During my most recent “Blog Writing for Business” class, a conversation came up regarding how to select a web designer and what I suggest you have in place before you hire one to design a website for your business or brand.

The information in this post will help you prepare for your website’s creation* and ensure that all of your website tools are registered in your name (not the web designer’s name).

*You can use most of the steps below when preparing to have a website built on any website platform. However, in this post, I am referencing and recommending WordPress websites only.

Here are the steps for you to begin the website preparation process:

1. Purchase Your Domain Name – make sure you choose the name of your business (ex. socialmediawithromona.com) or personal brand (ex. romonafoster.com) for your domain name. Doing this will help you to be consistent with your brand.

Also, choose a .com or .org (if you are a nonprofit). .edu’s are for educational institutions. Try to stay away from .net if at all possible as .com’s are the most popular among domain name extensions. You may also use a .shop if you have an e-commerce store.

Remember again, to make sure your domain name is consistent with your brand, and make sure that it is easy to remember and not too long.

2. Get Managed WordPress Hosting – you will need hosting in order for the web designer to begin working on your website. Without a website hosting plan, you cannot put your website online.

I recommend that you purchase the Managed WordPress Hosting Deluxe, not the Managed WordPress Basic Hosting as the Basic Plan comes with weekly backups meaning your host only creates a backup of your website once a week not a daily backup which is what every website needs. Daily website backups will ensure that if your website crashes, you can restore it to the last day the site was active.

WordPress hosting is a type of web hosting that’s specifically designed so that WordPress websites can achieve maximum speed, performance, and security. It pays special attention to the technical and security requirements of WordPress and usually offers a simple, 1-click installation or migration. ~ GoDaddy

3. SSL Certificate – as of July 2018, Google announced that they will no longer index websites that are not secure. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer and changes your website URL from http:// to https://. Sites that do not have SSL can only be found if someone has your actual website address and type it in. Non-SSL sites will not be found if someone searches for ‘Daycare in DC’ for example. Only the secure sites will show up in the search.

You can recognize a secure website by finding the lock to the left of the website’s URL in your web browser’s address bar.

GoDaddy, Bluehost, and other hosting companies now include SSL certificates with their hosting plans.

Be sure to pay attention to what is included in your hosting plan, so that you do not purchase SSL if you do not need it. I mention this because more than once, I have logged in to a client’s hosting account only to find they paid for an SSL certificate separate from their hosting plan when in fact their hosting plan came with an SSL certificate. DO NOT trust the hosting company to tell you, “Oh no, you don’t need that” because most likely they will not.

4. Choose Your WordPress Theme – there are many places online where you can purchase a WordPress theme, but Themeforest is one of the most popular places to get one. DO NOT allow the web designer to choose your theme for you as you want to be sure it is in line with your mission and vision. What they envision for you may not even come close to what you have in mind for your business or brand.

Here’s how to do an effective search on Themeforest:

• Search for your industry or category such as ‘personal brand WordPress’, ‘daycare WordPress’, ‘e-commerce WordPress’, etc.

• Then, check out the reviews for the theme(s) that you are interested in.

• Check to see that the theme was updated within the last few months.

• Make sure that the theme offers support.

• Finally, check out the comments to see how the theme developer interacts with people when they ask questions. Do not buy the theme if they are unhelpful or unkind in their responses.

5. Put together the content that will go on your website – now that you have your theme, use it as a guide for the names of your web pages (Home, About, Services, Products, Blog, Contact for example). Then:

• Open up a Word document or notepad on your computer or phone and lay out each page as you envision them.

• Add the home page content (text, photos, videos, etc.) on one page of the Word document or notepad.

• Do the same for each subsequent page.

6. Keywords (Search Engine Optimization or SEO) – WordPress is so powerful because it allows you to optimize your website for search engines by using keyword tags and categories. Give the web designer a list of keywords that people will use to find what you are offering.

If the web designer is an SEO, they will be able to help you find your most relevant keywords.

Please be aware that web designers may tell you that they are SEOs or that they will do SEO on your website, but in doing website audits I have seen on many occasions client sites with no back-end SEO or on-page SEO performed even after the client has paid for the SEO service. Be sure to ask the web designer to show proof that SEO was performed on your website.

If you’d like to do your own keyword research, I recommend you use a reputable SEO tool like SEMRush. It will also allow you to analyze your competitors’ SEO (keywords and backlinks).

7. Google Analytics Code – be sure to give the web developer your Google Analytics code, which will track your website traffic and other activity on your site. DO NOT allow them to set up your Google Analytics account for you as many will add your website to their Google Analytics dashboard and you will not have direct access to your account.

If you’d like them to do it for you, make sure they have access to your Google account to set it up.

8. Meta Pixel (formerly Facebook Pixel) – the same as with your Google Analytics code, be sure to give the web developer your Facebook Pixel, which will track traffic between your Facebook page and your website. Here’s how Facebook describes the Facebook Pixel.

When someone visits your website and takes an action (for example, buying something), the Facebook pixel is triggered and reports this action. This way, you’ll know when a customer took an action after seeing your Facebook ad.

You may alternatively use WordPress.com to create your website. Some say it is easier, but it is not my preference.

There are many differences between using WordPress.com and taking the above steps. For instance, WordPress.com does not have customer support like GoDaddy’s 24/7 customer service through phone, email, and chat. For WordPress.com support, you have to use their online support guides and community forums to ask for help.

I hope this will help you understand more about how to get ready for the building of your new website.

If after reading this, you’d like to hire me to build your WordPress website, click here to schedule your web design service complete with a 2-hour WordPress Consultation where we will discuss your website vision and bring your WordPress website to life!

 

Resources:

• WordPress.com
• How to Install Google Site Kit Plugin for WordPress A Step-by-Step Guide to Site Kit By Google
• How to Setup Your Google AdSense Account (So You Can Get Paid!)
• How Do I Buy A Domain Name?

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I may get commissions for purchases made through affiliate links on this page. This helps me to continue to create free content such as blog posts and how-to videos. Know that I will only recommend products and services from companies I trust, tools I’ve used, and those that I highly recommend and feel may be of value to you and beneficial to your marketing efforts.