Your Website From the Ground Up in 10 Steps

Your Website From the Ground Up in 10 Steps

Your Website From the Ground Up in 10 Steps

Free Online Articles Directory

Why Submit Articles?
Top Authors
Top Articles
FAQ
AB Answers

Publish Article

0 && $.browser.msie ) {
var ie_version = parseInt($.browser.version);
if(ie_version Hello Guest
Login

Login via

Register
Hello
My Home
Sign Out

Email

Password


Remember me?
Lost Password?

Home Page > Internet > Web Design > Your Website From the Ground Up in 10 Steps

Your Website From the Ground Up in 10 Steps

Edit Article |

Posted: Sep 26, 2008 |Comments: 0
|

So, you have finally decided to build yourself a website, but really have no idea where to start. The following 10 steps will give you some insight into what you need to address when creating a search friendly website from the ground up.

While this article is not an exhaustive líst of everything you need to know, it does touch base on many of the important aspects of creating a new website.

Step 1 – Keyword Research
Even before you choose your domain name, you should put a little time into some keyword research. Research all the possible keywords that will fit your industry and the website you plan on building. Having a clear idea of what your end targets are will make the rest of your job much easier and help things to just fall into place. Take a look at Keyword Research for SEO, written earlier this summer, for more help on this.

Step 2 – Domain Selection
If you already have an established brick and mortar business and the website will be an extension of that business, using your company name as the domain name is in most cases the best idea. If your company name is either irrelevant, or simply unavailable, you may want to consider a domain that has your target phrase listed as part of the domain.

A great example of this is if your site is focused geographically. Using the location as part of the domain when possible will give you a little extra juice with the search engines and help draw people to your site as they instantly can see the relevance in the domain.

Let’s say that you are building a website focused on your home town, “Somewhere USA”. A domain you may consider could be “Somewhere.com”; however, this would probably be already taken. Other options such as “SomewhereInfo.com” or “SomewhereGuide.com” may be good alternatives. The same goes for retail stores. “SomewhereCameras”.com or “SomewhereBakery”.com would also be good choices.

Avoid excessive use of hyphens; sometimes it is appropriate to use one, but if you can help it, avoid more than that as it can appear messy and even spammy in some cases.

Step 3 – System Back End
If you plan on having a large scale website that will grow and change constantly then you may want to consider a content management system (CMS) such as Joomla. If you decide to go this route, you want to ensure that whichever CMS you choose is search engine friendly and offers items such as unique title tags, custom URL’s, and full control over content, heading tags, image alt tags, etc.

Starting a website using a non-friendly CMS is like buying a car without an engine. Sure it may look great, but it won’t get you anywhere.

Step 4 – Site Structure & Navigation
This is really one of the most fundamental aspects of your site creation. If the structure of your site does not work well, then your site may be doomed from the very beginning.

Take a look back at your keyword research and brainstorm all the areas of your site that you may want to develop content for. In some cases you may find valuable keywords that would fit perfectly into a few pages of content for your site. If the phrase and the content would be a good match for the theme of your site, go ahead and note them as pages to create. Get a líst, or flowchart, of all the content you plan on adding and sort those pages into relevant categories.

Be sure your site files are saved in a way that makes sense – this includes both the file name, and the complete path to the file. Save files, including similar content in a relevant subdirectory, with simple file names representing each. Let’s take an example of an informational site dedicated to a specific geographic location. If you have a series of pages dedicated to recreation, you may save them as:

/recreation/parks.html
/recreation/trails.html
/recreation/beaches.html

Keeping your URL structure clean and tidy can not only help with search engine rankings, but it will give a good visual impression to the site visitor as well. Often, using each of these categories as main points for your primary site navigation may make the most sense.

Also be sure to keep your site relatively flat, with as few layers as possible. Don’t make the search engines follow a dozen links to get to the deepest levels of your site. Unless the site is literally tens of thousands of pages, there is no need to click more than 2 or 3 links to get to any deep content. The shorter the path to an internal page, the more credít by the search engines.

Step 5 – Navigation
When developing the end site, you also want to make sure that your site navigation is search engine friendly – this is critical if you ever want free organic listings.

If possible, use a text based form of navigation. You can use CSS to style the text links to fit into your graphical design. Text links are the best method, but image based navigation and even some forms of drop down menus are also search engine friendly.

If you choose to use image based navigation be sure to include image alt text relevant to the link to give something for Google to associate with the linked page. If you absolutely must use Flash, or any form of navigation not friendly for search engine spiders, be sure to supplement this with text based links on another location of the page.

