Are you thinking about building a website? You are going to have your hands full. We created a helpful checklist that covers all of the small details you will need to remember to do. You can find the list below or grab the Google document so you can actually check off each item.
This list assumes you plan to build your website with WordPress, but you can still use most of the list if you use a different website builder. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means if you click on the link and purchase the item, Pongos Interactive will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.
- Register your domain name. We recommend NameCheap. If you are working with a developer, share access to your account with them.
- Set up email hosting. We recommend Zoho Mail.
- Set up web hosting. We recommend a Flywheel “Tiny” plan to get started (we’re assuming you want to use WordPress for the site because it’s fantastic). If you are working with a developer, add them as a collaborator.
- Get a logo. We recommend hiring a designer to do this, but you can always make it in Canva if you must. Make sure you get a vector file for the logo (PDF, EPS, and AI) from the designer (or Canva). You will also need a PNG or JPG to add to the site.
- Pick a color palette. Some designers will do this as part of a branding package when they create your logo. If they don’t do that, you can grab the primary color from the logo to create a color palette at https://mycolor.space/.
- Set up your social media accounts. You might need to share these accounts with your developer. When possible, add them to the account instead of giving them the username and password.
- TikTok (maybe, depends on your audience)
- LinkedIn (maybe, depends on your audience)
- Create a Google My Business profile. If your developer is going to help you manage this profile, add them as a manager.
- Set up a mailing list. We recommend a Mailchimp “Essentials” plan to get started. Don’t forget to add your developer to the account.
- Write your content. Most sites should have content for at least three pages: About, Contact, and Services. Yours might need more. Keep the content simple.
- Start looking for images you can use on your website or hire a photographer to take some for you. We use https://stock.adobe.com on our projects, and if you are working with us to build the site, we include some images from their library.
- Select a theme. We really like Mai Theme for WordPress sites.
- Build the site! If you are working with a developer, they will take over at this point. You may need to give them access to your accounts, but you already added them if you used all of our recommended providers and followed the instructions above. Don’t have a developer? We can build the site for you (packages start at $1,800). If you want to do it yourself, you can find lots of tutorials on YouTube.
- Point the domain name at the web hosting account. If you have a developer, they should be able to do this for you. Are you doing it by yourself? If you used our recommendations, you could read Flywheel’s help document to walk you through it, but otherwise, you’ll need to check with your web hosting provider.
- Enable SSL. If you used Flywheel for your web hosting, follow their instructions to enable SSL.
- Share your site with the world! Hooray! You did it!
Need some more help getting started? Head over to Get Your Business Online Academy.