Getting Started: The 4 things that you need to create a website

There are 4 things required to create a website.  Here is what you will need:

1. A Website Host (The place to keep or store your website on the web)
2. A Domain (The address for your website)
3. A Website Design (The look and layout)
4. Content (The information that people come to your website for)

If creating a website is something very new to you and the 4 above requirements don’t completely make sense here is a good way to think about the virtual world in terms of the physical world.

1) The website host is where your business is located.  This will be a server located at some kind of secure data center.  It is like the building or office space that a physical business rents to offer its products or services from.

2) The domain is like the address, only rather than saying you are located at the corner of Main and Chestnut St., you give people your domain address, or URL, and they type that into their browser to get to your website located on your hosting server.

3) The website design is like the style of decor that gives your business it’s own look and feel.  It is also the layout of your business.  If you sell clothes, you don’t just toss them in a pile in the middle of the floor, you don’t make the aisles into a maize.  A dentists office doesn’t just have the dentist chair right inside the front door, no there is a reception area with someone to greet you when you walk in and a waiting area for you to sit down.  A lot of attention is given to the look of a website, but the layout should be given equal consideration

4) The first three requirements are each there to facilitate the fourth requirement.  The content is the purpose of your website.  Without the content the rest is pointless, and believe me there are plenty of websites out there that fulfill the first three requirements only to fail miserably on delivering any kind of meaningful content.  If you aren’t going to provide visitors to your website with any kind of useful information, service, or products then don’t bother.  Without meaningful content `you are just adding to the noise.

Action Items:

If you don’t already have a domain, decide on what domain you want to use.  Chances are your first few considerations will already be taken.  Here is some help:

1. First read this post about techniques on how to choose a domain.
2. Go to Powerpipe.com and use their name brainstorming tool to help come up with specific ideas.
3. Once you decide on a name that is available you can purchase your domain using Powerpipe.com.