Every business needs a website to be successful. However, this is a challenge for many due to the lack of coding and designing skills. The good news is, you do have a way around this—hire a developer or freelancer to get the website built, or create a website on your own by leveraging the website creation platforms available on the internet.

Nevertheless, even after many business owners do this, their website remains highly unsuccessful. That’s primarily because people don’t know how to create a website that serves the purpose they built it for.

This article discusses the many factors that go into creating a website—from ideation to monetization, and more. Whether you already have a website or are planning to build one, the steps listed below will save you a lot of time, money, and frustration that helps make your website work. Because, after putting in all the effort, the last thing you would want would be the website to have little traffic and make no impact.

1. Set A Goal

Your website could be the first step you take towards starting a new business or an addition to your already existent business. Either way, defining the purpose of your website is a must before you start.

First, think about why you are building the website. Is it to generate sales, create a brand identity, or for a non-profitable cause? Based on your purpose, set a concrete goal for your website.

Your goal should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For instance, building a mailing list of 1000 people looking to buy retirement homes using lead-pages in the next two months is a SMART goal.

Your goal will help you make efficient plans to achieve it. Without a goal, chances are that you will lose track of your purpose.

2. Hosting And Domain Name

If you are using a website creation platform to build your website, Joomla, Wix, and WordPress are ideal options that allow you to build your website easily. These sites also offer domain names, hosting, and themes in partnership with other hosting companies. So, you won't have to go through the hassle of surfing multiple websites to purchase the domain name and hosting from companies like Bluehost or Go Daddy.

On the other hand, if you are getting a website custom coded by a developer, purchase a domain and hosting from a domain register and web hosting company and integrate it into your website.

Make sure you choose a domain name that reflects your site’s purpose. When it comes to domain extension, .com is always ideal, though it doesn’t play any role in SEO.

3. Theme And Design

The theme and design of your website directly affect the user experience. By defining your goal and choosing your niche market, you will get a good idea of who your target audience is. So, your aim now is to get into your visitor's shoes and think about what appeals to them the most.

For instance, look at sportsbookreview.com. Their design and theme are right on point for their target audience of sports enthusiasts and bettors..

Spend some time and carefully review the themes before choosing one that serves your purpose. Remember, you always have the option to change your theme in the future, so don't be frustrated about it.

4. Content

Content is the backbone of every website. With software solutions getting smarter and blocking ads, websites have to now rely on value-added content to attract traffic. A good headline and description in the search results are what brings people to your site. And by answering your visitors' questions or solving their needs by the end of a blog or video, you earn their trust.

Write about what people are searching for so that you will get found on the web. This can be done through blogs, e-books, or guides. Also, consider making screenshot videos, how-to videos, or live-shoot videos based on your niche.

5. Security

Now that you have started getting traffic, what if you lose your site to hacking attacks? This scenario isn’t uncommon. Hundreds of websites—both big and small—are hacked every day globally. What’s more, even Trump’s campaign website was hacked recently.

One of the most common motives behind hacking your website is to redirect your traffic to malicious sites, serve illegal files, or send phishing emails. So, it is essential that you secure your website right from the day you set it up.

Here are some best practices to avoid falling prey to hacking attacks:

• * Always monitor all your comments and public forums for hacking scripts

• * Don’t allow file uploads without inspection

• * Update to the latest version of CMS software and plugins

• * Run security check on your site using free tools like OpenVAS and Netsparker

• * Use strong passwords for user logins

• * Use HTTPS protocol for your website