CONNECTIONS

–Vinh Bui, WebMaster

1. Get a domain name. Try to secure one as close to your name/company name as possible. Beyond that, It is always a good policy to buy a few domains. Think in terms of extra domains that describe the service or product that you are offering. The reason is twofold: services and products are easier to remember than company or person names. Search engines (Google, etc.) will associate the domain name with your website, therefore your product or service domain will help you rank higher for those specific products or services.

And remember, once you buy it, you can route it to your company site (one can route as many domains as he or she wants to the same website).

You should never pay more than $10 dollars for a domain name (unless of course you would like to buy something like business.com, photography.com, etc.) I recommend GoDaddy (godaddy.com) or register.com for all of your domain services.

Never host your website where you buy your domain name. In the event that you fall out of favor with your host or your domain name provider, you don’t want that company to have control over both your domain name and your website.

2. Think about what you want your site to look like. It’s always financially prudent to think about the general look and feel of your future website before you hire a web designer, graphic designer or programmer to build your website. Think about colors, concepts, quotes, bylines, logos, materials (images, copy, etc) Other considerations might be:

• What do I want the website to help me accomplish?
• What is my audience?
• How will the look and feel of my future website help me sell my product
or service(s)?

3. Check out the competition. What do you like/dislike about their site? How do they reach/fail to reach their audience? What are their weaknesses? What are their strengths? What are your specific limits and what are theirs?

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing, sizing up the competition is critical. The internet is a very open place and often times all of the knowledge you need to solve a problem is at your fingertips. Here’s a tip… find out what keyword terms your competition is going after and which ones they’ve let go by simply typing in words related to your product or service.

4. Have a table of contents – The standard basic website layout is: Home, About Us, Products and Services, Testimonials and of course, Contact Us. Generally it’s a good idea to stick to the basics but if you can add something that’s specific to your industry, something catchy and viral (viral marketing) then you’ll catch people’s interest. For example, if you specialize in a particular type of law, then you could have case studies blog related to interesting case studies in your field.

Furthermore, a blog (on site or off site) is critical to any online business these days. It generates fresh related content for search engines and provides a more direct form of communication with your visitors (usually a good thing).

5. Have an idea of what you want to spend. Always go into a preliminary meeting with your web professional with an idea of what your budget is and see what he or she can do with that budget. If there are certain services or applications that you need to implement but don’t have the budget for, perhaps they can be developed gradually over time.

Always ask whether or not you need a content managements system (CMS) – most companies do. If you need to call your web designer or developer every time you need to update your testimonials or news pages, the costs can get ugly. Content Management Systems can increase development or upfront costs, but will save you time and money in the long run.

A final word on cost: Web design and development costs vary from place to place and company or individual. Often times higher costs relate to longer experience and knowledge in the industry. Be cautious. Experience does not necessarily equate with expertise. For example, A web designer might have all the experience in the world when it comes to actual site design, but if they don’t know the ins and outs of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) a high end price may not be justified.

Vinh Bui is a webmaster in Los Angeles, CA. His firm — Omnipresence Web – designs high-value, search engine-friendly websites for all manner of client and purpose – including online marketing (SEO and SEM).?

626.429.9407 • vinh@omnipresenceweb.com (new website coming soon)

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