Getting Started on the Website
So you've read all about why you should get a website, decided you want one, but have no idea where to go from here. The first thing is to decide on the purpose of the website, which in turn will most likely decide its level of complexity.
When you have some idea of what you want, start brainstorming. Use pen and paper, or type onto the screen, as writing down your thoughts is much more effective than letting them bounce around in your head. In order to obtain an accurate quote for your website, you need to try and provide a breakdown of your pages...
Simple online brochure
Looking for a few simple pages to outline your business in simple terms? This could include some text, a few photos, and your contact information. This kind of site acts like a simple online brochure. Here's an example breakdown of the pages:
- Home Page. General overview of what company offers, including a couple of photos to make it look nice.
- Services. Fairly detailed overview of each service, with bold headings and a few paragraphs for each, maybe some pictures thrown in.
- About Us. Summary of staff members, company history, and our mission statement.
- Contact Info. Mailing address, phone, fax, email, etc.
While a small site like this is worth having, you shouldn't expect too much from search engine listings. Search engines thrive on detailed content – ideally content that's regularly updated – and to get your site listed high in Google, MSN, Yahoo and Aol, you might need to set your sights a little higher.
Detailed company website with unique keyword-rich content
Consider including more pages to your website, going into great detail about all the services you offer or what kinds of products you sell. The more informational text you have, the more likely you are to show up in search engines under certain keywords or phrases, and therefore the more likely you are to generate extra business from potential customers searching online.
To further optimize your website, we recommend separating each service or product (or type of product) into individual but interlinking pages, thereby concentrating each page and increasing "keyword density," and in turn increasing chances of being picked up in search engines. For instance, if you offer electrical, plumbing and building services, then you should create a page for each service, starting with a page named Electrical Services that goes into a lot of detail about electrical-related topics only, contains relevant headings and subheadings, and even has a filename like electrical-services.html.
This additional level of detail to your site might look like this:
- Home Page. General overview of what company offers, including a couple of photos to make it look nice.
- Services. Summary of each service with clickable headings as follows...
- Electrical – leads to a detailed page all about electrical services.
- Plumbing – leads to a detailed page all about plumbing services.
- Building – leads to a detailed page all about building services.
- About Us. Summary of staff members, company history, and our mission statement.
- Contact Info. Mailing address, phone, fax, email, etc.
Combining the electrical, plumbing and building services on one page would have the effect of diluting the individual topics and decreasing relevant "keyword density." So rather than opt for a "one-for-all" page, take the time to explain your company in detail. Tell your visitors everything you think they might want to know, and then some. It's true that they might not read everything you write, but at least they'll have that option – and the search engines will have something substantial to digest.
In a nutshell, expand your site! And you can go a step further by having a section for latest news and updates; anything that's fresh and new is going to make your site look like it's being cared for, which reflects well on you.
Full e-commerce website with database and user admin
There's also the advanced option – a full e-commerce system where customers can browse your entire catalog of products and buy them through the website. With an e-commerce system you have the added option of a private administration area where you can login and update your product list (add or delete items, change prices and details, etc) via an integrated database.
The options are endless when you upgrade to "dynamic pages." You can have entire sections of your site that you can control day by day, or week by week. Want to add news updates without bothering the webmaster every time? Easy! Just login to your custom-designed admin area and make changes yourself. It's as easy as filling out a form – add a title, description, date, etc, press the "submit" button, and it's done. The site updates immediately.
It's the same with products. You can have twenty items or twenty thousand items, it doesn't matter – the admin can be designed and configured to suit your exact needs, so that you can login and change prices, alter titles and descriptions, add new products, delete old ones... even upload images and automatically generate thumbnails.
The possibilities are endless. It all comes down to what you're looking for, what suits you best, what type of business you have... and of course what kind of budget you have.
Getting your content together
So you know exactly what you want? Got a quote for your website already, and agreed to go ahead? Now let's see what you need to supply to make it all happen.
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