JasmineDesign

The conception may seem an odd place for us to start, as why would you be wanting a website without already knowing the answer to this, right?

But there is so much more to consider than just what the subject of your website is going to be about. You also need to consider it's purpose, the type of content you want to display on it, and who you hope your end user will be.

Now you may already have a clear vision and ideas about those points. Or perhaps you're in need of help with market research and analysis of other similar businesses, your direct or likely competitors and their websites, if so a good design studio will be able to help with this.

Once you have a clear understanding of the subject / content / branding / user base for your website, it's time for the design process to start. This may start with the company branding if you haven't already got some.

Now whether you are self building or having a website designed & built for you, the process should start with drawing mock ups of design ideas, either digitally or with pen and paper. Starting with rough outlines of how the page and the items in it should be laid out, just like Jasbot is doing. To some this may seem like a waste of time, but in the long run it's the easiest way to add or scrap different layout ideas quickly, especially if working in a team, before what could be a lengthy build process.

When the base layout is decided the next step is to plan out each section in more detail, with contents such as titles, subject notes, image placement, and a more detailed mock-up with branding can be produced. Once you are satisfied with this it's time to go ahead and start building.

A big part of the build process is of course the coding of each webpage, it's structure, functionality and styling, no matter whether this is done using templates within a self build tool, a Contents Management System (CMS) or by a web developer.

However your website is being built, you still need to help provide contents for each page, which should include:

• Copy - Written content about you / your business (or employ a copywriter to help with this).
• Artwork - Branding / logo (your designer may provide this service).
• Images & Photo's - .svg / .png / .webp / .jpeg (whenever possible use modern image formats, .svg & .webp)

Basically all the elements you want people to see and read on your website.

Now it is possible if you have the budget to have these done for you, by employing copywriters, designers, photographers or using stock images. But even then you will need to have some input with these people. With discussions prior to work commencing and also approving and signing off work completed at different stages throughout the build.

All websites need a domain name, the URL - Uniform Resource Locator (commonly referred to as an address), is what people type into search engines that allows them to find and view your website.

You can obtain your domain name at anytime as it isn't necessary to have it before your website is built. But you will need it before your site can be deployed.

The name you choose should be relevant to you / your business name, or what you do. Its also good to keep in mind that the shorter or/and more memorable the better and easier for your customer.

Domain names are provided by Domain Registrar's where you purchase your domain name in yearly terms. This does means you don't actually own it, but in fact pay a yearly lease to use it.

Finally you need to publish your website onto the internet.

To do this you will require Web Hosting, a service that connects your site to the internet without which your site wouldn't be visible to anyone.

Deploying a website can be done in a couple of ways. Typically it is carried out by linking your hosting provider to your source control e.g GitHub repository, which will mean whenever you update your repository, a new deployment of your website will occur.

Another way of deploying is to copy your website files to the hosting provider using Ftp.

How to deploy from your GitHub Repository is covered in our Jasmine Web Starter tutorial - Building a website with GitHub.

Web Hosting stores your content, both images and text files then when someone goes to your chosen URL it allows the customer to view the content.

There are many hosting providers to choose from with many package options. Though typically people choose hosting that includes Web Hosting, Email and DNS in one package. However you can use a different supplier for each of these if you so wish.

DNS

Domain Name System (DNS) is like a database system that translates a domain name into an IP address.

So in a more straight forward way, its like a phone book using words to lookup domain names to server ip addresses

You connect your domain name to your hosting by setting the nameserver addresses.

SSL

Another part of your hosting should be an SSL certificate.

Most modern website hosting control panels allow you to automate the process of obtaining, installing and hopeful renewing every 3 months. Plus if you use Let's Encrypt certificates they are free to obtain and use.

Email

Having email addresses that use your domain name is important when talking to customers.

A key thing to keep in mind is with a good reliable web hosting company, your email should always be able.

You can choose to use the email service within a web hosting package, or you can use a separate email service provider, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.