{"id":2141,"date":"2011-03-28T11:06:27","date_gmt":"2011-03-28T18:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/?p=2141"},"modified":"2013-02-19T03:39:15","modified_gmt":"2013-02-19T10:39:15","slug":"7-things-to-keep-in-mind-when-building-a-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/7-things-to-keep-in-mind-when-building-a-website\/","title":{"rendered":"7 things to keep in mind when building a website"},"content":{"rendered":"

Congratulations on taking the big first step toward getting your business website online! By signing up with Yola, you\u2019re on your way to creating a professional website for your business. If you\u2019ve suddenly realized you don\u2019t have everything you need to get your website live, don\u2019t panic. Here are a few simple things you can do to help get your website in great shape and ready to launch.
\n
\nWhat do I want my website to do? <\/strong>
\nWhen buying a car, you\u2019d probably consider where you\u2019ll drive it, who will be using it, and what features you\u2019ll need. It\u2019s a similar process for your website. Think about specifically why you want a website. Is it to sell your products online? Blog about your industry? Provide directions to your location? It\u2019s important to identify your main goals so you can plan for them.<\/p>\n

Who do I want to visit my website? <\/strong>
\nYou\u2019ll also want to think about your target audience. Who would you like to visit your website? What\u2019s their age range? Technical experience? Educational level? Income bracket? The answers to these questions will shape how you design your site, what you want to say, and even how you present your products and services.<\/p>\n

What should I name my website? <\/strong>
\nThe default web address we provide is certainly serviceable, but it\u2019s not very memorable. Picking a good domain name<\/a> (web address) for your website is critical; it\u2019s how your customers and the search engines find you. Make sure the domain name represents your business, blog, or personal site. It should be short, easy to remember, and tell people what to expect from your website. Also establish whether you want a .com, .biz, or .org (if you\u2019re a non-profit) site.
\nLearn more about picking a domain name in our tutorial<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

What do I want to say? <\/strong>
\nSpend a little time considering what you want to say. This will determine the number and types of pages you\u2019ll create. Think beyond text\u2014photos<\/a>, videos<\/a>, and animations\/slideshows go a long way toward communicating exactly what you want. Don\u2019t have good photos for your website? No problem. We\u2019ve partnered with Fotolia<\/a> to bring you over 8 million royalty-free images. And don\u2019t forget to plan for how much time and effort it may take to keep your website content up-to-date.<\/p>\n

What do I want it to look like?<\/strong>
\nDesigning your website is the fun part. Bells and whistles are great, but don\u2019t get too carried away. Keep it simple and easy for your customers. Yola\u2019s easy-to-use Sitebuilder lets you customize your site to suit your needs. Start by selecting a design; we have over 100 professionally designed templates to choose from! You can then personalize your style<\/a> by changing your background, font or banner.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

How do people find me?<\/strong>
\nPublishing your website does not necessarily guarantee visits from prospective customers. \u00a0Make sure your site is search engine optimized<\/a> (SEO) and search engine friendly. This means you\u2019ll want to spend some time thinking about keywords<\/a> (words that accurately describe your business and your website) and ensure they\u2019re included in your website copy and messaging.<\/p>\n

How do I promote my website? <\/strong>
\nOnce your website is live, it\u2019s time to start promoting it. There are lots of ways you can do this, including Google AdWords, a \u201cpay-per-click\u201d advertising program. (Attention Yola Silver customers: You have $50 of free AdWords credits!) Social networking is also a great, inexpensive way to get the word out. If you\u2019re on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, make sure to post links to your new website. You can also create a blog<\/a> on your website, write interesting articles about your industry, then post links to them.
\nCheck out this video<\/a> on more tips to promote your website.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t launched your website yet, now\u2019s the time! Follow these seven steps and your business website will be bringing in the customers before you know it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations on taking the big first step toward getting your business website online! By signing up with Yola, you\u2019re on your way to creating a professional website for your business. If you\u2019ve suddenly realized you don\u2019t have everything you need to get your website live, don\u2019t panic. Here are a few simple things you can… Read More »7 things to keep in mind when building a website<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":378,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","neve_meta_reading_time":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false},"categories":[130],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/378"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2141"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4877,"href":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2141\/revisions\/4877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yola.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}