Ten Steps of Website Creation

Ten steps of creating a successful website

You've just opened a website? Congratulations!
Now what?

Many webmasters stumble into that question sooner or later.
The need for a website has been identified, the decision has been made, you've completed the registration process and now you come face to face with the construction interface, not sure what to do next.
This article will try to shed some light on the logical order of things when a decision is made to build a website.
Try not to take this as a solid checklist to follow, but rather as a set of suggestions, due to the fact that not all websites are equal and the webmaster might decide that a certain step or action are unneeded. Also, sometimes the importance of a specific step surpasses the others and it gains priority.

Step #0: Creating a rough sketch

This step is easily overlooked and skipped, but its importance is significant.
It is suggested to take this step even before you set out to create a website.
Grab a piece of paper, a pencil and an eraser and draw the website, as you'd like it to look: decide where you would place each element, what menus are needed and where, how the header and the footer would look, et cetera. Make sure you write specific measurements next to each and every line, in pixels.
Just like planning a house, making plans up ahead will make your work much easier, saving you the painful and time-consuming trial and error.
The strict webmasters would create a workplan, made of several pages stapled together – a sketch, a list of needed pages, notes and inquiries, and so on...

Step #1: Designing the website

Many would disagree on this step being the first, and there are cases where the contents surpass the website design in its importance, but many believe that designing a website is a burden better relieved early on. We would sit alone (or with the help of a designer) and would take complete care about the specifics of the way the website looks.
Sometimes, you will have to insert some placeholders (“dummies”) for the real pieces of information – so you could incorporate them into the overall design in advance.
This step should take advantage of the design menus to their fullest, in order to tidy up the website and make it efficient. The outline for the website must be completed in this step.

Step #2: Creating contents

If the design has been completed earlier, inserting contents would be easy. We would be able, upon inserting, to fit the contents properly into the site design (as opposed to inserting in advance, designing, then fixing everything to fit the design).
This is when the menus ought to be finalized and the pages completed. It is best to write the texts in advance (in step minus-one, so to speak) – having a half-baked website up and running is a malpractice to be avoided. Granted we've completed the previous steps, inserting the data would be an easy task.
Also, make sure your files, images, movie clips and other data is uploaded and online before checking this step as completed.

Step #3: Placing contact information

Most webmasters would, in general, like the visitor to contact them.
Therefore, this is the best time to create contact forms and place them in their pre-defined spots. If we haven't done it so far, this is the time to place other terms of contacting you – slugmail address, landline number, cellular number – in a central and visible place.
Many claim that placing a phone number inside the header creates the sense of credibility in websites. At this step, be certain that the contact pages are set and working.

Step #4: Creating products or other call to action

Assuming your website is aimed at selling products, create them now and define the terms of accepting payments.
Build the product tree and test out ordering with gibberish details, or create a hidden test product bearing negligible price and buy it yourself. If a credit-card company conceit is required, this is the best time to take care of this, as they often would like to see a near-completed website.
If your aim is different (for example, having the visitor fill out a form or sign up), make sure the path there is short and simple. Place links in a strategical manner and the benefit of acting clear and attractive.

Step #5: Internal linking and navigation

Sit back and take a look at what you've done so far. Try to see if the navigation, after placing everything, is still easy and understandable. Make sure you have internal links in logical placements.
Usually, this inspection is impossible to do until there's a certain mass of data online, so we'll save it for the time we're nearing the end.
Make sure the menus are not clattered, and nothing “steals focus” from anything else.
If internal linking hasn't been done yet, make sure you finish it now. It helps both the visitor and the search engine.

Step #6: Test-run

Present your temporary address to family members, friends and coworkers and ask for their input.
Hand out blank pages and ask them to make lists of old-school 'pros' and 'cons', take notes of errors, problems, criticism and such.
Try to ask the group to attempt thinking like the target audience, but still being open-minded. Your grandmother, for example, is less likely to provide you with accurate feedback on your new gadget-selling virtual store, but not being your specific target audience, she will be able to give you accessibility tips in subjects that most IT experts would overlook.

Step #7: Attaching a domain and creating mailboxes

This is the step most regard as “publishing the website” or “making it online”, because the domain is a site's identity on the web. Purchase your own domain or make the arrangements of attaching a pre-purchased one to your website and make certain it is viewable by everyone.
Generally speaking, it would take about 72 hours for the changes in a domain to take effect, so one should consider preparing for this step earlier, considering this time-frame.
When the domain is up and running, we would often want to create mailboxes with the domain as a suffix. After mailboxes are set and working, we'd make sure the new address is updated in every place it appears, and update in the account settings if necessary, if a different address had been used.

Step #8: Paying for the website

It is a good time to make sure the website is paid-for and the subscription with the hosting company is up and running.
Make sure a purchase has been made, and consider buying additional products to support your website. Many incorporate this step with the previous one and pay for a 'bundle', yet it's not mandatory – one may choose to have the domain running beforehand.

Step #9: Promoting the website

At this point, the work on the website is completed and it is running and available on the web.
Now it's time to put some thought in its placement in the search engines' results.
You should add your site to search engines and indexes, while entering keywords and descriptions to your existing pages.
Consider launching an advertising campaign in order to expose the newly-built website to your potential users and make changes, if needed, to meet SEO demands.
Take note that we're speaking of a lasting process, and it could take lengthy periods of time before your changes are affecting the results, but don't be tempted to begin the process when it's too early – a computer's first impression is far more difficult to change than its flesh-and-blood counterpart. Promote the site when there's enough to promote in it!

Step #10: Keep the website updated

The website is running by now and is being promoted successfully, so it's time to see that our website is being constantly (or at least often) updated.
Introduce new contents, ushering new users in and keeping existing users interested.
Offer new products from time to time, not forgetting discounts to older products.
Static, never changing websites may work as your online business card, but without content flux, you could soon be the owner of “just another site” in an ocean of sites, and the potential buyer won't have a reason to come in and take a look.
Stay updated and active and your website will thrive and grow!

Good luck!