11 Preparation Steps for a More Successful Website

At DijitalPi we have put together 11 preparation steps for you so you can build a more successful website.

11 preparation steps for a more successful website! If you have decided to build your brand or personal website and have never built a website before, this may feel a little frightening. But do not worry at all. With today's technology you can start building your website without any technical skill. Above all, do not put your projects off by saying you have no software knowledge. There are options that let you build even websites that look very complex with zero software knowledge.

Now that you have learned you can build a professional website without needing software and technical knowledge, at DijitalPi we have put together the 11 preparation steps for a more successful website for you.

Once you have done these steps you will have drawn up your own roadmap. Making use of this guide as you progress through the website build stage will make your job much easier. Do not turn this preparation stage into something complex and make your project loom so large that it becomes impossible to handle. You will certainly have a chance to correct any missing or incorrect parts.

What is in this article?

• 11 Preparation Steps for a More Successful Website
• Define your purpose (mission) in building a website?
• Define your audience?
• Define your audience's personas?
• Decide what kind of content you will offer?
• Decide on your tone of voice
• Buy your domain name
• Decide on your brand, your logo and your slogan.
• Prepare your core texts.
• Get the photographs ready.
• Register your social media accounts.
• Be forward-looking.

11 Preparation Steps for a More Successful Website

1. 1. Define your purpose (mission) in building a website?

      Career, your personal hobbies, your thoughts and ideas, building a community, education, your business — whatever it is, express in 1–2 sentences why you want to build this website.

   2. Define your audience?

      Organic living enthusiasts, technology enthusiasts, sports lovers, business people, doctors, students, homemakers, DIY enthusiasts, people who love new flavours and discovery, food lovers, my own customers, people who want to know about product groups x, y and z, people who want to know more about a subject, and so on — define your audience. The website you build may have more than one audience; write them out one by one.

   3. Define your audience's personas?

      At this stage, define who falls into the audience we have created. There may be more than one persona within the same audience group. You can give this audience a name so it comes to mind quickly.

      For example:

      My audience

      Audience personas

      Technology and gaming enthusiasts

      Persona 1: Burak: Male, aged 14–25 Single Student or recent graduate PC gamer Interested in game types X, Y and Z Values friendship, sincerity and socialising online. A good social media user. Follows YouTube creators in the gaming space. Persona 2: İbrahim Male, aged 25–35 Married or single, Works full time. Interested in PC games. Likes game type X. Also interested in PC hardware, Follows football. Enjoys doing sport. Also has an interest in cars.

      As the table shows, we have defined your audience personas and can now understand these people better. You can keep updating and developing these tables even after you have built your website.

   4. Decide what kind of content you will offer?

      We now know our audiences better. Decide what kind of content you will offer that will draw them to us.

   5. Decide on your tone of voice

      What kind of tone will you use to address your visitors? Which colours and images will catch your visitors' interest? Fun, informative, serious, surprising, creative, and so on…

   6. Buy your domain name

      If you are creating a new brand, first check whether the domain name has already been taken. If you want to protect your brand further, buying widely used domain names such as .com, .net and .org prevents websites appearing under the same name with different extensions. If you are going to operate in Türkiye you might also consider buying the domain name with the .com.tr extension.

      But take care that your domain name is distinctive when you buy it. You can consider extensions other than just .com. Choosing a .com domain name technically has no advantage over the other extensions. By using different domain name extensions you can set yourself apart from your competitors along with the work you do.

   7. Prepare your core texts.

      Get content such as products, services, about, legal texts and documents ready.

   8. Get the photographs ready.

      Get the photographs you need to add to the website ready — products, the company, the production line, a profile picture. Make them professional photographs if possible. The photographs you will add to the website matter a great deal visually. It is the most basic criterion of whether the website looks amateur or professional.

   9. Register your social media accounts.

      As with the domain name, having social media accounts registered under your brand's name matters a great deal. Even if you are never going to use them, creating social media accounts belonging to your brand will be the right move.

   10. Be forward-looking.

       Before building the website it will be sensible to think in advance about what needs you will have in the project 1–2 years later. If there is a chance you will take payments or make sales, for example, choosing software or a theme whose infrastructure can support that will be a very sound decision.