In this website checklist I will show you from A to Z all the steps that you should take and consider when creating, relaunching or optimizing your website.
Only if you pay attention to these aspects will your website win customers and generate sales.
The best program for your website
Surely you have already informed yourself a little on the Internet and seen that there are many different software solutions, programs and website construction kits. I want to shorten the whole thing. My personal recommendation is the WordPress program .
WordPress is the world's most popular website building solution. The program is easy to use and at the same time offers you many possibilities. There are also thousands of design templates and with WordPress plugins you can add new functions to WordPress with just one click.
Probably the most important and crucial point is that you can use WordPress free download. That means you are absolutely flexible and can install WordPress with any hosting provider. The situation is different with so-called website construction kits. There you are tied to that provider and if you are no longer satisfied with it, you can do everything again. WordPress, on the other hand, you can make a move and the whole thing is much easier.
What is the goal of your website?
The most important and decisive question is what the goal of your website is. That's always the first question I ask my customers.
Only if you know your goal can you optimize your website for this goal. The more concretely you define the goal for your website, the more successful your website will be.
My recommendation at this point is to define two to three goals for your website. Here are a few examples of what such goals might look like:
- Goal 1: Contact requests via email or telephone
- Objective 2: Product sales via the online shop
- Objective 3: Subscription to a newsletter
What do you want to achieve with your website? It is very important that you know your goal. If you have set yourself specific goals, you can optimize your website much better.
For this reason, I recommend that you do this little exercise right now and define the goals for your website.
Create your own website or have it created
Before you start with the implementation, you should ask yourself one crucial question: Do you want to create the website yourself or do you want to have it created for you?
Basically, the technical creation of a website with modern content management systems such as WordPress has become very easy. Nevertheless, you should ask yourself whether you want to invest this time yourself and whether you can create the page professionally enough.
A particularly recommended model is the so-called hybrid model. This means that you can have your WordPress site technically created by a professional, for example, who can set the basic and security settings. This gives you a stable basis and you can then create the content and maintain your website yourself.
We offer exactly this service and have already helped hundreds of website operators to create their website quickly and easily:
More information about the website installation service
If this sounds interesting to you, please feel free to contact me. We support our customers with the technical creation of the website and have targeted video instructions for you to support you.
Your website checklist
You can use the following website checklist as a guide. At this point we could of course discuss 100 or 200 points. However, I think that would be pointless.
I have summarized the really important and decisive points for you in the following list:
1. Hosting provider:
Step number one is to choose a suitable hosting provider. The so-called provider is a service provider who provides you with the technical basics.
2. Select and register a domain
The domain is your Internet address under which your website can be reached in the future. The domain name should be clear, as short as possible and easy to remember.
My recommendations are the following domain extensions:
- .de for Germany
- .at for Austria
- .ch for Switzerland
- .com for an international website
In addition, there are many other domain extensions, some of which look very exotic.
3. Deciding on a program (recommendation WordPress)
My recommendation is clearly the CMS WordPress. It is easy to use and offers you all imaginable options. You are very flexible with WordPress and it is the world's most used program for creating websites.
4. Planning your content
What should your menu (navigation) look like? The menu of your website plays a central role. Therefore, you should consider in advance which menu items you want to display on your website. You should put the important pages in the main menu and the unimportant ones in the footer menu.
A website should be modern, clear, fast and trustworthy. Ultimately, it's all about the content of your website. Your visitors come to you for your content, not a pretty design.
For you, this means that you should deliver maximum value and publish as much information as possible on your website. It is crucial that you formulate your content in a simple and understandable way. A few tips:
- Use paragraphs and formatting.
- Formulate short sentences.
- Include images and videos.
- Structure your content meaningfully.
- Your texts should be of high quality and full of added value.
5. Define your target audience
The better you know and define your target group, the better you can adapt your website accordingly. Speak the language of your visitors, use the words of your target group and you will be received accordingly positively by your potential new customers.
6. Address by you or you
Think in advance how you want to address your visitors. With the formal you or with the personal you?
7. What do you want to offer on your website?
I know many website owners who start without a plan and fill the website with content without giving it much thought. However, a clear plan is very important, because you want to convey a message.
Therefore, you should think carefully about what exactly you want to offer on your website.
8. What is the goal of your website
As mentioned above, you should define a clear goal for your website. Only if you know the goal can you optimize your website accordingly. One goal is, for example, that you want to receive contact requests via email or telephone via your website. Another goal would be direct product sales via an online shop.
