Before starting new website

Important checklist before starting new website

Many People asked me I need a website but when I asked what are your requirements then they became silent or confused!  Before starting new website some important checklist should be followed and I am going to explain the checklist .

The main purpose

When you feel you need a website just find out the main purpose.

The purpose can be one or more of the following list:

  1. For marketing
  2. Just representing your business or community
  3. Personal website to represent yourself and your activities
  4. For generating passive income
  5. E-commerce

Expense Budget

When you have a clear purpose, now it’s time to think about the expense for your new website. Expense does not only depend on your thinking but also depends on the purpose as well.  Beside the first time development cost, you should keep in mind about the regular maintenance cost like annual domain and hosting cost, support cost.  I am trying to give you an approximate idea about the possible cost.

Type Development Cost Annual Maintenance Cost
Basic Informational site (Development Cost) $300USD – $500USD $200USD – $300USD
Corporate Official Site $500USD – $1000USD $300USD – $500USD
Online Shop $1000USD – $3000USD $1500USD – $2000USD

 

Domain and Hosting Selection

Domain and hosting selection is also important part that is not taken care properly by most website owners. If you are thinking to develop a personal site or basic company site, then you can select domain  which has word that related to your name or company name. When you are thinking for online shop or advertise based passive income website then you should keep in mind about SEO issue. You can get more idea about Choosing a Good Domain Name.

The recommended hosting plan for various purpose are listed below:

Type Recommended Hosting Configuration Approximate Annual Cost
Basic Informational site (Development Cost) Shared Hosting is enough. Server space should be at least 500 MB and monthly bandwidth must be minimum 5 GB. $36USD – $70USD
Community or Large Company Website Though shared hosting can be used but dedicated hosting would be good if possible. Server space should be at least 2GB and monthly bandwidth must be minimum 20 GB. $60USD – $80USD
Online Shop and other income oriented website Dedicated hosting server is highly recommended. If it is not possible to effort initially, you should choose shared hosting with unlimited space and bandwidth. $250USD – $500USD

Selection of Web Development Service Provider

It is the most crucial part of the whole development process.  You can find many web developer around you or in the global market places but it is not an easy task to get the perfect provider who can develop your website within your financial budget.

Another question which is frequently asked by many employee whether individual freelance web developer or any team or service provider company should be selected. Though both have pros and cons but some facts like reliability, quality and price can influence you to make the right decision.

If you want to develop your website within a cheap cost and you just want to  show your web presence where quality and perfection is less important, then a freelance web developer can be good choice for you. When you are going to take interview before hiring any web developer, you should study a bit about the current web technology. Before taking final decision, you should check the previous experience and client’s feedback of the web developer.

If you have good financial budget and quality is important issue for your website, then an experienced team or web development service provider company will be perfect choice for your website development. You have to be careful while selecting any team because there are many teams which are not experienced and made by some non technical persons who hire amateur web developers to do their projects.

Maintenance and Update:

After launching your website, you should take feedback from your friends, network so that you can be confirmed that the purpose has been successful. Moreover, you can update based on their feedback. So it is recommended to hire the same web developer if he does good job for regular maintenance. It is important to keep a good relationship with your regular web master because his dedication can keep your site up to date and secure from hackers.

 

Conclusion:

Hopefully you have gotten a guideline to start your new website. I really appreciate if you provide feedback about the article. If you have anything more to know or I have missed something important please do not hesitate to ask through comment. I will try my best to answer your questions.

Best Wishes for your new website!

Tareq Mahmud Chowdhury
I have been working with PHP, MySql and wordpress for more than 4 years. I also enjoy working with UI.

I completed graduation in Computer Science and Engineering and was active participant in University programming contest. Also, I love to write technical blog and share programming knowledge in the local community.