The Internet offers many profitable business opportunities today. You have the possibility of creating a blog to sell your expertise, a website to do affiliate marketing and sell advertising space, an e-commerce site to market various products, etc. The possibilities are enormous. However, the launch of a website must be well prepared to guarantee the success of your project.
In this article, you will discover the different steps necessary to successfully set up a website for your project.
Formulate your project idea well
To put on your side the chances of success of an online project, it is important to formulate your business idea well. Indeed, it is no longer enough to have an idea to make money on the internet. Moreover, when it comes to a vague idea. Therefore, you must structure the project well, taking into account your objectives and your targets.
Is it a showcase site to introduce yourself or a blog to create content? Is it an online sales site? If so, what products do you specifically want to market and what payment methods should you use?
Defining your project well allows you to make the best choices in terms of communication channels and marketing techniques and thus define your niche. Also, it makes it easier for you to choose the platform for creating your site and to opt for hosting that meets your expectations.
Define your target well in order to stand out
More than 800,000 websites are created every day. To stand out and succeed in making a name for yourself, you must know your target well. Who is your project aimed at? What is the age group of the people concerned and what do they do? You can go so far as to establish the typical profile of your client with all the necessary details: we speak of the buyer persona.
Knowing your client well allows you to refine your project and position yourself on the resolution of a problem that is specific to him. It should be noted that your customer base can be divided into subgroups. You can therefore have several typical customer profiles.
However, you must be careful not to choose a very large target. The more specific your target, the better. On the Internet, by dint of wanting to address everyone, we end up not addressing anyone. You will have to do some research or surveys with the target audience to succeed in this step.
Reflect on the promotion strategy for your project
No matter what project you want to launch online, you need to have a good communication strategy in place. Of course, the communication channels vary according to your means, your objectives and your target.
Normally, if you successfully identify your customers and their consumption habits in the previous step, you will be able to identify the most suitable and efficient channels to achieve your objectives.
There are several ways to promote your website. Among others, we can cite:
Social networks : Social networks are the most used channel in communication and digital marketing. It's about building a community around your project on social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok, etc. You can use various techniques such as advertising, community animation, video to promote your project. Emailing : this is a direct marketing technique that consists of sending messages to a group of well-targeted people through their email addresses. A lot of work is needed to find a way to collect e-mail addresses in order to have a good database. Content creation : Content with high added value can also attract traffic to your website. For example, you can specialize in creating video content on YouTube, blog posts or podcasts. The choice of format and publication platform also depends on the consumption habits of your audience. Natural and paid referencing: Natural referencing consists of using various techniques such as the creation of content (blog article for example) or the optimization of the technical performance of a site to position it in the best search results on search engines.. You also have the possibility to create and optimize advertising campaigns on search engines.
Create your website
Now you can move on to creating your website. You can choose to do this on your own with a tool like WordPress or Shopify. You will need a basic knowledge of the use of these tools in order to have a professional site. Otherwise, you can find freelancers on platforms such as Fiverr or Upwork to help you create the site.
If you want to work with a freelancer or a web agency, it is important to set up specifications. This is a document that lists all your needs and the expected results.
To put your website online, be sure to choose a domain name that represents the project well and that is easy to remember. When it comes to web hosting, consider your long-term vision, but also your current needs to make a wise choice.
How much storage capacity do you need? How many email addresses would you like? Will you need subdomains in the development of the project? Do you need special software? Hostinger, for example, offers different plans ranging from a plan for beginners to the latest for the best performing and most requested sites.
All these questions can help you better choose your web host. However, you can subscribe to a basic offer at the beginning and extend later according to the growth of the site. To do this, make sure that the host offers the options and features you want to have for later before committing.
Test the site before its launch.
Once your site is finalized, take the time to test it well before proceeding with an official launch to your community. Make sure the site is accessible and easy to use on all devices, including mobile.
Check that all external links work as expected and that all necessary forms are on the site. You should also test the site's loading speed using an online service like Google Page Speed Insight to optimize performance if needed.
