1. Quantify
First, I’ll help you determine the content of your site so we can assess how many pages it’s going to run to. No matter whether you’re selling a service or a product, this needs careful and thorough consideration. IMPORTANT: skim over this aspect of the process and you’ll end up making changes later on, which means extra cost.

2. Plan
Knowing what the content of your website is going to be, I can then decide how it’s going to ‘work’. What’s the natural progression of the site? How should it be divided up? Which pages link to other pages? How will people get in touch with you? The better the plan, the easier it will be for your visitors to find their way around your site. IMPORTANT: if you’ve left any content out, now is the moment to get it included in the plan - before any further work is done.

3. Create
With the quantifying and planning out of the way, we move to the next stage: writing and designing the site, both of which I can do for you. Before I can write anything, I will need some basic information from you and any images that you want on the site. IMPORTANT: adding content and/or changing the planning at this stage will increase your costs.

4. Optimise
If you want as many people as possible to find your website, then at the same time as it’s being written and designed, then you may decide to ‘Optimise’ it – also known as ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ (SEO). The process involves fine-tuning your site so that it becomes more of a racing car than a 5-seater saloon car. SEO is not essential, but it can pay dividends over time. IMPORTANT: the name of your website (AKA - the domain name) can play a big part, in getting your site found, so choose it carefully.

5. Build
Once the marketing issues, content, words and design have been dealt with, all that remains is the actual building of the website and publishing it on the Internet. This is the ‘technical’ bit and something you don’t really need to know a lot about, I don’t think. Better that you get on with doing what you do best, which is running your business. IMPORTANT: don't make changes to either the content or the creative at this stage, unless you're prepared to live with perhaps substantial, additional costs.

6. Publish
For someone to find to find your website, it has to sit on a computer somewhere – 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. There are businesses all over the world that provide that service (it’s called ‘hosting’) although my preference is to use UK hosting companies. No hosting company gives you space on a computer (also known as a ‘server’) for nothing, but the cost is £25 - £50 a year. IMPORTANT: always pay your hosting provider on time, otherwise you might not have a website any more...

And that’s it!

Now you have a choice: if you’d like to learn more about websites and Internet marketing, follow this link to www.starting-an-online-business.co.uk. It’s one of my websites and full of good, concise info – including video tutorials – which you’ll find really useful. Or if you prefer, give me call on 01672 511716,
or visit www.wiltshirewebsites.co.uk
and we’ll get the ball rolling without any further delay!