Building a website involves more than just hiring a web developer. A website builder can help you with many aspects of the process, but it’s still a good idea to prepare a few things before you start working together. We’ll show you how to approach a developer or web agency fully prepared.
Checklist: 8 Things to Do to Get Ready
Once you’ve decided to team up with a web developer or web design agency to build a website, having a solid foundation is a good first step. A web developer can certainly help you if you haven’t thought through certain details yet or are still unsure. However, if you already have the basics in place, building your new website will go much more smoothly. The following preparations will help you lay the right foundation.1. Determine the purpose of your website
What do you want to do with your website? Sell products, provide information, or entertain visitors? You also need to identify your target audience and determine what problems you can solve for them.2. Think about a design
Recognizability is a key element of your branding. What is your corporate identity? What colors, typography, and visual style define your company? Have you thought about a logo? Don’t worry—we’re about to bombard you with questions. You really don’t need to have everything figured out just yet. But something as simple as a mood board, where you experiment with different colors and fonts, can already go a long way. Providing design advice and setting these things up are also part of a web developer’s job, so you’re definitely not on your own.3. Create personas
To clearly understand exactly who your customers are, creating personas is a good way to prepare when setting up your website. A persona is a detailed and precise description of a user of your service or product. This fictional character represents your entire target audience, so to speak. This allows you to identify the problems and questions that your target audience faces. You can also keep these personas in mind while building your website to later assess whether the different types of customers within your target audience feel engaged.
4. Determine the structure
Website visitors should be able to navigate your website easily. If it becomes difficult to find important pages, they’ll often close your site right away. That’s why structure is so important when building a website. Consider the following questions:- What sections/pages do you have?
- What are the main pages (these will appear in the menu and the footer)?
- What features would you like to see (newsletter sign-up, multilingual support, login functionality, etc.)?
5. Select the correct domain name
Your domain name is your website’s unique address on the internet. Choose a domain name that’s easy to remember so visitors can find you online with ease. What makes a good name? A short name is often helpful, as is one that’s easy to pronounce. You can also include an important keyword or come up with a very creative name that sets you apart from competitors. Wondering if a domain name is already taken? Check it out, for example, via SIDN or Who.is.Is your target audience primarily located in the Netherlands? If so, a domain name ending in .nl is a good option. Do you operate internationally, or is the .nl domain already taken? In that case, .com is also an option.
6. Create content
In addition to your website’s design, its content is just as important. When setting up a website, think about the content you want to include. Consider text, images, infographics, videos, etc. With a template, you can easily choose examples of how the layout might look. And what exactly do you want to convey? What tone of voice will you use? Always keep your customers in mind and write for them. You’re writing about the solution to potential customers’ problems or questions. It’s tempting to write about what you do for customers, but instead opt for a tone like “we can do this for you.” This makes you come across as less pushy and gives visitors the freedom to choose exactly what they need from you.So, how do you write a good text? Here are a few quick tips:
- Make sure the spelling is correct
- Make sure to use proper formatting with paragraphs and subheadings
- Showcase your business in the content
- Keep SEO in mind to ensure good search visibility
Do you find it difficult to write SEO-optimized content for your site? JKC Media not only develops your website but also writes the content. Learn more about having content written.
7. Conduct keyword research
Of course, your website needs to be found. And that’s where the right keywords come into play. Decide which words you want web visitors to use to find your site. There are various (free) tools you can use for this, such as the Google Ads Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest. You can also find plenty of keyword suggestions right in Google itself by looking at the bottom of the page when you perform a search. Pay close attention to so-called long-tail and short-tail keywords. Read more about selecting the right keywords in our blog. Then incorporate your selected keywords into the content on your website: in the body text, headings, meta titles, and meta descriptions, etc.
8. Consider the legal aspects (GDPR, etc.)
Privacy policies, cookie notices, terms and conditions, the GDPR: setting up a website involves legal considerations. European legislation includes rules regarding privacy protection. Web developers can help you with this, but if you already have the documents on hand, setting up your site will go much faster. For example, you may need to display a cookie notice if you use trackers on your website.
