Website Design & Development Checklist
To streamline and make the website design & development process frustration free and smooth as possible there are a few things you should know and hopefully have done before starting the web design & development process. These things are as follows:
What's in a name?
Your first order of business would be to choose a domain name (i.e. www.YourNameHere.com). Not a complicated process. However, there are some things to consider when choosing a name.
Keep It Simple!
Choose a name that reflects your business’ current name, service, product, logo, catch phrase, etc.
Keep it short
Choose a name that’s short. The shorter it is, the easier it is for potential customers to remember and the less likely they are to misspell it when trying to pull it up on the net. Shorter names also make for easier offline print advertising campaigns.
Dot Com . . . literally!
when choosing a name, try and stick with the .com extension, unless you’re an educational, governmental, non-profit entity (i.e., .edu, .gov, .org, etc.). The .com is usually the first one that comes to mind for most people.
Have patience . . . you'll need it!
Be patient, choosing a domain name can sometimes be frustrating. Many of the names you choose initially may be taken. However, be persistent, creative and keep searching until you find a name that reflects your company’s slogan, catch phrase, name, etc.
Registering The Domain Name
Once you’ve chosen a name, you’ll need to register it. There’s plenty of registrars available out there, so finding one won’t be a problem. Currently domain names cost around $15 per year (and some web hosts even offer free domain names with the purchase of a hosting package).
Choosing a web host
Although domain name registration and hosting services usually go hand in hand, there are many companies out there who offer one without the other. So below I’ve provided a few things to consider when choosing where to park your domain name and choosing a good web hosting package/provider.
Costs
First, you should consider what you’re willing to pay. On average you can get a decent hosting package for around $10 to $20 or so a month. Secondly, shop around & compare prices, features and customer service from different companies before making a purchase decision.
Disk Space
This refers to just how much content or how many files, pages, images, etc. your account will allow you to store on your hosting provider’s server. You should always opt for more rather than less. This way, as your company grows your website can scale up and accommodate that growth.
Bandwidth
This refers to just how much monthly viewer/visitor traffic your website can handle. Again, too much is a lot safer than too little. If your bandwidth usage goes over what was allocated to you in your hosting plan, visitors may not be able to view your site, not to mention some hosting companies will charge you for those overages.
Customer Support
You definitely want to be able to contact someone in the event your site is down, or something else goes wrong with your hosting. So, when choosing a hosting company be sure they have some sort of customer support system that won’t leave you stranded when and if problems arise.
Features
This too, is an area where more is better. Things like being able to edit server settings, install scripts and applications and more may be required for your website or business needs. So, you may not use all of your account’s features initially, but you’d rather have them on standby than to need them & not have them.
Content . . . Yours or Mines?
By content I mean images, text, videos, audio, etc. so having this together and organized will minimize the time needed to design and develop your website. In addition, if I have to create/provide that content additional charges may be required.
