Businesses and professionals rely heavily on websites. And why wouldn’t they, considering the amount of traffic, revenue, and credibility websites bring to businesses? That is why having a personal or business website has become almost essential today.
However, building a website is no cakewalk. Because of so much riding on a website, people often get overwhelmed when creating their first website. For those people, here’s a helpful guide. It will walk you through the creation process of your first website, as recommended by experienced website developers in Melbourne.
Step 1: Find Your Website’s Purpose and Goals
First, clarify your website’s purpose and goals. Ask yourself what you want to achieve with your website.
- Online portfolio?
- E-commerce site?
- Blog?
- Business website?
Or something else entirely?
Understanding your website’s purpose is key in guiding your design, content, and functionality decisions.
Step 2: Select Your Domain Name and Hosting
In simple terms, your website’s domain name is its online address. People find and remember your site through your domain name, which makes it a vital aspect of the website creation process.
When selecting a domain name, you must make it relevant to your content and easy to remember. Some popular hosting providers that website developers in Melbourne prefer:
- Bluehost
- HostGator
- Namecheap
- SiteGround
Step 3: Select a Website Building Platform
The next step is to choose a website-building platform that suits your needs. Various options are available today, but the best one for you depends on your technical skills and the complexity of your site.
A few options recommended by some of the most experienced website developers in Melbourne:
- WordPress
- Wix
- Squarespace
- Drupal and Joomla
Step 4: Set Up Your Site
Now, setting up a website consists of essentially the following these steps:
- Registering your domain name through your chosen hosting provider.
- Installing the content management system (CMS).
- Choosing a template or theme that aligns with your website’s purpose.
- Customising the design, fonts, colours, and layout.
Step 5: Create and Organise Content
Websites must have high-quality content that engages the audience. So, plan the structure of your website and create essential pages such as the homepage, about page, contact page, and any other relevant sections.
Here are some content tips:
- Use clear and concise language.
- Incorporate high-resolution images and multimedia elements.
- Optimise your content for search engines (SEO) by using relevant keywords.
- Proofread and edit the content for precision and readability.
Step 6: Add Functionality and Features
To enhance the functionality of your website, you can add various features and plugins, depending on your platform. For instance, you may want to include some of the following:
- Contact forms for user inquiries.
- Social media integration for sharing content.
- E-commerce capabilities for online stores.
- Blogging tools for regular updates.
Make sure that the features you add align with your website’s goals and enhance the user experience.
Step 7: Optimise for Mobile Responsiveness
The fact is that there’s a steep rise in the number of internet users accessing websites on mobile devices today, and it’s not going to stop anytime soon. Thus, it’s vital to ensure your website is mobile-responsive.
Most modern website builders and themes automatically optimise for mobile, but it’s crucial to test your website on various devices to ensure it looks and functions well on all of them. Don’t skip this, no matter what!
Step 8: Test and Review Your Website
Before launching your website, have it thoroughly tested by experienced website feedback tools for functionality, design, and performance. If you are doing it on your own, here’s a checklist of things to review:
- Ensure all links work correctly.
- Test all forms and contact options.
- Check the loading speed of your pages.
- Verify that your content displays well on different browsers.
- Review your website’s design and overall appearance.
Step 9: Register Your Website with Search Engines
A significant part of the web development process is to make it discoverable on the internet. To do so, you need to register it with major search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. This process is called search engine optimisation (SEO) and involves submitting a sitemap to search engines and optimising your website’s content for better rankings. You can hire any expert SEO in Melbourne for this if you aren’t aware.
Step 10: Launch Your Website
All set! Now the final step of the process — the launch. It’s time to launch your website and share it with the world. But follow these steps before hitting the LIVE button:
- Back up your site in case of emergencies.
- Revise the domain’s DNS settings to point to your hosting provider.
- Publish your website and announce its launch through your social media channels and email lists.
Make My Website for Professional Website Developers in Melbourne:
Now, creating a website from scratch will not intimidate you anymore. However, the work is not done yet. You still need to find an experienced website developer in Melbourne. If you agree, consider checking out Make My Website (MMW).
The website developers at MMW are not only experienced but also transparent and reliable, making the process much easier. Besides, their services aren’t limited to web development; they also offer branding and SEO in Melbourne.
So, whatever your requirements, you can connect with the team at Make My Website and discuss the prospects. You will surely appreciate their assistance. Good luck!