Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

So you want to build a successful website for your small business? We have launched a brand new step process for you to make that happen. “11 Steps to a Successful Website” is an easy-to-follow roadmap that can used by anyone to build a successful site.

Presented by Microsoft Office Live, you’ll find resources you need to choose and buy software, do the work yourself or hire a pro, and even understand the technical jargon that so often scares people away from setting up shop in the web’s business boomtown.

Follow these 11 steps to create a successful website:

1. Plan Your Web Presence
2. Choose DIY or Go with a Pro
3. Select the Tools for Making Your Home on the Web
4. Make Key Design Decisions
5. Learn the Code (but Only What You Must)
6. Identify the Best Software for Words & Images
7. Take Control Over the Look, Feel and Function
8. Optimize Your Site for Search Engines
9. Put All the Parts Together
10. Take your Website Live!
11. Constantly Tend to Your Website

We’re certain that the extremely smart StartupNation community will have a great deal of additional insight and ideas to share on each of the steps. Be sure to start or add to a discussion of each step by clicking on the ‘Discuss this’ links. Let’s keep the “by entrepreneurs  for entrepreneurs” mantra going strong.

I think that I am going to go over this again ... read it thoroughly.

Mm....I dunno. I like that there`s this 11-step guide. SuN is well-developed in offering all sorts of stepped How-To guides, and this is a hot topic for sure.

On the other hand, from what I`ve seen on the many previous forum topics, Web development falls into two categories, in this context:

• People who have a fairly decent understanding of "web," "html," "code," and "site."
• People who have no idea what "the Web" means, how it works, or what happens underneath the clicking on buttons.

The problem for anyone writing about how to put together a Web site is that either you`re writing to people who feel overwhelmed, trying to do this, or to people who want to know everything because it`s a brand-new idea.

"DYI" doesn`t only apply to building and coding one`s own page. It also applies to the countless design and development companies who give the client a deer-in-the-headlights look, asking "Okay...we can do it. What do you want?"

Maybe there should be two different versions of this? "How to ask for and get what you want from a development company," and "How to get started building your own Web site." Maybe?

I also think it`s going to be hard to get objective feedback from the forum community, as opposed to the SuN community in general. Look at what happened when that topic came up about a book describing what goes into an effective Web site. It got pretty heated.

This is definitely a useful set of steps, though. Do you have a way to track not only the number of views, but also the time a viewer stays on each step?

Craig,

You are right on.  We definitely make use of our website analytics at StartupNation.com, including the amount of time (on average) spent on a page, as well as exit rates, total pageviews, and returns visits. 

Both your and Nicole`s feedback are exactly what we are looking for.  I`d recommend starting a discussion thread on any step that you feel is missing something, could use a deeper dive, or on real-life examples of putting some of the practices/steps to use. 

We`re capturing all your comments and will put these to use in tweaking, improving, and evaluating this new Steps program. 

We all know that thousands of books have been written regarding building websites, and we recognize that this doesn`t capture every detail, but we felt that this was a great launching platform for the product...and will now look to the community to take ownership of it and tell us where to guide it. 

Have a GREAT Memorial Day Weekend SUNNIES!!!! 

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Brian Cleveland,
Web Producer,
StartupNation

I dunno, Brian. There`ve been some extensive conversations on other topics about what goes into putting together a Web site. Back when I joined SuN, I think Ross had posted the "What do you hate about a Web site" topic. Since then, I know there`ve been all those others.

Let`s see what happens on this thread. Good to know that you`re tracking the time spent on the pages. I`d think that if you get high times on the first few topics, with a declining curve, it`s because people aren`t getting what they thought out of the article. What to DO about that....well, that`s a whole other issue. Maybe let`s have some time as it is, and see what happens. :-)

I think we should spend more time on reading the article and thinking of the meaning. Of course only theory is not enough. We should spend more time to fill it with our working.

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Choose Seriouswholesale, choose your life!
Welcome to http://www.seriouswholesale.com.

I know it is a late posting, but I enjoyed reading some of the 11 steps, particularly the part about SEO.  I`m glad I know that no one can guarantee a high ranking because I just got a solicitation call yesterday for such a service and was considering going with it.  I can manage to take a lot of those steps myself, finding the time for a blog though is a must, regardless of how much less sleep I get.  I need to find out more about submitting press releases on blog spots???  I heard just a little bit about it.  Any advice would be great, obviously only if my comment made sense!

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Tammy Richardson, President
Tape-Seal by Greystone Design, Inc.
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602-677-1930 office
602-434-7182 Tammy`s mobile
jprichardson@cox.net or
TRichardson73@cox.net
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