*This guide is assuming website is for marketing and information only (or lead generation). There are some other considerations and steps involved in creating an ecommerce site, web portal, online services website, or another venue.

** Presentations of this material will be available in the coming weeks. If your interested in viewing the presentations live, please visit the meetup group pages:
http://www.meetup.com/Arizona-WordPress-Group/
http://www.meetup.com/Arizona-WordPress-Group/events/107074562/

Part 0: Importance of planning:

Establish a business plan and answer all the questions about the purpose and goals of your website. 5Ws – Who is it for, What does it do, When will people use it, Where will people find it, Why will it convert visitors? IT’S MOST IMPORTANT TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. Know that “if you build it, they will come” -Field of Dreams, does not apply to internet marketing. You need to find ways to reach your audience using marketing. More information about planning available here:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/06/09/a-comprehensive-website-planning-guide/

Part 1 Establishing a Strong Foundation:

Picking a Domain, Hosting Package, Setup DNS, 5-Min Install, change general settings, change permalinks, Choose a Theme, Add known needed plugins, setup Analytics, finish all settings and configuration changes (hit all of them), setup backups (iThemes Backupbuddy), setup up-time monitoring, establish security monitoring, consider cache and security proxy (like CloudFlare)

Part 2 Building it out, establishing creative, matching the vision:

Create some content, build privacy and terms page, follow theme setup guidelines for special pages, (likely change reading settings for home page and blog), get stock photos (or a custom photo shoot), finish building special pages, R&D and apply page title SEO keywords, setup a child theme, make any theme customization needed, begin blog content, connect to social networks.

Part 3: Extend, Automate and Maintain:

Use plugins to extend the UIX of content development, reduce workload of content development and marketing reach, and change the workflow of the website to “track and enhance visitor conversion”. Establish plan of disaster recovery, monthly maintenance, and continuous marketing outreach.