A first website for a business that has not opened yet

Work on a website can start well before a business opens.

It helps to take the steps in order, starting with the name.

Check the name

Before settling on a name, it helps to know whether someone else already uses it.

The Intellectual Property Office has a search of UK trade marks. It shows whether a similar mark already exists, and who owns it. Companies House has a search of company names as well.

The domain comes next. That is the address people type to reach the site. A domain that matches the name is easier to say and remember.

Register the domain in your own name

A domain is registered through a company called a registrar.

ICANN, which coordinates domain names worldwide, sets out what the person who registers one must do. They must give accurate contact details and keep them up to date. They must answer their registrar within 15 days when it asks them something. If the domain renews automatically, the payment details must stay current too.

Keep the login to the registrar account yourself, even when someone else builds the site.

What a first page needs

One page is enough to begin with. It says what the business does, where it works and how to get in touch.

Those three things belong near the top, where someone reading on a phone sees them first.

The page should work for everyone who visits. The W3C, which sets the web's standards, says a site that is properly designed and built can be used by people with disabilities. It also says many sites still have barriers that make them hard or impossible for some people to use.

Personal details and cookies

A contact form collects personal details, such as a name and an email address.

The Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's data protection regulator, says people must be told why their details are being collected. They must also be told how long the details are kept and who they are shared with. That information is given at the moment the details are collected.

Organisations that use personal information must pay the ICO a data protection fee, unless they are exempt. Sole traders are included. The ICO has a short check of whether a business needs to pay.

A business whose site sets cookies must tell visitors they are there. It must explain what they do and why, and ask for consent. There is an exception for cookies a service needs in order to work, such as one that remembers a shopping basket.

Being found

Google finds most new websites by itself.

Its guide for site owners says you usually need to do nothing more than publish the site. A change can show in its results within a few hours, or take several months.

A business can also add itself to Google Search and Maps with a Business Profile, at no charge. Only businesses that meet Google's guidelines can have one.

Keeping the accounts safe

A new business soon has several logins, for the domain, the email and the site itself.

The National Cyber Security Centre says about half of small businesses suffer a cyber incident each year. Many of the steps in its guide for small organisations can be done in as little as five minutes.

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