Week 3 Sprint Accelerators...Types of Hosting Virtual Private Servers (VPS) • A hosting environment that allows for resources, such as RAM and CPU, to be dedicated to your account

Launching Your Website

Week 3

Sprint Accelerators

Agenda

1. Domains2. Hosting3. Website Structure4. Ecommerce5. SEO 6. Security

Domains

■ What is a domain?

• A domain is a “mask” for an IP address

• A domain is the address of your website, similar to a street address

• A domain also works like a sign on your store, telling people who is

at the address

■ Pro Tip: If possible, have your company name be your domain name. If

that’s taken, think of what your business does and add that to the name.

• Ex. acme.com or acmecorp.com or acmetraps.com

Domains

■ Extensions

• An extension is the the last

part of a domain name

• Ex. .com, .org, .net, etc

• Some extensions are

premium and cost extra• Ex. .ai, .club, .dev, .io, .tech

etc

■ Price

• Most domains run

between $10 - $25 per year

• Some domains are considered

premium because of certain

high-value keywords

• These can cost thousands of dollars

Where to Register Your Domain

■ To purchase a domain, you have to go through a registrar

• Some popular registrars include

GoDaddy Namecheap Bluehost

Domain Registration & Privacy

■ Registration• All domains need to be registered

with a registrar who then submits

info to ICANN, or Internet

Corporation for Assigned Names

and Numbers

• ICANN acts through the IANA, or

Internet Assigned Numbers

Authority group

■ Privacy• All your information is public

domain and can be found under

WHO IS

• Never put home address or

personal number if you can

• Opt for the domain privacy - a bit

extra but it is worth it

Hosting

■ What is hosting?

• Your website is a collection of files, similar to your personal

computer

• Hosting provides your files a place to “live” that is always on and can

be accessed from other computer through a network, in this case

the internet.

• Unless you build your own server, you need to “rent” a place for

your files to live, and this is through a hosting provider.

Types of Hosting

■ Shared Hosting

• Great option for beginning website users

• Ideal for blogs, information, and hobbyist websites

• Most affordable options for small businesses.

• Multiple users will share the resources of a secured server or group

of servers.

• Think of it as having roommates to help cover the cost.

Types of Hosting

■ Virtual Private Servers (VPS)

• A hosting environment that

allows for resources, such as

RAM and CPU, to be

dedicated to your account

• Great for moderate to high

traffic sites

• Moderately expensive

■ Dedicated Hosting

• Great for websites with high

traffic

• Similar how shared hosting is

like renting a home,

dedicated hosting is like

owning a home

• Very Expensive

Where to Host Your Website

■ Some popular hosting providers include:

Bluehost Siteground Hostgator

Website Structure : Sitemap

■ Planning your website

• Create a sitemap• A sitemap is just a basic

diagram outlining the

structure of your website

• This will help you figure out

what content you need to

create for your website

• Is generated in XML or

HTML

Sitemap Examples

■ A visual sitemap looks

like a flowchart and is

a helpful tool when

designing your site

• Here is a simple

example of what

your sitemap should

look like

Sitemap Examples

■ A complex sitemap will

help you plan out even

the most complicated of

websites

■ Starting off, a new

website should never be

this complicated

Website Structure : Navigation

■ Menu

• You need make sure your navigation follows your sitemap

• Any of the important pages you want people to visit needs to be

included in your menu for easy access

• If people cannot find the information they want easily, they are not

going to use your site

Website Structure : UI/UX

■ User Interface

(How your website is designed)

• Is your interface

user-friendly?

• Does the order of the

content make sense?

• Is information easy to find?

■ User Experience

(How your website operates)

• Does your website load

quickly?

• Does your website

encourage user interaction?

• Is your site easy to use?

Website Structure : Responsive Design

■ Responsive Design: The website display

adjust accordingly to the size of the

device accessing the site (mobile, tablet,

or desktop)

• In 2013, up to 16.2% of web traffic

came from mobile phones; in 2019,

52.2% of traffic comes from mobile

phones

Website Structure: Responsive Design

■ Having responsive elements can be a huge deal-breaker/deal-maker● 53% of mobile website visits are abandoned if a mobile site takes

longer than three seconds to load● For every one second delay in site load time,

conversions fall by 12%● 52% of all online traffic comes through smartphones

Website Structure : Layouts

■ The way your site is presented to others

■ How the different elements interact with each other

■ Where information is placed■ It’s the skeleton of your website

Layouts

■ The two biggest points to remember for website layout are:● Needs to be simple to use● Needs to be intuitive; 76% of customers want a site that makes

information easy to find■ Also should be:

● Streamlined● Goal-oriented● Designed for skimmers● Responsive

Layouts

■ 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience

■ 85% of people think that a company’s mobile website should be as good or better than their desktop website

■ 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site

Layouts

■ The “Fold” is a big part of your design efforts● Things “Above the Fold” are what is first presented on the Home page● Things “Below the Fold” are what you have to scroll down to see● Remember responsive sites; the “Fold” might change between device types

