More companies want their own site than know how to build one, and the process is the part people are least clear about. So here is the sequence, in the order it happens.
1. Register the domain
This is step one, and it is the easy one. The domain is the site’s address, and a good site should have a short, memorable one. The common endings are .com and .cn, and for most companies one of those is the right choice at a few tens of RMB a year. Registration is available through any number of providers. One thing not to skip: real-name verification, which usually takes a day or two to clear.
2. Choose the hosting
The server is where the site’s data lives, and it is what decides whether the site is stable — a page that loads slowly is usually a hosting problem rather than a design problem. A small or mid-sized company setting up its first site is well served by a mid-range server, and the annual cost runs from a few hundred to one or two thousand RMB.
3. Settle the site’s subject
This is the part that gets rushed and should not be. Why does this site exist? Who is it for? Is it for e-commerce, for a public-interest project, for showing a portfolio, for teaching? All of it has to be decided before design begins, because the subject determines the style, the structure, the sections, the palette, and how text and images combine. The subject is the soul of the site — go in without it settled and every later decision turns into an argument.
4. Choose how to build it
Strictly speaking, a website is code: HTML, CSS and the rest. If you have the foundation and the patience, you can learn it and build your own, and some people do.
For everyone else there are three routes:
- Recruit an in-house technical team and build it internally.
- Commission a custom build from an outsourced studio.
- Use a self-service website builder.
The three have different cost structures and different ceilings. Choosing between them is worth ten honest minutes of thinking about what happens after launch, not just what happens on it.
5. Test, then go live
Before the site is public, test it. Are there bugs? Does the reading order match how visitors actually read? Does the flow hold from page to page? Is it fast enough to keep someone who is only half-decided? The point of all of it is the visitor’s experience, and the time to find a problem is before anyone sees the site rather than after.
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