// January 12th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // How To, The Internet
I have created a few websites and blogs over the years and each time I tend to do exactly the same things in terms of setup, design and marketing. In the early stages of creating a new site, each site is pretty much the same no matter what kind of content you are going to upload.
Every website needs a domain name and a host server. The domain name is normally dependant on the type of site you are launching and choosing a host will depends on your needs. Unless you have a massive website with a lot of videos, music and photos, generally the basic hosting package is enough. Most good hosts now offer anywhere between 1 and 5 GB of storage as their basic package, storage shouldn’t initially be an problem.
Other things to consider when looking for a web host are mySQL databases, PHP, ASP, Windows or Linux and E-Mail addresses. It will depend on your needs as to whether you need a Windows or Linux based server, but generally Linux servers are cheaper and support both PHP and mySQL. If you are creating an ASP or .NET based site then you’ll normally need a Windows box.
In terms of design I normally create the site for 800×600 browsers as when I was taught web design this was the most common screen resolution. I should probably increase this now as monitors are getting bigger and bigger. It is also a good idea to test the site in a number of web browsers as they all interprete HTML differently.
Once the site is uploaded to your server, the next task is to bring traffic to the site. There are a number of things I do to get the site bringing in some traffic.
- Submit your site to search engines: There are plenty of free websites where you can submit your URL to search engines. Most services will submit your site to Google and Yahoo, and also a bunch of other search engines.
- Add an XML site map to Google: To assist Google in finding your web pages you should create an XML sitemap and upload it. If you search for “Google XML sitemap” you’ll find a number of websites who offer this service.
- Social networks: Submit a few pages of your site to social bookmark networks such as Digg and StumbleUpon. Twitter is also a good way to promote a new site.
- Forums: If you find a few forums that cover the topic of your website then add it to your signature and make a few posts. Don’t just create a new post to advertise your new site as it will most probably get you banned or your post removed.
Once the site is up and running, designed and listed in the search engines, then it is time to improve the site and generate more traffic. No project is ever complete…
What do you religiously do each time you create a new site?
