Major Considerstions for Developing a Successful Business Website

Building a website can be a daunting task, especially if you know nothing about it. This article is more for the business person who knows they need a website, and now is tasked to make it happen. Here are some major considerations when starting to work on a website.

Make Sure You Own the Domain
When you start a website, everything is based on a domain name. This domain name is a major part of the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that you type in a browser(I.e. Internet Explorer) to reach your website. This domain name is leased from a domain name provider by the year and is registered in someone's name. Make sure this is registered in your name or your business's name. If you have an employee registering this for you, make sure he registers the website in the company's name or in an officer of the company's name. Some web shops will purchase this for you and include the cost of it in the price they charge you for the website. That is okay if you are working with an honest designer. But, if you one day decide you want to change developers, it can get sticky when you want to gain control of your website. At best they will charge you a modest fee to make a change, and at worst, you will not be able to make the move to another server without paying them an excessive fee. If your name is not on the registry, then there will be nothing you can do but pay them, or start another website on another domain. There are actually 3 levels of names on the Domain registry: The Registrant owner's name, the Administrative Contact's name, and the Technical Contact's name. Make sure your business's name is in the Registrant Owner's Name on the registry. Here is how you can check this if you already have your domain name: http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp