leads and sales.

Marketing
"Build it and they will come"....hmmm, not quite! Unlike a shopfront, there is no "passing traffic", unless you take steps to create it!

Generally when we talk about "marketing" a website, we are referring to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). SEO is one of those terms that has a shroud of mystery around it for most people. SEO companies can baffle you with terminology and statistics to convince you of the neccessity of their services. If you are a large business, you most certainly do need to utilise an SEO company. But for most small businesses, the $1,000's of dollars SEO companies charge is not only prohibitive, it is also largely not necessary.

SEO refers to the process of moving your website up the search engine rankings. Most people, when they need a product or service, jump online, type a couple of keywords into Google (or other search engines). 90% of Australians will stop searching through the results by page 2, so your business needs to be found at the top of searches for keywords relevant to your business. When writing the content for your website, you need to include "keywords" so that when people type in those words, your website appears in the results. We highly recommend using the services of a copywriter as writing content for websites is not easy! Make sure your web designer creates your site in a way that search engines can easily "read" your website. Sites built entirely using "Flash" or other image-based applications are not good for search engine results.

You need to keep track of your website statistics to see which keywords people have used to find you, whether traffic is increasing overall, which links people have clicked on from other sites and so on. It can take afew months to notice a difference in your search engine rankings, so don't expect results overnight.

For more information on SEO, read Simple Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tips

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