Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Some Things to Know Before You Start Uploading

Both launching and uploading your site are terms used to represent the point when you finally make a site viewable by the public over the Internet. Before you upload your site to the Net, though, it should be fully functional. Your site design and content should be complete, your navigational tools should work properly, and all parts of your Web site, even the smallest parts and pieces, must be in place and working.

Okay, you can throw caution to the wind and launch an incomplete site. We don't advise it, though. Why not? For one thing, it isn't professional. Not to mention that your customers become easily frustrated when form falls short of function.

An incomplete site diminishes your business's credibility.

A haphazardly constructed and prematurely launched Web site can cause you to lose customers. If a section or feature of your site isn't fully developed or functional, frustrated customers may never bother coming back again.

If you take away anything from this chapter, remember these two points:

• Fully complete your site before launching it.
• Make darn sure that every element works.

You should know about a few other helpful concepts before launching:

• Little details count. Bring out the magnifying glass when you're reviewing your site for mistakes before launching. Check for misspellings, broken links, malfunctioning applications ...