Mr. Suba, this post is for you. I hope it's everything you've hoped and dreamed for, and more.
Before I shares my Dos and Don'ts, I want to be very clear that any web property is in a constant state of development. You will NEVER work on a website and then be "done". That being said, here are some good starting tips. I start with the don'ts because these ones are the ones that you really wish you hadn't done after the fact.
DON'T:
1- Register your name through Google Apps. I originally did this because I was trying to ensure I have everything that Google Apps had to offer on my site; email, team collaboration, etc. The problem is that all Google does here is act as a third party and buys the name from ENOM for you. Once this happens, if you want to create a customer HTML or Wordpress hosted website you are out of luck. This was a really big learning for me that there is a difference between buying a domain name and buying hosting services.
Solution- Go directly to ENOM.com or Godaddy.com to purchase your domain name.
2-Download a free trial of an FTP program. An FTP program is what you use to upload your HTML (or other) files to your hosting server. I made the mistake of downloading a trial version of one and then after 30 days I had to scrap it and start over.
Solution- I currently use FileZilla which is open source and most importantly free, and I'm very happy with its ease of use and functionality.
3- Ignore the copy on your website until the last minute. I didn't really think about the words that I actually wanted to put on my site until I had the site designed. Then, when I put in the copy, everything didn't look exactly as I want. Even to this day, I'm not really happy with the content on the site (outside of this awesome blog of course!!).
Solution- When thinking of the website design, write out your copy and work on revising it as the site comes together.
4- Forget about SEO. Search Engine Optimization almost doesn't mean anything to me anymore because it's such a popular buzzword. Essentially its creating your site in a way that makes it easy for search engines to find it. Although I knew about the concept I didn't know anything about it in practice, so I'm well behind the curve on this one. I only realized AFTER my site was up that Google has tons of tools that can help you get the basics built into your site.
Solution- Read up on the basics of SEO so when you are developing your site you can build some of the easier pieces into the design. There are tons of SEO services out there that will charge you an arm and a leg. My opinion is that you need to do the basics and unless you are a big company these services probably aren't worth your cash.
DO:
1- Research on your hosting options. I cannot stress this point enough. I was in a big rush to get y site up and running once it was designed, and I just went with the first company that was recommended by a friend (www.dotCanada.com). I do not have any complaints about this quality or service of this company, however, a few days later I was talking with Bill Pitcher who shared what he paid for his hosting, and the price was FAR superior.
Result- Saving Cash
2- Use Google Apps on your site. I know from experience that you should never actually purchase your domain through Google, I do believe you should set up Google Apps on your site once you have purchased the domain and hosting. This allows you to use all of the familiar tools from Google (gmail, calendar, etc) and also a host of other business focused applications.
What this means is when I go to mail.coreytyhurst.com, it actually brings me into my coreytyhurst.com gmail account. Likewise for calendar, etc. I must say that right now I do not use these features much, but if I were going to be using my site for a small business this is a great way to do that. You can also add as many emails you want for employees or friends if that is something that is required.
I must admit, accomplishing this does require a bit of reading and learning about DNS settings (they were confusing as hell to figure out, but once I got basics down it wasn't too bad to set this up). If you are trying to use Google Apps on your site and you need help, please let me know as a few screenshots of my settings should be able to help you on your way.
Result- Usability and Scalability
3- Hire someone with a sense of design to make your site beautiful. I do not recommend spending lots of money on this, but if you are not good at design like I am, it's well worth a small investment. My site was designed by Kait Souch (www.kaitsouch.com, @misskait) and I was very happy with her work.
Results- Your site is pretty!
4- Add Google Analytics to your site, on every page. Google Analytics is a free way to track the traffic on your site, and it is used by companies large and small around the world. I am not an expert by any means on this tool, but I have used it to verify that my home page is not compelling at all, and definitely does not encourage anyone to visit the blog tab of my site. Still working on this, but I highly recommend adding Analytics to your site, even if you aren't sure what you would use it for yet.
Results- You can measure and react to your visitors.
Overall Tip: DO SOME RESEARCH!
I have to admit, I thought making my own website was going to be a piece of cake. It's not that it's hard, but there are some technical steps along the way if you want the type of functionality I speak of above.
Good luck on your own site and please let me know if I can help in any way!
