Being a web professional, I am always on the look-out for ways to build and enhance my skills in order to create a better product for my clients, as well as to save time in the process. A tips checklist can help you to quickly reference various shortcuts and tricks along the way.
Domain names
1. Make sure the domain name functions both with the www and without.
2. It’s a common website design convention to reserve the subdomain (eg: help.tentips.com) for your mobile gadget. Although, it’s actually cheaper and as widely known as the top-level domain .mobi
3. The greater majority of the general public seem to only recognize .org .net and .com however it is worth checking the availability of all the top level domains if you are going to be branding your name.
4. Don’t use hyphens in your domain name: eg: website-hotline.com
5. Using domain hacks such as del.icio.us is a good tactic, even though it’s harder to spell, it can be a great option if your preferred name is not available.
6. If you’re looking to grab the attention of a local market, it could be worth your while to grab a country code top level domain name. If you’re in Australia, a .com.au is ideal for getting local traffic in Australia.
7. if you do opt for a country code top level domain name you may need to be a resident of that country. You might end up having to forfeit the domain name due to a violation of the agreement from the registrar.
8. Consider WHOIS privacy when securing your domain name. If you allow your registrar to use their contact details instead of yours, you could run the risk of losing that domain if any type of conflict arises.
9. Consider going to an auction site such as Sedo to secure a domain name that’s not available. Even though this could be a rather expensive method to secure your domain name, it could pay off in the long run.
Web hosting
10. When you are deciding on the web hosting package, make sure you research what’s included in terms of CPU usage, disk space and bandwidth. By determining this, you’ll be able to weigh up the potential cost.
11. Be mindful of hosting providers claiming unlimited resources. Always find and study the fine print of the hosting contract so you can examine the fair use policy.
12. If you are just starting out in the web design business, consider using a shared grid host instead of dedicated or VPS. You can further assess the level of traffic you’ll need to cater for as time goes by, at which time you can consider upgrading.
13. Avoid using free hosting providers, particularly if you’re hosting commercial websites. Intrusive advertisements are annoying and so you’ll need to purchase some basic web hosting.
Development platform
14. In the event that you are looking for a solution to set up testing that will run mySQL and PHP on your own machine, consider installing XAMPP, it’s simple to use and will allow you to test your sites prior to going live.
15. If you are not an expert in the hosting department, and aside from the expense involved, hosting your own websites with your own infrastructure should probably be avoided. With all the hosting companies that provide these services, let them manage the hosting for you.
Tools
16. Select your platform for development wisely because some WYSIWYG editors can output unreliable code compared to a classic text editor that will permit you to write code by hand when needed.
17. There’s no need to outlay big money for Microsoft or Adobe products. There are many free options and open source products that will get the job done for you but without the big price tag.
18. More free resources for designers: Notepad, Tweetdeck, Xenu Link Sleuth,Eclipse, Paint.NET, IcoFX, FileZilla, FoxTt reader are just some of the free resources designers and web developers can utilize.
19. Locating a decent selection of cheat sheets and checklists will give a designer some convenient and quick locations to get advice when approaching a task. Resource management is a crucial element in managing productivity.
20. Set up a well organized workspace environment. Minimize unnecessary distractions within your workspace as a means to further optimize productivity.
Website Hotline Australia provides article services and is based in Queensland, Australia.