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Whether you have a brick and mortar or you want to bring a new idea to life, the online world is likely a good option to explore. So, where do you start? Hopefully I can walk you through the steps I took to create my own website (www.UrbHub.com) and show you some useful things to do (and not to do).

The starting line – the idea vs. the competition

It doesn’t matter if you’re bringing an established business to the online marketplace or you’re launching a web-based start-up, the goal is the same, get people to visit your site instead of another.

How? Provide value and keep it simple.

Mistake #76: You think your idea is so great and you forget to play devil’s advocate. It’s only natural that you want your idea to be better than the others, but realize when your vision is clouded, take a step back, and ask questions. Here are a few questions that I fallback on all the time:

• Does your website have something completely new that nobody else is doing in the online space? Probably not, but that’s okay as long as you provide value. What value does your site provide right now?
• Who are your direct competitors (e.g. Google vs. Yahoo)?
• What companies could jump into your market and gain ground quickly?
• Who uses your competitor’s site?
• What do you like/dislike about your competition’s site?
• How many people use their site per day/month/year?
• What’s changed in your industry in the last day/month/year? How can you position your site to use these changes to your advantage?

Next – You’re on the move.

You’ve evaluated the competition and decided to move forward. Where should you go from here?

Get the domain name and build it.

Hint: You might have thought of the name and purchased the domain, but for those who have yet to make this step, keep it simple. In most cases, you can find a great domain name that will fit your business and your budget.

Naming your site:

I’m sure there is a lengthy book about this at your local bookstore, but it’s not that complicated. Sit down at 2-4 completely different times and brainstorm ideas, this way you have a fresh mind and hopefully new ideas each time. I will typically think of as many words relating to my idea as possible, which ends up being like two words, so I cheat and use a thesaurus (www.thesaurus.com). Then I will compile a list of possible domain names. The key is to keep it as short, memorable, and as related to your service as possible. Use a service such as www.moniker.com to check the availability of your domain.

Building it:

Figure out your budget and time frame because how you approach building your site will be dependent on these two factors.

Based on what you decided for a budget and time frame, you’ll want to pick out who is going to help you create your site. If your budget is low, then you can try to find freelancers to outsource your project such as www.getafreelancer.com. Keep in mind that dealing with someone overseas can cause you more stress because of both the communication gap and trust issues (i.e. Do you want to give out passwords to your site?). I would say you’re best bet is dealing with someone locally if possible, this way you can meet at a local coffee shop and explain your concept hands on, without confusion.

What you should provide to the person (or company) that is building your site?
Create a site map or tree of the pages you want to be included in your site. Take it a step further: write down the user experience as you picture it (i.e. If the user clicks this link, they should go here.). The more of the small details you think of up front, the more time and stress you’ll save in the long run.

Hint: Once you’ve decided who is going to build the site, get it online ASAP! You might think it’s a bad idea to sacrifice some of the more time intensive features just to launch your site quicker, but it will be invaluable to your success. Why? Once you get the site up, you’ll see how people are using it and there will likely be a lot of changes that you’ll want to make. One of those changes might be to get rid of that feature completely, which will be easier to cope with if you haven’t spent time, money, and stress to create it.

Rounding the corner – Where are you amongst the pack?

The site is up and running, congratulations. Are people using it like you thought they would? How is it the same? Different? What has your competition changed since you’ve originally conceived the idea for the site? The competition online is only growing, which means that you have to constantly be aware. It doesn’t mean you need to stress out and destruct, rather, you need to continue to keep it simple and provide value. As long as your visitors see a value in your site, you are okay. How will you know? Are you receiving more visitors? How long are they staying on your site now compared to when you first started? If you aren’t happy with the results, then change.

The key: ask yourself if you are providing value. Be honest.

The pseudo finish line – success never ends

If you’ve made it this far, then you’re either really stubborn or your site is successful. In order to stay in front of the competition, remember that people use your site because they find it valuable. You’ll likely add new ideas and technology throughout the life of your site, but keep the core value the same (because that’s what got you here).

About the Author
Brad Hogan is involved with Web Development at The Loud Few. You can learn more about him here or follow him on twitter at twitter.com/UrbHub.