Good planning can help avoid most pitfalls and turn what could have been a huge disaster into a small challenge. It’s amazing to me how many people launch a website without doing a little basic planning, and even more astonishing is how many people plan their website, but never plan how to drive qualified traffic to their website.

Planning a website is much like planning a business. You have to come up with a name, the purpose, who your target market is, what benefit you are going to provide to them and how you’re going to tell that target “I’m here and this is what I can do for you.”

Have a support plan for you website

Another important part of any businesses or website is support. How are you planning on supporting your visitors/customers? Even before they are customers there are things you can do to support those visitors by teaching them, providing tips and ways for them to improve their lives or their business. It’s about providing value to them without asking for money in return.

Some articles in this series that I will be posting soon are:

1. Choosing the right domain name for your website
2. Research so you can have a more effective website
3. Creating a site map and content outline for your website
4. Making a beautiful web design that works
5. Formatting your website content for optimum results

Be patient and use professionals

Knowing how important planning your website is I ask you to please, please, please do not skip any steps, or avoid something because it is too much of an investment. If you have the expertise to do certain things yourself then do it, but if you’re not a professional at it and you really want your website to be successful, then save up and use a professional. There’s nothing wrong with waiting. Your website is not going to be an overnight success, so you’re going to have to wait for that also. Patience is important

Stay tuned for the part 2: Choosing the right domain name for your website