Step 6 – Analytics
It isn’t ever too early to start thinking about your stats. Before your site goes live you must have some form of accurate analytics in place so you can measure your site’s traffic and progress.

There is an endless supply of analytics options out there to choose from. You can simply use the stats software that comes free with your web hosting, however, more often than not, they tend to be very basic with no flexibility. Advanced choices such as ClickTracks can give you rather in-depth statistics, but for a very small mom and pop operation it may be too expensive. Google Analytics, is a free option that can give you most, if not all the data you will need and does not require access to your raw log files.

If you do opt for an option such as ClickTracks, check with your host to ensure that you will have the raw log files you require. StepForth can also help you with your statistical analysis and offers a number of inexpensive ClickTracks service packages.

Step 7 – Content Creation
Now is the time to get that new, fresh content posted to your site with the SEO in mind. Make sure that the content you write reflects your industry and target keywords. You don’t need to flood the content with your target keywords, but make sure they are in there a few times. When it makes sense to do so, also include some acronyms to help Google establish the overall relevance.

If you perform a search in Google for “~keyword”, any words that Google bolds in the search results will be acronyms that Google deems relevant. Include some of these where possible.

Step 8 – Basic SEO
Ensure that ALL pages of your site include unique and Meta Description tags. This is one of the core fundamental aspects of an optimized size and it does play a significant role in your search rankings. Make sure that these tags are not only unique but are accurate representations of each page. Also be sure to place your target phrase in heading as well as image alt tags where applicable.

Step 9 – Initial Promotion / Launch
Now that you have your new site all up and ready to go, you want to give it that kick start to help drive some traffic. It will be a while before the search engines fully index your site and even longer before you start to see organic rankings for your target search phrases. It is important to start off right away to get the ball rolling.

Start off by issuing a press release to announce the launch of your new business website. Press releases are a great way to get some traffic and a rather valuable first link into your site. Submitting your press release using a company such as PRWeb will get your link in the engine’s path and should help your site to be initially indexed by Google right away.

Next submít your site to some relevant directories starting with DMOZ. It can take months, even years, to have your site listed in DMOZ, so it is important to get it submitted right away. Consider submittíng to other industry relevant directories. For some information on how to select the right directories take a look at Building Links with Directory Submissions.

Work on getting as many links from relevant industry websites as possible. The more links you can get from reputable sources, the better the overall performance of your site.

Step 10 – Ongoing Promotion
Once you have completed the site, the content looks great, and all appears finished, you’ve still got work to do. For long term success, especially for a brand new site, you need to continually promote your site. You should always be looking at ways to build your inbound links and your relevant content.

Consider creating accounts with various social media platforms to help promote your site. These can not only give you a link back to your site, but they can help you drive traffic and raise awareness about your business and product.

A site that is always growing, and always getting new links, has the best chance of getting a stable top 10 listing in Google

Retrieved from “http://www.articlesbase.com/web-design-articles/your-website-from-the-ground-up-in-10-steps-579497.html”

(ArticlesBase SC #579497)

Liked this article? Click here to publish it on your website or blog, it’s free and easy!

Anantait -
About the Author:

Head SEO, Marketing at AIT India

Questions and Answers

Ask our experts your Web Design related questions here…200 Characters left

How many miles in 10 000 steps ?
What are the steps to building a website ?
What are the steps for creating a website ?

Rate this Article

1
2
3
4
5

vote(s)
0 vote(s)

Feedback
RSS
Print
Email
Re-Publish

Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/web-design-articles/your-website-from-the-ground-up-in-10-steps-579497.html

Article Tags:
seo, web design, web development, web promotion

Related Articles

Latest Web Design Articles
More from Anantait

Web Design and Development Firm: Well Researched Search Gives You Optimum Success

Websites need to be designed in such a way that they can effectively send across your message to your target audiences without any hassles.

By:
VVS Subramaniaml

Internet>
Web Designl
Jun 19, 2010

Web Design and development companies in India

Offshore outsourcing in India has gained significant momentum over the past few years. India has become the favorite destination for all types of outsourcing solutions; including Website designing, search engine optimization (SEO) services, and Website hosting. Companies are keen to leverage the intelligent and educated workforce available in India at nominal cost.

By:
Web Beel

Computers>
Softwarel
Aug 07, 2009

Seo Web Design And Development Company

SEO Web Design and Development Company – An SEO web design and development company takes up the assignment of creating attractive websites for promoting businesses online.

