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DIY Website

So you want to do it yourself.

Creating a website can be complex if you have never dabbled in websites before. There are a few things you will need to get started.

Hosting

This is your patch of land on the world wide web. Hosting refers to where your website files are stored.

But hosting is so much more.

  • Email storage
  • Database storage
  • Content management system (such as WordPress)
  • Daily traffic volumes

Not everyone needs all the things listed above. You must carefully consider the thing you need for your site when you are choosing a host and your hosting plan .

Domain name

Otherwise called a URL. This is your address of your website on the world wide web. This is the text you enter in the address bar when you want to go to a particular site.

For example

  • www.electronicrescue.com.au
  • www.google.com
  • www.facebook.com
  • www.instagram.com

The trickiest part is finding a name that isn’t already taken. The majority of domain name resellers (such as netregistry.com.au) will tell you if the name you want is already taken or not.

Once you have purchased your domain name you will need to set it up so it points to your host.

Content Management system

For most people this is WordPress, but could be Drupal, Joomla or one of the many others. A content management system allows you to visually create/change and update your webpages without having to write a line of code.

I highly recommended using WordPress if you are just starting out.

Website Design

First get an idea of what the goal of your website. Is it an online brochure of your business? Is it a place where you can publish content? How about an online store.

Next think about what content you are going to put into your site. Think carefully about how you break up that information into individual pages. Plan this out as much as you can.

Now consider the look and feel that you want for your website. Look at other sites and find what you like.

Then I suggest you come up with a wire-frame of your website. For a good guide on creating your wire-frame I suggest reading the JustinTime blog. A good free online tool for creating your wire-frame is wireframe.cc.

Finally you need to put it all together. WordPress has an abundance fo free and paid for templates. Find one that best suits your needs and start publishing your content.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

There is no point having an amazing website if people can’t find it.

SEO is important to get found in Google and Bing searches. Keywords is where you need to start. Make sure your content mentions these keywords. These keywords also need to be added to the metadata of your website.

Search engines reward sites that dot the i’s and cross the t’s. Are your photos optimised for quick loading of your website? Also, how reputable is your site? Do other reputable sites link back to yours. This is a complex topic that is too detailed to discuss on this page. Suffice to say that you need to tidy up all the extras if you want to get found online.

I recommend using a WordPress plugin such as WP Meta SEO or SEOYoast to help you improve your SEO.

Plugins

Apart from SEO plugins for WordPress, I highly suggest that you research other WordPress plugins that will make your life easier when it comes to editing and maintaining your website.

Umm, its a lot harder than I thought

If you are finding this all a bit too complex then don’t worry, because Electronic Rescue is here to help. Call us on 0409 209 420 to get help where you need it. Or we could even do the whole thing for you.