Posts Tagged ‘site build’

A lot of people believe that when they decide they want a website it can be up and running within a couple of weeks.  Unfortunately, that is not so.  The truth is building a website is a process.

Domain Name And Hosting- Obviously this is first and foremost.  The domain name needs to be purchased quickly so that it is not purchased by another person.  There are several businesses and people who are on the internet and it may be difficult to get exactly the domain name that is wanted.  Hosting needs to be purchased as well because without hosting, there is no website.

Site Design-The site design is one of the most important aspects of the whole website.  You have to get the colors, pictures, navigation and all around organization of it correct.  Then it needs to be sent to the client for approval.  It is commonplace for some additional tweaking and design work to take place before it is out for the world to see.  This could take several days, or even weeks, depending on how quickly approvals are returned, and how intensive the changes need to be.

Site Structure Install-If you are using the CMS Joomla,  this is actually the easiest thing to do as long as the designer has Joomla already configured.  Then it is just as simple as installing it into the hosting account and making sure all the components are there.  This also includes installing the template that was created. This can take between 1 and 4 hours to do, depending on how much is pre-configured.

Content-The content is the hardest part of creating a website.  The content has to be written and it has to be written well.  A client can do this themselves, or hire it.  However, a good web designer will take a look at client provided content and tweak it to better suit the site visitors and for SEO purposes.   This will go on for every page that is on the site.  This can take several days or even weeks, depending on how many pages the site consists of and how much needs to be done to speak to the site visitors.

SEO- When a site is built correctly, the SEO is largely accomplished in the design and content areas. Too often, a site owner hires a designer to do the site, a content writer to create the content, and then hires an SEO expert to optimize it – the problem with this approach is that it results in a lot of unnecessary cleanup, and may produce handicaps in the site that are prohibitively expensive to correct. It is best to include the Optimization in the site build process from the beginning. Because when the site is built correctly to begin with, SEO becomes a simple process of adding the titles, descriptions, alt-tags, and creating a backlink and online Search Marketing plan. Search Engine Optimization helps to attract higher placement in the search engines and results in more traffic to the site.  It begins and ends with good content, and happens best within a smart site design.

Training-Joomla can have a learning curve to it, as does any software that is worth using, that is why designers who create websites in Joomla SHOULD include training.  Training can be from one hour up to several hours.  Depending on how much the site designer and site owner agreed to and how much the site owner needs help with.

The average time between contract signing and site completion, is two months. It can happen faster if the site is fairly simple and the site owner returns required items promptly and gives approvals quickly. Sometimes it can take longer, due to unforeseen complications (technology is that way), or unexpected events in the lives of the site owner or designer. Getting a “Website Tonight” though, is a myth. If you get an instant website, it isn’t going to be a complete website.

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