By:
Rajeev Rajagopall

Internet>
SEOl
Mar 11, 2009

Absence of web design and development work for freelancers in Lahore, Pakistan

There is no work for web design and development in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Similarly there is lack of information technology IT, computer and software based work in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Freelancers and independent web designers are more affected due to absence of internet based or web design and development work in Lahore Punjab, Pakistan.

By:
Tahir Jamill

Internet>
Web Designl
Jul 13, 2009

Importance Of Web Design And Development

There are numerous advantages of having a good website from the perspective of the company and the web design is also beneficial for customers to fetch information from it. This article summarizes the aspects of web development, why a good web design is necessary and how can a website be made more appealing to online traffic. Web development needs a professional touch from qualified web designers and developers to make a suitable portal that can turn each visitor into potential buyers.

By:
techpumpkin09l

Internet>
Web Designl
Jun 07, 2010

Flash Web Designs For Real Web Appeal

Web design and development need to be done very carefully because a lot of your success of your e-business or e-promotional efforts just depend on them.

By:
Arun Kumarl

Internet>
Web Designl
Apr 21, 2010

Washington Dc Web Design And Development Company

Nowadays most of the business owners are trying to take their business online because of huge list of advantages like increasing your sales and building a web presence. So to settle their business online one should need to hire a professional web design company to design their website. There are many Washington DC web design and development companies to choose from which can make the selection process that much more difficult.

By:
Ammy Dylxl

Internet>
Web Designl
Apr 14, 2010

Flash Web Design Services For Web Interactivity And Web Visibility

Every website needs to be developed using the most advanced design tools so that visitors find it attractive to explore it completely and stay there for long. In the recent years, so many web design and development tools and software programs have hit the floor but only a few have been able to be in the limelight.

By:
Arun Kumarl

Internet>
Web Designl
Apr 14, 2010

Looking for the Best Way to Start Your Online Business? – Buy a Web Template

A quick and better way to start an online business is to buy a web template and customize it to your business needs. It is not only a hassle free and easy process but will save a lot of your time and money.

By:
Daisy Willsl

Internet>
Web Designl
Jan 19, 2011

An Insight into Why Magento Web Development, Different Services Offered and Its Benefits

An insight in Magento web development is sure to solve all your queries related to Magento for ecommerce development.

By:
mtthwsmith8l

Internet>
Web Designl
Jan 19, 2011

Introducing The Apple Ipad: More Essential Apps For Your Business Website

The best apps for your business web solution, outlined the uses for iWork and Bento, two incredible iPad apps that are vital for any business or industry. Now we’ll move on and discuss a few more indispensable products that will have you seeing results in no time at all

By:
John k. Taylorl

Internet>
Web Designl
Jan 19, 2011

Ecommerce Melbourne Florida Facilitating Great Festival Web Design

Ecommerce websites are the need of present times due to growing significance and importance of internet in people’s life. Ecommerce websites facilitate an easy and speedy process of trading products and services online along with the online payment gateway.

By:
Brainworkl

Internet>
Web Designl
Jan 19, 2011

Web development meets latest technological features!

Entire web development concept initiate from a thoughtful idea and ends with maintenance of website. This is a most popular reason to make an impressive visibility of any business, information or social features.

By:
Surabhil

Internet>
Web Designl
Jan 19, 2011

Introducing the apple ipad: the best apps for your business web solution

As we mentioned in Introducing the Apple iPad: Thinking about applications for your business, one of the most useful features of the iPad is the potential for applications or apps that will help to change and improve the way you do work. Even if the right app is not on the market yet, chances are something that is ideal for your business is right around the corner.

By:
John k. Taylorl

Internet>
Web Designl
Jan 19, 2011

How can Professional Web Designer Help in Business Solutions

So there is no doubt that hiring a skilled web designer can be beneficial to all website owners but you, yourself, have to put some effort on basic research work before appointing a person for the job. Professional designers can attract potential customers to your site by making it smart, appealing, interactive and user-friendly.

By:
Monalisa Maitral

Internet>
Web Designl
Jan 19, 2011

Mobile Application Development Made Simple for Non-Coders

The Android mobile application development is so simple and void of technical complexities that the non-coders can also use it and develop meaningful Android mobile applications.

By:
spinxwebdesignl

Internet>
Web Designl
Jan 19, 2011

Developing Internet Business

The Web has brought opportunities that most of us never even imagined. This includes the ability to quickly start a business with a little investment. The Web has created many self-made millionaires. Many of these made their money from the comfort of home.

