Ten Thoughts on Creating a Website: 3. What Will I Need?
A website is comprised of:
- A domain name: If you think of your website as an office your domain name is your phone number. While you CAN change it, chose it carefully because you will be disseminating it widely on business cards, ads, etc. and changing it is expensive. Domain names cost $1.50 - $10 and can be purchased many places online. However, maintaining domain name accounts can be costly and time consuming. I recommend using Blue Host for website hosting where your domain name is free with your account.
- A website hosting account: This is your rent or property tax. A hosting company owns or manages servers (computers) which run 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week. You upload your files to their servers to be available online. Hosting companies spend their time fighting hackers and spammers, maintaining their system software & network, and fulfilling customer requests and support. In the same way that a landlord makes sure your building is run properly, a hosting company makes sure your space online is run properly.
- Your website files: In our office metaphor, this would be your building, furniture, collateral, displays, etc.
- An email configuration: Email is your communication system online. In the same way that you would hire someone to wire an office for phone service, you must set up an email configuration for your site. There are a myriad of options when it comes to setting up your email system.
- Documentation: Often overlooked but of critical importance is your website documentation! You MUST have, IN WRITING AND VERIFIED, the access information to manage your domain name account and hosting account (they may be combined). If your developer has provided this, try out your usernames and passwords and make sure they work. If you don’t have this you’ll want to get it. You should also have a CD back up of all of your files - especially source files- and instructions for working with any specialty components on your site. I make a lot of money tracking this information down for folks … get it yourself and save time/money/hassle.
Optional goodies:
- An e-commerce system (typically consisting of store software, a database, a merchant account, a payment gateway, and an SSL certificate): In our real world metaphor, this would be your shop. There are many, many options for e-commerce from do-it-yourself monthly fee-based accounts to fully customizable software packages. I don’t currently offer e-commerce solutions but I recommend Dr. Internet.
- Multimedia such as animation, video, audio, etc.: This would be YouTube, podcasts, animated intros or product demos, interactive slideshows, etc. You can think of it as the eye-catching graphics and displays that greet your clients when they walk in.
- Newsletter sign up boxes: While it’s easy to write an email and address it to all 300 people in your Contacts list, this is neither cool nor legal. The Can-Spam Act of 2003 made it illegal to send Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE). In addition to being annoying and a turn off, it’s also ineffective as your message is likely to go into Spam/Junk filters. A much better option is to use services like Constant Contact. This is a web-based service which is easy to use, produces beautiful communications, and complies to regulations, offers full reporting …all for a low monthly fee. I use it, love it, and offer an inexpensive starter package.
- Forms, site search boxes, mp3 players, and other interactive components: These can either be integral parts of your site or fun extras. Forms provide easy email communication and also to enable you to remove email addresses from your site (thereby decreasing the likelihood of having them harvested by spammers).
