Over the 30 years that the World Wide Web has been in operation, it has completely remodeled our lives in ways we couldn’t imagine. With one or two clicks or an effortless voice command, we can have our essentials delivered to our doorstep within minutes, or we can communicate with our friends across the globe, thanks to quality websites.

According to Statistica, there are about 1.7 billion websites globally, although the number keeps fluctuating daily as new websites are launched while others are lost. With over 4.3 billion people being active internet users, having a quality website is crucial for any company to grow in this day and age. Here are website development tips that will enable your website to compete in the online marketplace.

1. Choose the Perfect Domain Name

The domain name is the URL you type in a browser’s search bar that pinpoints a web page. Thus, the domain name is, most often than not, the point of entry to the site. That’s why the domain name is essential to make a good impression on users and website optimization.

Below are the pointers to look out for when choosing the domain name:

• Keep It Short and Simple: A website’s domain name must be kept short and simple to make it easily memorable. The shorter and simpler the name is, the easier it will be for users to type the website address correctly. In addition, one should avoid using slang, obscure words, and made-up words.
• Must be Relevant: The domain name is the first item visitors interact with before getting to the site. This being the case, the name must match with the information that the site specializes in or what it does. However, one should ensure that the domain name is broad enough to cover for future growth. A good website example is Amazon.com, whose domain name is not tied to what they sell, but is relevant.
• Avoid Hyphens and Numbers: Adding hyphens and numbers to a site’s domain name makes it look unprofessional. Hyphens and numbers are hard for visitors to remember, they can easily be missed while typing, and they lack aesthetic appeal to the eye. It is advisable to choose a word-only domain.
• Choose an SEO-friendly Website Address: Search Engine Optimization is essential for a site to rank high in the search engine. A SEO-friendly URL tells the user what the site is all about even without them clicking it. Thus, if possible, a website creator should develop a domain name that includes keywords and location in their URL.
• Do Research on the Domain Name: After coming up with a domain name, one must search to find out whether it already exists or not. There are over 1.7 billion websites out there and, thus, billions of domain names already exist. If the name already exists, one should look for another unique domain name.

2. Settle for the Right Website Builder

As it is commonly known, a website builder or content management system, is a program used to manage and create digital content. Builders are increasingly gaining traction among web developers today, as they make site building easy, hassle-free, and quick regardless of whether one has the technical skills or not. The builders pay attention to the technical terminology of web design and allow website creators to concentrate on designing the website’s architecture.

Different builders use different methods to build websites. For example, some use templates, while others use the drag-and-drop option. Different builders are designed to meet different unique needs such as accessibility, extensibility, and user-friendliness. One should, therefore, settle for a content management system that is mapped out for their unique needs.

Some popular website builders include WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, Squarespace, and Wix. Most of these content management systems offer a free trial option before one buys a monthly plan. Website creators can use these free trials to test the different builders to find out which works for them and satisfy their needs.

3. Pick the Right Website Hosting Provider

For a website to be visible on the internet, one must seek the technology and services of a website hosting provider. The hosting provider connects with the site’s domain name so that visitors are shown the website stored on one’s hosting account when users visit their site address. Hosting providers charge for their hosting services, ranging between $2 and $200 monthly, depending on the support and technology one chooses.

Here are the different website hosting plans to choose from:

• Shared Server Plan: Shared server hosting plan enables one to share a server machine and its services with other clients. The downside to this plan is that if other sites are hacked, the possibility of one’s site being affected is high. In addition, the shared server machine affects the performance of the websites connected to it. But, the shared server is cheap as one has to part with $2 monthly only.
• Virtual Private Server Plan: In a virtual private server plan, one server machine is partitioned in order to perform as multiple server machines. This plan offers the affordability of shared hosting and the website security of the dedicated server plan. The cost of the Virtual Private Server plan is between $20 and $50 monthly.
• Dedicated Server Plan: Dedicated server hosting plan entirely dedicates a server machine to a site. Since all the server services are dedicated to one site, this plan enables the site to perform optimally. The cost of the dedicated server plan is between $100 and $2000 monthly, thus, making it the most highly-priced plan option.

4. Choose an Ideal Website Design and Architecture

A web page must have a great and user interactive design to increase website traffic. According to web credibility research, 75 percent of internet users judge a site’s credibility by looking at its website design. Fortunately, most website builders provide web design support by offering templates that one can choose.

To create an ideal design, one must use easy-to-read fonts and beautiful graphics to ensure that the interface makes an impression on users. The graphics used must be optimized and compressed to reduce their size and guarantee fast loading, improving the website’s analytics. In addition, it is vital to research the graphics the competitors have used in their sites to compare notes and apply similar elements that make sense.

The web design that website creators choose should have an automatic navigation system to allow visitors to navigate through pages quickly. In addition, the web design must incorporate call-to-action buttons and should allow the publishing of easily accessible contact information. Websites should have a consistent web design and website logo throughout the web pages to build the brand and improve website ranking. A good design improves website accessibility.

5. Display your Description on the Website’s Homepage

Internet users don’t have time in their hands to read every piece of information on a website and evaluate it. On average, they spend 5.94 seconds at a site’s homepage. This being the case, one should let users know what they are all about on the website homepage to avoid confusion and save users’ time. In addition, it is crucial to ensure that the About Us button in the footer and main navigation menu is easily accessible if users want to know more about what the site does.

6. Choose the Right E-commerce Platform and Install Webmaster Tools

Websites that specialize in the online sale of goods and services need this technology. Additionally, websites that allow visitors to do their financial transactions online, need a platform for their business model. Below are the popular e-commerce platforms:

• Shopify: Shopify allows website creators to customize and create online stores and manage inventory, products, shipping, and payments. The platform is a standalone platform, and it is hosted on the server. Shopify features include discount codes, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited products, among others.
• WooCommerce: WooCommerce is a flexible e-commerce platform that turns WordPress websites into online stores. The platform has premium but free themes that are pre-built for it. WooCommerce is popular due to its scalability and high capabilities.
• GoDaddy: GoDaddy’s standalone subscription requires little technical skills to launch as it is easy to use and set up. Its templates are clean, simple, and can be customized. The key features of the e-commerce platform include appointment booking, SSL security, marketing tools, and fast page loading.
• Business Squarespace: Squarespace offers an e-commerce subscription option for sites whose e-commerce needs are simple. The platform charges transaction fees if one hasn’t upgraded to the basic online store subscription. Business Squarespace is popular due to its user-friendliness and flexibility.

7. Website Optimization

A website must be optimized to rank high in the search engines, to ensure a good search engine index, and to show search engine visitors. Search engines crawl websites with similar content and rank them according to their quality and user-friendliness. Thus, a site that ranks high in search engines must have quality content and a user-friendly web design.

To ensure that a website is optimized, one must effectively incorporate the right keywords in the website’s content. The content must include quality backlinks to external sites and have an optimal site code. The site must also be mobile-friendly, have many positive reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc., and have a high loading speed. In addition, the site must be secure by being installed with an SSL certificate to ensure that data that is passed between the browsers and servers is private.

Conclusion

As you may have noticed, building a quality website is not a walk in the park; it requires commitment, technical and SEO know-how as well as patience. But, just like most of the things that life throws at us, the most crucial step of building a website is to begin the journey. Using the tips indicated in this article, you are assured of building a website that will do well in the online marketplace.

Have you ever built a website from scratch? How was the experience? Do you have any tricks or tweaks that you can share? Feel free to share your thoughts!