By:
Anantaitl

Internet>
Internet Marketingl
Nov 13, 2008

SEO Secrets Revealed

It is a legitimate question, whether you should go for pay-per-click or for SEO for organic search engines. It is no more a point of research that search engines drive a huge traffic to your website. By doing that it will be a reinventing the wheel! As all of you know search engine marketing is necessary to get quality traffic to your website.

By:
Anantaitl

Internet>
SEOl
Nov 13, 2008

How to Get Free Inbound Links to Your Website

If you want your website to be popular on the Internet then it simple cannot be isolated. You must find ways to make other websites link back to your website. Lets look at how you can create inbound links to your website. There are many reasons why inbound links matter. First of all, they build your page rank or popularity. Page rank is basically a scale in which your site is ranked which is based on the number of links coming into your website. The more links, the higher the page rank.

By:
Anantaitl

Internet>
Link Popularityl
Nov 01, 2008

Buy Links or Buy Trouble?

The big debate raging on the Internet these days focuses on Google‘’s recent campaign to ensure that paid links aren”t part of the determination of popularity of a website. Their take is that if you buy links, you”re trying to skew the results of any search in order to increase your presence in the rankings. But wait, isn”t that what any successful company wants to do? Increase their presence and popularity?

By:
Anantaitl

Internet>
Link Popularityl
Nov 01, 2008

Increase the Strength of Links to Your Site

When it comes to promoting your site online it can really be quite a drag. There are many resources out there to help you but this either means spending lots of time building links manually or using spamming software to litter you link all over the net. Personally I tend to delete spam and so does the mighty google. So what do you do spam or spend loads of time looking for link partners, it seems like a lose, lose to me.

By:
Anantaitl

Internet>
Link Popularityl
Nov 01, 2008

Affiliate Marketing: Finding the Golden Needle in the Internet Haystack

Finding the affiliate marketing program can be a daunting task. There are hundreds if not thousands of products, services and marketing plans to choose from, so how does someone get started finding which is best for them. Choosing a program on profit or percentage may seem like a good thing to consider first but it is not the best place to start. Personality and interests or hobbies, should be the starting point in deciding which program is right for you.

By:
Anantaitl

Internet>
Affiliate Programsl
Oct 29, 2008

Are You Afraid of Autoresponders?

OK, I admit it! I ignored the best advice I ever got about internet marketing and affiliate marketing for well over a year!

By:
Anantaitl

Internet>
Affiliate Programsl
Oct 29, 2008

Affiliate Marketing – a New Career

In today’’s time with all the layoffs, businesses closing their doors for good and the ever increasing cost of living we see more and more individuals looking for new ways to provide a living for their families.

By:
Anantaitl

Internet>
Affiliate Programsl
Oct 29, 2008

Add new Comment

Your Name: *

Your Email:

Comment Body: *

 

Verification code:*

* Required fields

Submit

Your Articles Here
It’s Free and easy

Sign Up Today

Author Navigation

My Home
Publish Article
View/Edit Articles
View/Edit Q&A
Edit your Account
Manage Authors
Statistics Page
Personal RSS Builder

My Home
Edit your Account
Update Profile
View/Edit Q&A
Publish Article
Author Box

Anantait has 122 articles online

Contact Author

Subscribe to RSS

Print article

Send to friend

Re-Publish article

Articles Categories
All Categories

Advertising
Arts & Entertainment
Automotive
Beauty
Business
Careers
Computers
Education
Finance
Food and Beverage
Health
Hobbies
Home and Family
Home Improvement
Internet
Law
Marketing
News and Society
Relationships
Self Improvement
Shopping
Spirituality
Sports and Fitness
Technology
Travel
Writing

Internet

Affiliate Programs
Audio
Blogging
Domain Names
ECommerce
Email
Forums
Internet Marketing
Link Popularity
Newsletters
RSS
SEM
SEO
SMO
Spam
Video
Web Design
Web Hosting

Need Help?
Contact Us
FAQ
Submit Articles
Editorial Guidelines
Blog

Site Links
Recent Articles
Top Authors
Top Articles
Find Articles
Site Map
Mobile Version

Webmasters
RSS Builder
RSS
Link to Us

Business Info
Advertising

Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Copyright © 2005-2011 Free Articles by ArticlesBase.com, All rights reserved.

Find More Buy Inbound Links Articles