agency – Tech Warrior

How to build a successful website in 5 easy steps

Matthew Green — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 00:30:00 +0000

A website is the most all-round effective way to attract customers, build trust and solve problems. In this article I’ll break down the 5 steps you need to follow in order to successfully build a website. It doesn’t matter whether you are building a website from scratch or starting out with a redesign on your current website, these are the five steps to success.

I am going to assume that you will be using a professional web development company to build your website. If you are choosing to build your website yourself or are getting a family or friend to build your website for you, there may be some overlap in the steps but overall they are the same. I am also going to assume you have sorted out how much you want to spend on the website. If you are unsure, read through the article: I need a website for my small business. Where do I start?

A consistent and heart-filled effort to completion is the foundation of excellent work.
—Benjamin Watson

Step one: Gather the content

The biggest hurdle in getting any website project completed and over the finish line is content. This content is usually in the form of text, images and videos. As the business or organisation owner, you know your business best. This is why it’s important that you put the right amount of time, energy and effort into deciding what problems you are solving, what image you want to portray, what you are about and how you want to convey this message.

Gather and collate as much of the content for your website project upfront as you can. Make a folder on your computer and store relevant documents, images and so on in it. At Tech Warrior we have a content process document that we use. It is online and we collaborate with our customer to ensure we get the right content for the site.

Who does this step (1)

The business owner gathers the content

Step two: Decide on branding, colours and domain name

Do you have a logo? If not you will need one. Any decent website design process shouldn’t continue unless you have a logo. The colour scheme or colour palette for the website is derived from the logo. This ensures consistency when it comes to your business and brand identity. If you don’t have one, you will need to get one designed. Tech Warrior can design a logo but you can use any decent graphic designer to get one. The main thing is, you need one!

In this step a domain name is also required. It can be registered new or updated by the web developer. If you are starting from scratch a good web developer will advise and guide you on the best domain to choose for your business. They will also register and maintain it on your behalf.

Who does this step (2)

The business owner provides the logo
The web development company creates the colour palette for the website from the logo
The web development company will advise and register the right domain for your business

Purchasing domain names carefully is a very important aspect of owning a website. Having a website is an important part of running a business. Make sure you are the rightful registered owner of your domain name.

Step three: Develop and build the website

Once the content has been gathered, the logo designed and the colours chosen, it’s time to build the website. Depending on the size and complexity of the website, this can take from two weeks to a month or more. At Tech Warrior our most popular website product is Small Business Websites Standard version. It’s a 5 page website that takes two weeks to complete.

Once the site is completed it goes through an internal review before being handed to the customer for review and proofing. Any small changes are completed and then the site can go live.

Who does this step (3)

The web development company will build the site and do the internal review
The business owner will check that he/she is happy with the site

Step four: Make the website live

Once everyone is happy that the website has been built according to spec, it is time to make it live. This means linking the website to the domain name. Another term for this is hosting. This is where the website will live. You can think of this like the online address of the business or organisation. The website developer will manage any migration or take over processes needed in this step.

Who does this step (4)

The web development company makes the website live

Step five: Marketing the website

Now that the website has been built and made live, it is time to market it. There are a number of things you can do in this step, some paid and some for free. Some also involve the use of a dedicated marketing professional, whether an individual or a company.

Some of the ways you can market the website include buying adverts on Facebook or Google, creating a social media presence, building a mailing list and telling your existing customers and friends.

Who does this step (5)

The business owner will do some of these and together with either the web development company or a specialised digital marketing company a marketing plan to promote the website will be created

Building a website is not difficult. Almost anyone can build a website with the many tools and platforms available today. Building a website on time and to spec is more challenging. By following these five steps you will be well on your way to a successful website.

Who are Tech Warrior’s competitors?

Matthew Green — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 00:30:00 +0000

There are many choices to be made when building a website. These decisions can be broadly split between who will build the site and what platform or software will be used for the development of the website. In this article we’ll take a more detailed look at both of these competitor categories for Tech Warrior.

The father of every good work is discontent, and its mother is diligence.
—Lajos Kassak

Who will build the website

There are three groups of people who compete with Tech Warrior when comes to building a website:

Family and friends
Professional web design companies
Do-it-yourself-ers

Family and friends

A knowledgeable family member can be a useful resource for building a website. The upside is you know who you are dealing with, what kind of work they are capable of and you might be able to negotiate on the cost of the work.

The down side to this approach can sometimes be all of the above as well. Are they building the site as a favour or is it a bona-fide job? Is it a priority for them or are they fitting you in because they know a little (or a lot) more than you? How much experience do they have?

Professional web design companies

This is a good option if you want to hand-over the process and have it managed on your behalf. These companies can be one-person or many-people in size. They usually support you from the beginning of the process until you have a live, hosted website.

Unfortunately there is no professional body to regulate the standard and quality of web site design and development companies so you will need to do some research to ensure that the company or organization is credible and trustworthy. Over the years we have heard some horror stories of domain names and websites being held ransom by unsavoury web design companies who portray the right image but don’t deliver.

Do-it-yourself-ers

You can build the website yourself. There are many options available when it comes to the software or platform (see below). There is only one question that needs to be answered: “is building the website myself the best use of my time?” If your business needs you at the helm, running the show then using one of the other options is probably better.

What is the best software or platform for my website?

There are various Website building platforms or software that also compete with Tech Warrior when it comes to building a website. These can be installed and run on your computer, can be hosted and managed on your behalf or a combination of the two.

You will want to make sure that the software tools are widely used and open so you can get support when needed. This also ensures you don’t get locked into an expensive once-off proprietary system with limited options for growth or an exit strategy if you and the developer want to part ways.

The most widely used website software is called WordPress. More than 35 percent of all websites use it. This is the software of choice for Tech Warrior. WordPress is usually installed at a hosting provider.

There are other software options for building a website. The more well known ones are Joomla or Drupal. They work and function in a similar way to WordPress but are not as widely used.

Website software that is hosted and managed on your behalf

Another type of competitor that Tech Warrior has is website building software. These go by the name GoDaddy, Squarespace, Shopify, Wix, Weebly and others. They provide the tools to build a website. They also provide the associated services required to get a website up and running like domain registration and hosting. In some instances an online shop or store as well. Tech Warrior has chosen to use WordPress which also provides an option like this.

Make the right choice for your business needs

We have no control over whether you choose a competitor of ours. We do want you to make the right choice for your business. Your website is still the most effective way to answer questions, build trust and get customers to engage and buy from you. Make sure the person or organisation doing it prioritises your needs and offers a good value-for-money product and service. In addition, make sure your website is built using a platform that is open, widely used and doesn’t keep you locked in to the whims of the web developer.

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