Thinking about developing a web site?

Keep these ideas in mind during the preliminary stages of building a web site.

• Create goals for your site.
  What is the site's purpose? Who is your audience? What do your visitors want to know?
  
  Selling products or services is a primary goal of many sites. While profiting directly from your web site is nice, there are several other benefits to having an Internet presence.
  
  Another legitimate goal for building an Internet site is customer service. You can provide current and archived information, contact information, a FAQ page and an e-mail address just to name a few ideas.

• Get a domain name?
  Good domain names (yourcompanyname.com) are becoming more scarce by the minute. If you find one you think you might like to use, go ahead and register it. It's inexpensive, and you can always change your mind later. If you wait to register, you risk losing out and having to use one that is not quite as good.

Keep in mind that domain names do not have to be the same as your company name. For example a toy store named Widgets could use the domain name "greattoys.com" or "toystoystoys.com." Any word or combination of words which describe your site is fine. We suggest using some of your key words in your domain name, it will help boost your search engine standing. Want to see if a domain name is available? Visit http://domains.i-piece.com/ and do a search.

• Start a list of sites you like.
  Bookmark/Add to Favorites the sites the sites you like in your browser. Make notes on why you like them, whether it's the color scheme, navigation, graphics, functionality, etc....

• Develop a site map
  A site map is a diagram or list which shows the different links/pages/functionality and how they are connected. Keep your goals for the site in mind as you do this so you can present the content in and organized and effective manner.

• Start and maintain an ongoing list of keywords.
  Keywords are words you think one might type in a search engine to find your site. For example The Widget Toy store might use the keywords: toy store, Toy Store, toys, toy, fun, widget toys, widget toy store, etc...