The 3 Most Important Parts of a Website
You must get these three important parts of a website done right before you publish your website.

Getting these three things wrong could mean that you will have to scrap your website and start all over.

The first thing you must get right is the name of your website.

Oh sure, you think this is an obvious no brainer, but then when you get to the registry search. After a while it may seem that every name you have thought of has been taken. You get desperate. They offer you some alternatives. You have just spent an hour plodding along, so you grab one and register it and walk away.

The next day you come back and look a the website name you bought and wonder what on earth you are going to do with it.

The problem is that if you use that domain name to build your website on, the search engines, and every potential visitor you have, will wonder the same thing!  Perhaps you wanted to start a website about plastic ducks for charity duck races. It is taken. You get frustrated and end up with suppleduckslive.com! ( it’s available!). Now how the heck are you going to build a website out of that? And if you do, do you think people ( and the search engines) will look at that name and know you have a container of plastic racing ducks for rent?

Sure sure…I can see you nodding your head….you would never be so stupid. Well, try it a few times. There are people out there who just sit around and think of names and register them. ( You can get duckduck.com for over $1000, from someone who just registered the name and is waiting for a buyer.) Getting a webiste name can be a frustrating search. But do not just give up and grab one after you have had enough.

Look at the title of this website. I agonized over “website” and “building”. Lots of people are looking for “webdesign” and “web design” and “site building” and “site design”. But I wanted to be specific. I want to help beginners. I want you to work through the proper steps of website design. BUT I want you to have a whole website up and running…..not just a pretty design. I hope I’m making myself clear.

OK
The Second Most Important part of a Website:

Your description of what your website is about will be seen by the search engines and everybody who reads the listings.

Do a search. ” Plastic Ducks” You are a charity organizer. You want to rent a bunch of ducks for an event. How do you know which search result to click on? By the little description after the result right? This didn’t magically appear. It was put there, in the website description, or in the main headline.

So, if you want the right people to find you and click on your website, you should make sure that your website description and first headline of any article match your site name. Example: I have a site called www.myelectronicreview.com . I could write an article on the best speakers for dances. But I would not head the article with the title ” Dancing ’til Your Eardrums Pop!”. ( I could use that as a sub heading) The searchers wouldn’t know if that was an equipment review or a new underground music group. The title ” The best music speakers for dances”…not sexy, but gets the point across, right?

SO you see, this rule is important for your website and every article you put in it.

The Third Most Important Part of a Website is the Header:

Now listen very very carefully. The first two parts are vital. Once you have made those choices, you cannot change them. ( Without dire consequences)

This third part can be changed, but is still one of the most important elements. If you saw my last post, &/or my You tube Video, you saw how easy it is to change things with Xsitepro2. So yes, if you have that software, you can hit a button and change your header, and everything else will remain the same.

What is a header you ask?

It is the big part of the website at the top. It is the first thing you see when you click on a website. Therefore it is the first impression people get of your website. Ever clicked on a link and bailed out as soon as you saw the header come up? I have. Tons of cute emoticons are a danger sign for me. Trojan city!

The header is the Achilles Heel of website design ( sorry, had to continue with the Greek theme for a while).

I have told you not to buy pre-made templates. Now think about it. I guess the main reason you would want to buy premade templates is because of the header. It is the hardest part of a website to get right. In theory it is so simple. Get a picture, add some text and put it at the top of your website. But things on the Internet can get really really hard as soon as you try something simple.

A few people have tried to make this easy. The people behind Xsitepro2 have a utility they have been playing with that makes headers easy. I used a beta version of this on my friend’s website www.doctorgallant.com.  They now have a V1 available.  If you have money you can get Adobe’s Photoshop. But, to be honest. I just use the headers in Xsitepro2 and manipulate them. I’ll soon be offering a resource for this in my  newsletter members' toolbox. ( Just look for the web builder newsletter sign up on this website www.websitebuildingforbeginners.com and get your password. )
IMPORTANT: remember a header is just a big chunk of graphics at the top of your website. But it is also your first impression to the world. You can change it, but it does require some serious thought at the beginning. 

ALSO I hope you are watching my Youtube demos as I build www.savyshoppingusa.com !

Colin

This Article has been updated on Nov 3/08

by Colin Noden - July 22, 2008

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