Building a website: Part 1 - The Idea

Hey all, A couple of people very close to me have wanted to start their own Internet businesses as it is most definitely the easiest way to get a foot on the ladder. As a techy I thought it my duty to take them through it step by step. There are hundreds of websites out there that tell you how to do this but not all of them are particularly accessible. So today I cover the very first part of my manual.


The Idea

It's very important to have a sound idea. Do some research. Someone, somewhere, is bound to have had the same one. There's nothing wrong with this, if anything this may give you an advantage. Have a look at the competition, see what they've done. Have they missed anything? Will you offer something different? This is key to your success. If there is already someone offering a better service then people won't use yours...

Who is your target audience? Is that market saturated? If it is it may be worth targeting another group. Tweak your initial idea slightly to fit the market better, the rest can be done through marketing. You'll need to convince those people that they want what you have but that's for a different day.

More importantly what is the 'tone'  of the business/idea? Straight-laced? or Fun-loving? Once you have your idea you'll need refine this so eventually you'll have a brand. Draft some ideas and maybe even sketch a logo or two. It's important to spend time with these little things so you can get into the habit of thinking 'How can I make this idea even cooler?'

OK so this concludes the first part of my walkthrough. I'm sure you're aware that not much of this is anything to do with websites or in fact website design. To be honest, not much of the website will be anything to do with the website. Content is everything, so before you even think about creating the site, you'll need to know what's going in it.


- Dave