Building a website can be a great way to grow your business and reach more customers. However, there are many factors that you should consider before you get started. In this guide, we'll discuss some important things to think about before building your new website so that you can make the most of your investment.

Pick a great website name carefully

If you plan to build a website, then picking a great name is one of the most important decisions you will make.

A good domain name should be easy to remember, easy to spell, and type. If it's hard for people who know you well to remember your website address or spell it correctly on the first try, then chances are it's not memorable.

A good name should also convey the type of business you are in and of course your business name. If you're an accountant and your domain name is something like "mikelikespies.com", then people might be confused as to what kind of business you actually do. You may want to consider including what you do in your domain name.

Scope out the competition

It's important to consider what the competition is doing. This is where competitive analysis comes in handy - it allows you to understand what the website experience is like from your competition, and take note of what's missing from their site or items you didn't even consider. We're not trying to duplicate but being aware of the competition will help you rationalize your own website decisions.

A comprehensive competitive analysis will help you understand:

Your competitor's strengths/weaknesses;
Your competitor's target audience; and
The design of their website (and why)
How they speak to their customers
Do they make it easy for visitors to engage with them online

This will help you to better understand how to approach your own site, and how to position yourself against the competition.

The best places to find your competitors online are through Google search, social media platform searches leveraging relevant hashtags, and localized hashtag searches.

What is your brand messaging?

It's important to define the brand messaging that will guide all of the pages on your website. This helps ensure that each page conveys a consistent message across your website. It also ensures that each page has a clear purpose in relation to the other pages on your site.

By having a clearly defined brand messaging strategy, you'll be able to:

Define who your audience is and what they need from you (for example, "Our target audience is female entrepreneurs interested in starting their own businesses.")
Identify what makes you different than any other competitors or similar brands (for example, "We offer free business coaching.")
Express why people should choose you over them (for example, "We understand the challenges of being an entrepreneur better than anyone else because we have been there ourselves.")

A brand messaging strategy is a set of principles and values that will guide the entire site and your marketing efforts. It should be the first thing that you do because it impacts all content that will be written on your website.

What actions do you want visitors to take on your site?

Before you start building your website, it's important to think about what you want visitors to do on your site. For example, what actions do you want them to take? This will help determine the kinds of pages and content that need to be included on your site.

For example:

Call-to-action (CTA) buttons may include "subscribe" or "download."
Subscription forms are used when a user wants automatic updates from a company or service by receiving emails.
Forms for rating products or services allow customers who have already purchased something from the company an opportunity for feedback about their experience with it; this is where reviews come into play as well.
Make purchases and checkout easily
Learn about your products or service

Decide on the primary focus and purpose of your site to reach the goal of your website. Then you can start to factor in the types of interactions that will help you reach those goals on your site.

Professional Photography

It may seem obvious, but your photography is what people will see when they first visit your site. It's important to make sure that whatever images you include are high quality and accurately represent your business or brand.

If you have any experience with photography at all, it might seem like a no-brainer to take your own pictures for your site. But hiring a photographer can actually save you time and money, and give you more control over the quality of your images.

Professional photographers have years of experience with lighting, composition, and posing. They know how to make even the most awkward subjects look their best. They also know how to shoot in different environments — from outdoor fields to studio settings — and how to adjust their equipment accordingly. And they won't leave anything out of frame that happens to be nearby but isn't directly related to your product or service (i.e., there won't be random people in the background of photos).

With so many variables involved in taking good photos, especially when it comes to lighting and composition, it's easy for novice photographers (and even experienced ones) to end up with pictures that don't look as good as they could have with just a little more effort — or simply by hiring someone who knows what they're doing.

Consider a professional website designer

There are plenty of DIY website builders out there. They're also there so you can follow templates exactly. However, consider a trained designer who is able to help you navigate through best practices when it comes to user experience, photography, layout, call to action, and overall assisting you with meeting your website goals.

You may also spend a lot of time second-guessing your own handy work. Investing in a web designer will save you time and money in the long run.

As you can see, there are lots of things to consider before building a website. We hope this guide has helped you think about what kind of site you want to create and possible considerations.

If you’re still unsure about any aspect of your online presence, don’t be afraid to reach out to us.

Thinking about building a website? We can help! Reach out to us on our contact page.

What to consider before building a website