You know that exhilarating feeling you get when you’re about to go on a first date, right? Have you noticed the effort you put into making sure that everything goes according to plan? How about the butterflies in the pit of your stomach which slowly settle down, one by one, as the evening progresses?

Before we go off on a tangent, this article isn’t about dating. No, in fact, you should have figured out by now that we are going to build you a website.

Believe it or not, when creating a new website, you should be going through those exact emotions. You should be excited about the project and must keep that fire stoked right through to the end, even when you face hard times down the e-road. You will need to roll up your sleeves and put in some serious effort; that website isn’t going to build itself. And yes, there will be some nail-biting moments after you have launched your site. But if you have planned ahead, and done everything that you are supposed to, it will eventually take off.

We will see how, just like when going on a date, you can take 10 easy steps and measures to arrive at an end result that will blow your visitors’ mind away … in this case, the perfect website.

1. Appearance Matters: that is why you dress to the nines on that crucial first date. Your website too, needs to create a first impression. A good one, that is. If you don’t have a knack for designing websites, spend some money on a good, reputable web designer. It will be worth it in the long run.
2. Don’t Ramble: you wouldn’t want to bore your date to tears. You wouldn’t want to do the same to your site’s visitors either. All the content on your site should be straight to the point. Remember, on average, visitors spend 20 seconds on a site before they decide whether they are going to stay or not. So, your landing page (the first page visitors see) should be able to capture their attention immediately and then convince them to continue on to your main page (where you sell them something or provide the core information).
3. Watch Your Language: needless to say, you wouldn’t want to say stuff that would make your date cringe, now would you? Well, your visitors shouldn’t wince when they read your content either. Make sure your articles are free from spelling and grammatical errors. Nothing discourages readers more than something written in broken English.
4. All Show and No Substance Leads to Farewells: if you keep talking about stuff that is trivial or has little to no value at all, the conversation is going to be a pretty short one and the evening a shorter one. Keep it fresh and interesting. Likewise, if your website has content that doesn’t add value, then it might as well be gibberish. They say “Content is King” … it is true.
5. Never Forget Your Shoes: Women notice shoes. They can tell a lot about you by looking at your shoes. Or at least they think so. Your website’s footer is a place where you can say a lot. Don’t ignore it. People looking for more information about your company or business usually head down towards the footer. Use it to put in relevant data like “Contact Us”, “About Us” and “Blog”.
6. Go Where You Have Some Elbow Space: you wouldn’t take your first date to a place where everyone is in your face. The same thing with server space. When you deploy your site, make sure you have enough disk space for now and the foreseeable future. While you’re at it, consider bandwidth and network speed, too.
7. It’s a Dialog, Remember: If only you are going to be doing the talking all night long, then you better make sure that you have a really good story or prepare yourself for a very short date. If you want to keep your visitors happy make sure you pique their interests by giving them something to do. Ask questions. Make them click on links to get to more interesting parts of your site. If you can, chat with them. In short: interact.
8. Your Title Says A Lot: there is no question that having a “Dr.”, “Captain” or “Poet Laureate” before your name increases your chances of having a captive audience, which in turn increases your chances of swooping your date off their feet. Having a domain name that is easy to remember, is related to your website’s subject matter or is whacky enough to not be forgotten will increase your chances of catching visitors’ attention. They also will remember you longer.
9. Your Reputation Precedes You: you should expect your date to do some querying about you. They might ask a friend about you or, if they are a little on the paranoid side, they might have a full background check done on you. Your website’s reputation is determined by search engine rankings. The first thing that people do, when they are looking for something, is head to their favorite search engine to find out where they can get some answers. If you have a good ranking, you have a better chance of cornering a large number of those people. Believe in the power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
10. Learn to Stand Out: you should be able to impress your date with your uniqueness. Make sure they know that you are special. Similarly, if your website is just a copy of the 300 ones that have already been in the business for 10 years, you won’t be seeing that much traffic, let alone any business. You need to bring something new to an old game – that’s the only way you will win.

If you end up having a successful date, it means that you will be seeing each other again. That also means that you will need to keep up the good work and make sure that you have all the 10 points mentioned above covered at all subsequent meetings – at least until you’re married. Never take people for granted.

Your website too needs to be kept current all the time. Keep repeating the 10 steps and improving your site by trying to implement as many of them as possible. Then start all over again: Points like SEO and keeping your content fresh and up-to-date need to be done on a regular basis.