I need a website to for a small professional firm. Where do i start - ideas on construction, hosting, maintenance, domain name and associated costs please. Thanks

Hi Sparkly,
Merry Christmas!

Before you start setting up your website(either by yourself or have a designer do it for you.)

There are 3 critical stages to setting up an effective website that actually works( generates leads & sales)

Doing these 3 things will make a difference between a successful website or just another brochure collecting dust in the cyber space

1. Keyword Research.
2. Choosing the right Domain Name & Hosting.
3. Creating Effective Website Content.

Over the next few posts i will break down these steps for you so that you can start implementing them right away.

Should you have any questions please feel free to ask as we move along.

Hello guys. Just posting a professional second opinion. Infinity is right. Many people will launch a website expecting some automatic flood of traffic after hearing various online overnight success stories. Thing is, it takes more work than you'd expect. I like to call internet business 'clicks and mortar' because of this fact. Anyway, follow the steps outlined above and you should be on your way to having a really useful site, instead of just something to brag about when handing out business cards

STEP 1: Keyword Research

Before you begin building your website, you need to identify what the majority of your target market are looking for on the Internet i.e. the search terms people type into Google, Yahoo or Bing to find products or services. (We shall focus on Google since it has the largest market share.)

Once you have this information you can design your website so it appeals to the largest group of your prospects and therefore capture the largest piece of the pie online.

There are two ways of finding this information:
1. Using Google Suggest. ( Basic)
2. Using Google Keyword Tool. ( Advanced)

For example if you were a lawyer in Kenya and you were going to set up a website to sell your services, you would first conduct some research to find out how many people in Kenya are really looking for what you offer and the terms they type into search engines.

1. Using Google Suggest. (Basic)

To begin the keyword research process go to:

http://www.google.co.ke/

Type in the terms or phrases you think people will use when looking for your services and wait Google to give you suggestions based on what people are searching in Kenya.

Then note down the search terms relevant to your products or services.

For this example we will use: Advocates, Lawyers and Law Firms.

1. Advocates



2. Lawyers



3. Law Firms




From the above research we have managed to collect a few keywords that your prospects are typing in Google to find the products or services you offer:

Advocates in Kenya, Advocates Kenya

Lawyers in Kenya, Lawyers in Nairobi, Lawyers in Mombasa

Law firms in Kenya, Law firms in Nairobi, Law Firms, Law Firms in Mombasa.

NOTE: Repeat the above process with as many keywords as you can think of. (For best results put yourself in your prospects shoes and think of what they would type to find what you offer.)

Please read the following other posts about "Websites and Hosting"

1. "Need 2 own website" at http://www.wazua.co.ke/f...aspx?g=posts&t=2261

2. "web hosting company" at http://www.wazua.co.ke/f...osts&t=1467&p=2

3. "Free Website for Wazuarians/skerians" at http://www.wazua.co.ke/f...aspx?g=posts&m=76356

STEP 1: Keyword Research contd.

Using Google Keyword Tool. (Advanced)

You can access this tool at:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Now enter the keywords you found during the previous research and others you might have left out but still think are relevant.



Next click on the Advanced options link and select Kenya on Locations and English on the Languages

NOTE: If you are targeting visitors from worldwide then select All Countries on Locations



Next enter the Captcha Text and hit the Search button!



Now go through the keywords carefully selecting the ones that are most relevant to your products or services. (I know it’s a lot of work …but this is what separates websites that works and those that don’t)
So take your time even if it’s a couple of hours.

Take note of the Local Monthly Searches too.



Once you have selected the keywords you want by checking the boxes on the left of the keywords then click on the Download button at the top left and click on Selected.



Now click on Download then click on Save on the pop up window.



Now you have a Microsoft Excel document which when you open contains a lot of great data that will actually guide you into developing a website that appeals to the largest number of people in your market.



By researching what your prospects are searching for online you can ensure that you have a targeted page designed for each search term, which is beneficial for both pay-per-click advertising (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO).

If you have any questions feel free to ask!

In the next post we shall cover Choosing The Right Domain Name

STEP 2: Choosing The Right Domain Name & Hosting

Well, moving on..

For those that were wondering why we didn't start with domain name registration first, it's because you need a domain that will certainly bring you some traffic and what better way to get this traffic than to have some keyword in the domain.

Try combining the various keywords you found during the research with your business name to come up with a good domain name.

In our lawyer example we found during the keyword research that the keyword “advocates Kenya” receives approximately 590 searches per month.

For example if your law firm was Kamau & Advocates you can register a domain like: kamauadvocateskenya.com

I know this might not be a great example but try and experiment with various keywords but make it as short as you can usually 3 words max & should be memorable too.

Once you have found the domain name that suits you head over to any of the following domain registrars to register your new domain name

(Cost $10 - $11 per year)

1. Name Cheap (Highly Recommended)
2. GoDaddy.com
3. 1 and 1
4. Host Gator
5. Site5

NOTE: Try and stick to .com if its taken then the next option would be a .co.ke (if your target market is in kenya) or .net

To register a .co.ke domain contact any of the kenic registrars on the link below:
(Cost Kshs. 3,000 - 4,000 per year)

Kenic Accredited Registrars

I recommend Africa Online been using them for over 3 years with 7 domains.

In the next post we'll cover Choosing The Right Web Hosting Company

@KenyanLyrics I totally agree with you on that one.

May be it wasn't clear but what i said under Google Suggest was to enable you find out suggestions based on what people are searching in Kenya.

Since Google suggest shows popularity of search terms.

To determine the traffic you will have to put the keywords from Google Suggest on the keyword tool of your choice to get that data.