Blog "Fast Dynamic SEO" Stages of creating a website. Before you start

The website is a necessary part of any business. And if you are a professional in your business than the creation of a website is a completely different topic. Especially if your business has nothing to do with computers.

Most of the people who want to get a website even do not know how to start. Often they make mistakes. They believe that the most important thing is to find a designer or someone else, who will do this for you. Yes, it's really better to let the specialist deal with technical issues, but the main part of the job you should do by yourself.

Here I want to tell you about the stages of creating a website. And you will see that the cooperation with the technician in this list will not be in the first place. I'd say, importance of website components distributes like this:

Stages of creating a website

• 1. 80% is professional basis:
  • 1.1. Idea
  • 1.2. Structure and schema
  • 1.3. Content
• 2. 15% is design
• 3. 5% is website layout

At the last stages, a SEO specialist will join and give recommendations regarding the formation of the correct content and control the technical specifications for the search engine requirements.

So, it looks logical and very clear, does not it? So what's the difficulty? The difficulty is that people underestimate the first step. And often the task looks like this:

"We need to make a website, that there be information about our project and about what we do. And yes, it should be nice and comfy"

No! As you understand this is not a task, it's just a desire. We'll explain how to do it competently.

1.1. Idea

You create a site in order to do some tasks. Most often task is just to simplify your life and business. Well, in the future, you want to sell more of your services and get a new source of customers. But you should understand those are 2 different tasks so you might want two different sites.

To make everything clear, let's consider a website for example for small businesses offers some services and sales a number of related products. It can be a fitness center, a photo studio, a beauty center, a tattoo salon. Or you just have a hobby and you would like it hobby bring you extra income.

Minimum required information on the website

It's not enough just to introduce yourself and what you do. You must inspire confidence in the client, prove that you understand the issue. And if you are a professional in your area, then you can tell a lot about the different sides of all your services. You have already answered the same questions over and over again on the phone or during personal meetings.

Your next simplest task will be to write down a list of questions that your clients ask you by phone or in person. On the Internet, people want the same information. For example, this could be:

• Do you have an office?
• What kind of services do you provide?
• What are the conditions for cooperation?
• Could you come to us and do {your service} here?
• Do you work in another a city-district?
• Where are you located and how to find you?
• How to contact you? Your email, phone, address?
• What is your rates for {your service}?
• Are there any packages?
• What is your working hours?
• Are you available on that date?
• What about the guarantees?
• What about your certificates?
• Are you professional?
• Do you have a delivery service?
• What are the payment options?
• Tell me more about {your product}
• What is it better {your product #1} or {your product #2}?

Does that sound familiar? Of course, this list is very general and approximate. Your list of questions will be longer and more exact for your project. And we strongly recommend you to spend some time on it and write it down. This will also greatly help you at the next stages. You can put answers to these questions on the site. Perhaps in the form of a list of "question-answer". But better to answer some questions in form of articles in separate sections.

All these functions are a simple "business card site". But at this stage, you have solved only one issue.

Yours.

You have simplified your life. You will get out of a part of "empty calls" which just wastes your time.

We are developing this idea. Let's make your website profitable

At this stage, you are already beginning to think about the client. To help you generate the necessary data, you need to answer the questions:

• How your business solve the customer problem?
• Why are you better than others?

Let's take a look at them in more details.

How your business solve the customers problem?

An answer on this question you will be able to add information to your site that will attract new customers to you.

Write down what problems and issues have customers when they contact you and what you can do with it. Make the largest possible list of problems and solutions. And if this list is very large, then it will just need to be grouped.

For example, briefly the answers to this question may sound like this (Issue → Desire → Your solution → Solved problem):

• I have extra weight → I want to get rid of it → We have courses for weight loss → It helps burn up to 10 kg per month!
• I will have a wedding, but I don't know how to pose → I want nice pictures → Our photographer helps to be in a natural state → Your wedding pictures will amaze everyone!
• I'm going to a business party and I have only 1 hour → I must have a perfect look → Our salon has 3 separate professionals and they can do everything at the same time → You will be in time and great!

Again, please, write it all down. Do not form your answers only in your imagination.

Why are you better than others?

No one knows your business better than you. Here you should write down all your competitive advantages. And note that high and guaranteed quality, as well as an individual approach, is what the client wants to get "by default". So this is not something unique. And it can't be your competitive advantages. Of course you can and even should write about it, but there must be something else as competitive advantages. In marketing books, this is called the "Unique Selling Propositions".

For example:

• Convenient location of the office/studio
• Wide range of services
• A lot of narrow specialized specialists
• Huge work experience
• Reputation, prizes, awards
• Low price
• Wide range of services at any price
• Unique product
• High-quality suppliers and cooperation with global brands

And this is only titles of your propositions. You should explain it. Don't worry about quality of your texts now. You can describe it in your own words.

What else can be on the website that will help you in sales?

Everything what you have, for example:

• Portfolio.
• The results of the work "before and after" or the story of "where they started and what they got".
• If there are goods that you sell, there must be descriptions of them with all photos, characteristics, video reviews.
• Stages of cooperation with you.
• Reviews about your work.

Result

You have written down and prepared in different folders on your computer the answers to all questions, examples of work. You prepared lists of your competitive advantages. Now you can proceed to the next stage.

But I see it's already a huge article. And I will continue this topic in a few days later.