9. Legal Notice and Privacy Policy
Legal Notice and Privacy Policy are legally required pages on your website. There is also a very handy generator that you can use to create these pages very easily:
10. Contact
Telephone, e-mail, opening hours and address: Make it as easy as possible for your visitors. For you, this means that you do not have to search for the telephone number or e-mail address in the imprint. The most important contact data for your website should be displayed in the header at the top of your website. You have to decide for yourself whether that is the telephone number, e-mail address, opening times or postal address.
11. Google Search Console
Tell Google about your new website. After you have finished your website, it should of course also be found in Google. To do this, you need to submit your website to the Google Search Console .
The Google Search Console also gives you many valuable tips on how to optimize and improve your website.
12. About me page
Many visitors love the so-called about me or about us page. Basically, the whole website is about your visitor and not about you. However, it is different with your about me page.
It's all about you and this is where you can tell your story:
- private things about you
- How did the company come about?
- What are your company's values?
- What people does your team consist of?
13. The design
The design of your website is the first thing the visitor sees. Either your visitor likes the design and you create trust with it, or it is more of a deterrent because your website is confusing or complicated.
Accordingly, the design is a very important topic. For WordPress, for example, there are thousands of different design templates that you can choose from. You don't have to decide on a specific design in advance.
14. corporate identity
You don't need to have a complicated CI created for your new website. It is sufficient to get started if you have a graphic designer design a modern logo for you. This will give you a color or two that you should use on your website as well.
15. Images and graphics for your website
Of course, pictures and graphics should not be missing on a website. It is precisely the combination of texts, beautiful formatting and pictures to loosen things up that makes a website really exciting.
For this reason, I recommend that you use high-quality images and graphics for your website.
16. Videos for your website
Videos are becoming more and more popular and it makes perfect sense to use videos on the website. Videos create trust and give you the opportunity to present complex issues in a much simpler way.
Accordingly, videos are a perfect complement to text and images.
17. Call to action
Call-to-action, colloquially translated, means calls to action. The point is that you tell your visitors in a friendly but firm manner what the next logical step is.
Here is a short example: Your goal is for your visitors to fill out a contact form or contact you by phone. Then you can specifically point this out to them on your website and tell them in a text passage: Please fill out the contact form now or call us on the following number.
With this small addition you can increase the conversion on your pages.
18. Google My Business entry
Google My Business is probably the most well-known business listing that currently exists. My recommendation at this point is that you register with Google My Business and enter your company/website.
In addition, you can store opening hours and a lot of information. Of course, these are also displayed by Google in the search results when a search is made for your company or brand.
19. security
A backup is the life insurance of your website. For this reason I recommend that you deal with this topic and implement an automated backup solution on your website.
If you use WordPress, ManageWP is a handy solution to check out.
20. SEO Optimization
How do you want to draw attention to your website? After you create your website, your prospects and potential customers should know about it.
A website without visitors is like a restaurant without guests. So if you don't have any website visitors, your website will not attract prospects and customers.
For this reason, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the topic of SEO (search engine optimization).
FAQ - questions and answers
What is the best program for my website?
The most popular program in the world right now is WordPress. You can download WordPress for free from the Internet and install it with any hosting provider. So you have maximum flexibility. WordPress is easy to use and there are thousands of theme templates for it. In addition, you can add new functions using plugins.
What content does my website need?
The most important content for your website is the start page, the imprint and the data protection declaration. You probably already know that. Basically, you should provide quality content and information on your website. This sets you apart from others. The following content is particularly important:
- Homepage: This should inform the visitor what they will get on this website.
- About us: On this page you can write about yourself and your company.
- Contact option: Offer your visitors the opportunity to contact you by phone, email or contact form.
What do I have to consider when creating a website?
Your website should have a specific goal. For this reason, I recommend that you think carefully about it before creating it. Define a clear goal of what you want to achieve with your website. When creating, you can focus on that goal. The technology used to create websites now offers so many possibilities that it can take a lot of time. For this reason, it is important that you define a clear objective in advance.
What is the best hosting provider?
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the best hosting provider. Basically, I recommend a provider that specializes in hosting and doesn't cover many different areas. Choose a provider that is based in your country and offers email and phone support.
How do I make my website known?
After creating a website, it's about making the website known. Because without visitors, your website will not achieve success. I recommend that you deal with the topic of search engine optimization. The higher up you are listed with your search terms in Google, the more visitors you will get.
How do I plan my website?
A website now offers many different possibilities. Because of this, planning is very important. A few specific tips:
- Choose a suitable hosting provider.
- Decide on a domain.
- What software do you want to use to create your website? (Recommendation: WordPress)
- What goal do you want to achieve with your website?
- Create your personal website checklist (write down the most important points for you)