Being present online to at least a certain degree is a great idea in the modern world. Computer technology and the internet do not just rule the world, they drive it towards progress and prosperity. Establishing an online presence, however, can be somewhat challenging or, at least more challenging than it seems. Yes, you can create a public page for your business on Facebook, Instagram, and many other social media, yet that will have only a limited effect. To really go for it in the virtual space, you must create your very own space, the website. And, while that can be a fun thing to do, there are still lots of things to consider, especially if you have little to no experience or only starting your business.
Ingredients of a Successful Website
Creating a website that can bring you some positive output is a pretty challenging task to perform, even if you don’t do it with your own bare hands. While there are lots of quite obvious factors to consider that influence the success of your website, there are still many pitfalls that can mess you up pretty badly. While it’s pretty obvious that to sell something online or create an best essay help websites, you might consider a different structure or interface for your very own online space. At the same time, selecting an appropriate design, host, domain, developing the right backend architecture, and many other things don’t seem as clear.
As you work with technology, you might not understand all aspects of it entirely, even if you study computer science or development at college or university. There is a reason why developers work in teams, and that’s not because they don’t want to get bored. When you work with website development, lots of things have to be considered.
Things to Know Before Creating a Website
Yet, as a student, you likely have to work on it either on your own or with only one specialist at your disposal. So, how do you manage to cope with all the stress that one team experiences? Well, here are a few technical things for you to remember before you develop your site.
- Appropriate design
It might seem like an easy thing to work with, however, picking a proper design for your website is a thing that must be approached with exceptional thoroughness. Here, you must consider not only the color palette or the image quality for your webpages. Navigation, amount of text, text orientation, potential localization, interactivity, and many other things play the role just as important as images, fonts, and colors. If you feel like you’re definitely going to have issues with that, check out these 5 best design courses for students and pick the one that might suit your needs. You’ll learn not only about web design but also about the visual aspect of any product overall.
- Proper domain name and host
You’ve probably heard of such things but may not entirely know what they mean exactly. Essentially, a domain name was invented to replace the IP address that every website has. Domain names are stored in different domain name systems (DNS), which might differ regarding quality, reliability, and purpose. Getting registered in a bigger DNS means that your website will be easier to find. So, it’s a bit more than just a line of text you enter into your browser’s URL bar. At the same time, the host is a provider of the web packages needed for your website, including the data storage and traffic capability.
- Backend
This word alone is known to programmers and non-programmers as something pretty complex and challenging to maintain, to say the least. Essentially, the backend of your website is the owner’s side of the whole venture. An adequately coded backend stores the website’s users’ information, transfers the feedback of your customers to you, and holds the user’s side together overall. In order to develop a great backend for your site, you might even need a separate developer, which can cost quite a lot. That’s why there’s an option of using a content management system like WordPress. The CMS can be handled manually by their users and are pretty low-cost, depending on your plan.
- UI/UX design
Although these are some essential parts of the web design aspect of the website, they are still worthy of a separate mention. It’s hard to understand the difference and the line between UI (user interface) and UX (user experience). The general idea, however, is that a great user interface must visually appeal to the customer, while a greatly designed user experience takes your customer on a journey, rather than just another online session. Whereas UI is more about the looks, UX is more about the brains.
- SEO-friendly code and architecture
Search engine optimization is not just a fancy term but a rather serious consideration when it comes to designing a really good website. While many may notice that successful SEO largely depends on the website’s content, it’s not the only aspect. In order for the website to appear higher in the search results, its code must be optimized to the standards of Google, as well as be rather plain and simple, so that the users’ browsers could process it faster. Not only this small and relatively easy trick can improve your website’s searchability but also can improve your customers’ user experience.
Not All that Glitters is Gold
A good and successful website is not only the one that looks fancy and evidently provokes the user to action. A website that truly works for you, no matter what kind of business you’re running exactly, is the one that makes the user’s visit as smooth as possible, even to the point of being unnoticeable. Nobody has ever complained that this or that website is easy to navigate through or has a minimalist design. At the same time, lots of people may complain that the site is loading for too long or doesn’t contain what they need, while it was actually placed on the most visible spot.
BIO:
When asked about her hobby, Elizabeth Baldridge tends to respond, “my job.” And no, she’s not a workaholic or an insane person. Working as a traveling blogger who shares her experience with as many people as possible, Elizabeth can proudly say that her job brings her all the joy and refreshment of hundreds of hobbies.