■ Think of it like a newspaper● The first thing people should notice is your “Headline”

• This is the reason they are coming to your site● The second thing is there should be something else for them to do; turn to page 5 for

the rest of the story. This is your primary call to action (CTA)

Layouts

■ The Headline should be your simplified mission statement or company vision; shows up right under your initial image

● “Growing Your Business”● “Helping You Take That Next Step for Success”● “The Media That You Want, When You Want It”● “The Softest Wool for Your Knit Projects”

■ The Sub-headline follows right under the Headline and provides more description for your product or service

● “Providing free business development and growth assistance throughout New Mexico”● “Creating high-impact videos and animations for your next product launch”

Layouts

■ Call to Action● This should be

something for them to do as a next step

• This step needs to be something of value to your customer

Layout Design: Design on a Grid■ Responsive design works well with a Bootstrap style grid system approach

• The system allows you to divide a row into 12 equal columns

• These columns can be combined to create wider columns

• This grid is responsive, rearranging the grid depending on the screen width

Layout Examples

Layout Examples

Layout Examples

Layout Examples

Layout Examples

Layout Examples

Layouts - Purpose

■ Keep people using your site■ Make them interact with multiple points of content■ Support “calls to action” that enable easy purchases■ Host interactive content that drives “click-through”■ Make it easy for people to interact with your outreach and engagement

content - blogs, videos, press releases, stories, etc.■ Make it easy for you to post content and keep your site up to date■ Build trust and relationship with potential clients/customers

Ecommerce

■ Ecommerce is selling your products

or services online.

• Physical products

• Digital products

• Services

Ecommerce - Important Notes

■ An online store is very similar to a physical storefront• You need to manage inventory

• This needs to be a separate inventory if you’re operating both physical and online store fronts

• You need to keep track of shipping, taxes, invoices, etc.• Consult a professional for questions related to taxes and other legal

information

Ecommerce Platforms

■ There are dedicated software and platforms out there to help you get an

online store up and running quickly

ShopifyWoocommerce

Shopify vs. WooCommerce

■ Shopify - self contained platform

• Designed specifically for

creating an online store

• Built in hosting and domain

available

• Prebuilt templates

• Built in analytics

• Integrates with other

services

■ WooCommerce - WP plugin

• A lot of customization

options

• A higher learning curve

• Easily integrated into your

existing WP site

• Integrates with other

services

Website Essentials: SEO

■ Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• SEO is where you show up in

Google results

• ~65% of search engine users will click on one of the top 5 suggestions in the results page

Website Essentials: SEO

■ Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Basics of good SEO are very close to the basics of good design• The SE is the most important part of the acronym; it's as much

about how people are searching for info as the info they are searching for

• Search engines “crawl” the web, indexing results to be “ranked” based on the number of links, secondary results, and other factors

• This is how Google actually works

Search Engine Optimization

■ Seven Fundamentals for good results● Crawl accessibility so engines can read your website● Compelling content that answers the searcher’s query● Keyword optimized to attract searchers & engines● Great user experience including a fast load speed and compelling UX● Share-worthy content that earns links, citations, and amplification● Title, URL, & description to draw high CTR in the rankings● Snippet/schema markup to stand out in SERPs

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization

■ White Hat - the right way● Techniques, tips, and best practices● Drives “organic” content● Don’t make content for a search engine, make it for people

■ Black Hat - the wrong way● Hidden links on page● White text against white background● Keywords embedded in metadata of page● These can get your site booted from search results

SEO Tools

■ There are some tools to help your SEO and for you to research the best SEO

strategies for your website

Google Search Console Google AnalyticsYoastSEO

Website Essentials: Security

■ Your website security needs to be

taken seriously• It is never “set and forget” but

requires constant vigilance

• If a website is hacked and blacklisted,

for example, it loses up to 98%

of its traffic.

• Data breaches can result in lawsuits,

heavy fines, and a ruined reputation.

Website Security

■ Some types of threats include:● Automated web attacks● Malware infections and attacks● SQL injections● Cross-site Scripting● Brute Force Attacks

Steps you need to take to protect your site

■ With all these threats and more, you need to take some basic steps to

protect your site

• Backup your files• Updraft Plus is a free WP plugin that does this for you

• Basic firewall & malware protection with security plugins• Wordfence is a great all-in-one security plugin for WP sites

• Server side protection• Sitelock is an affordable option

Steps you need to take to protect your site: SSL■ SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate

• This gives you the padlock and an

“HTTPS” compared to the “HTTP”

• A SSL certificate is mandatory now when

building a website• If you don’t have one, Google will turn users

away from your site

• There are different encryption levels• If you are processing any type of payments

on your site, you need an SSL

Website Security

■ If a site is hacked:● You need to delete all the infected files

• Don’t lose your data by making backups and storing them on different machines or on the cloud

● Change all your passwords● If you store client information, you need to notify them of the breach

as soon as possible.

Thank you!

Questions?

Justin [email protected]

Arrowhead Center575.646.1434