Preparing to Build a Website

Before you start just about any task, you will stop, consider what you need to do, possibly make a plan, and then go forth and complete the task. This is the same with building a website. You can charge in without preparing for the job, but you may find that it's taking you longer because you learning what needs to be done along the way. The preparations detailed below involve the thoughts and process for preparing to build a website - not the actual content of the website, but the pieces that will be needed in order to host the site on the web, see the website on the internet, and the determination of the website type that will help make your decisions for the hosting service and website building tools.

Preparing to build a website

Generally, a person creating a website will have a concept or idea of the website before they begin. Websites often start with the name of the website, but this isn't always the case and not often the best way to start the process. If you're new to the web and you want to create a website, you should determine the type of website you want to build before actually purchasing the hosting service and proceeding to build it. Knowing the type of website you want to build will help you select a hosting service that will provide the appropriate tools and services (e.g. website building tools, email, ftp, SSH, etc.). This will save you time and the frustration. So, if you don't already have a website name, don't worry. Determine the type of website you want to build and then you can proceed to the next step.

When you are thinking of a website, you will generally find that websites are informational (static), dedicated to being informative but with customer interaction in a blog or forum, or application-based where the website has a specific operational purpose. For example, the most common type of an application-based website is the ecommerce site. You may often see the terms static and dynamic websites used to indicate a type of website, but many of the website solutions used on the internet often blur the lines since some static websites can be built with a tool like WordPress that can also be used for dynamic sites that are frequently updated.

Informational websites have the purpose of sharing information via images, graphics or text that comprise the content of the site. Content can often change or it may simply remain the same. The main purpose is to display the content. Informational websites are sometimes referred to as static websites since the content may not change or only after a period of time.

Blogs are websites that typically contain a person's (or group of people's) opinions, information, media, or whatever else the blog software can support and display. Blogs are interactive and often moderated and kept regularly up-to-date.

E-commerce websites are application-based websites which have the primary purpose of selling products on the internet. These functional sites can also involve all of the aspects of an informational and a blog website.