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When you build your dream home, you need to spend an amount of time coming up with a blueprint. It’s pretty much the same thing when you’re putting up a website– it takes a lot of careful thought and planning.

In web development, misunderstandings and unwanted experiences occur because of lack of planning. This is applicable both in the part of the business man and the web developer. It sucks but it happens. And when it does, it often leaves a bad taste in your mouth and, at worst, puts your business on hold until you find that perfect web developer.

In this article, I’ll let you in on the 8 things you need to do before you hire a web developer. Check it out:

Set some goals

I’m sure you already have an idea of what your website’s goals are since you’ve already chosen to work on a website that makes you money. But it would really help if you can spend time and ask yourself these questions so you can really nail in some specific goals:

What is your primary reason for putting up a website? What do you want your site to do? What will be the indicators that will let you know that your website is successful?

Write down your answers

Once you get to answer those questions, you’ll soon have a clear picture of what kind of website do you wish to put up and it will be easy for you to communicate these objectives to your preferred web developer and set expectations straight.

Define your market

Along with coming up with goals for your website, comes the need to define your audience. That means thinking up of the people you want to work for or work with. That also includes some demographics like age, gender, location and stuff.

Make sure you share these thoughts to your web developer too, since it can be a crucial asset to your website development – from the buttons you need to the functions they represent.

Design your logo

Logos, though seemingly a small part of your business, is actually something very important. It’s literally that regalia that your business stands for and, depending on how you want to look at it, a red flag for your competitors and a beacon of hope for your audience.

In any case, make sure you hire a designer to create your logo for as low as $150. Before you start working with a designer for a logo, make sure that you download my Logo Design Questionnaire and answer the questions provided.

Create a website wish list

Speaking of competition, you may want to make a list of websites whose features you want to implement on yours. It’s so you can have something to model from and you don’t need to think of anything new to come up with a good, functional site.

List down the features

After going through these websites, make sure you take note of their features and what services provide these features. Do your homework and find out if there are alternatives to such, preferably those cheaper or more efficient – should depend on your budget, really.

Prepare content

Now, you’ll want to prepare a content plan for your website. My two cents? Refer to your keyword research set and find out your audience’s questions – you should know most of these because you have to put yourself in their shoes.

Once you’ve done that, get at least 10 or 20 posts ready before launching your website(if you are putting up a blog). In the long run, you could hire a writer or just keep writing yourself.

Come up with a budget

Now, drawing the example we had earlier, websites are a lot like houses because they also have a range of costs that come along with them. What you’d want to do to be effificent in terms of maximizing your website is to come up with a budget.

So get to work with your web developer on agreeing with a reasonable budget. Ask if the specs of your website matches your budget. If not, be ready to either trim down the features that you want your website to have, or add a couple of dollars to get what you you want.

That’s about it for things you need to do before you hire a web developer. I took the liberty of creating a questionnaire that pretty much covers everything on the list.

You can download the my Web Development Questionnaire here.

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After the dreaded Panda spread pandemonium for Internet marketers and huge corporations who use content farms and other relevant forms of link building practices, Google introduces yet another threat to SEO in the form of Happy Feet… armed with a machine gun and some nasty jungle knives.

That’s right, folks.

The Google Penguin Update.

Now, traditional link building strategies that have been relatively be considered “legit” can be the downfall of websites who employ such a method. For instance, the accumulation of, say, thousands of links with only one keyword as anchor text will put your blog or website in the slums of the SERPs.

That said, it’s going to be much more difficult to get a good ranking in Google. In this article, I’ll show you how to keep yourself from being penguin putted to the SERP slums by providing actionable advice and tactics. Check it out:

Drop the spammy link building strategies

That’s right, folks. Quit going to some shady (or sleazy) site to purchase a bunch of backlinks. It may do you more harm than good and you can bet your behind it’s going to hit you like karma. Trust me when I say this, I know a lot of people whose websites were in the first few pages and are now, through underhanded link building tactics, are in SERP oblivion.

Don’t rely on Google for traffic

There are lots of channels where you can get traffic to your blog. One example (and so far, the most successful one) is from social media networks. Look at it this way: The most engaged traffic I have with the lowest bounce rates come from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Also, if you’re not into social (yet), it may be a good time to get in to PPC. Nothing really wrong with spending a few dollars on some highly targeted and motivated traffic. It’s all going to convert sooner or later.

Write for your audience, not the robots

By that, I mean write as naturally as possible. Writing for search engines usually means spewing out a few target keywords (well, in most cases, a lot) without ever really providing any helpful information. When you write naturally and come from a space of providing value to your audience, you don’t risk looking spammy and you gain some trust points.

You’ll never go wrong with being authentic.

Go social

Speaking of being authentic, what better way to build more links and trust points than by utilizing the power of social media? Let’s face it. Soon, traditional link building strategies will be outlawed by the Big G and the only way to get authority votes is to gather an audience and get them to link to you with fresh and interesting content.

May sound simple enough, but I’m not done yet:

1. Take note of every social network relevant to your niche, join it and build an audience.
2. Create high-value content that is just begging to be shared. The more it’s shared, the higher the chances of reaching other people – this means more chances of being linked to or mentioned in the social networks.

With the power of social media in your hands (and the socialization of the Internet and Google), you’ll be sure that you’ll gain enough trust points to give you authority – something very important if you want Google to put you where you feel you deserve.

Connect with websites and webmasters

Another good way to build links legitimately is to be friends with other webmasters and business owners. It’s not really a long shot if you think it out enough. Here’s what you need to remember:

You get what you give.

So acknowledge them in your blog, link to their posts, comment on their blog and provide value. This should get them to feel that you have the purest intentions of just engaging and, at the end of the day, when you’ve given enough, you’ll get one legit link and pretty much the same value that you’ve put in..

Again, one pure link is better than a thousand shady links (which could, at the end of the day or update, land you in no-man’s land).

That’s about it for surviving the dreaded penguin, folks. Remember, provide value and do things right. With that, you’ll be safe from Penguin Paranoia.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

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With the rise of Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, it’s out of the question whether getting a blog would be good for your brand. Everything’s digital nowadays and if you’re not in the Internet, you’re missing out on the good stuff (aka leads and customers).

In this article, I’ll talk about why you must absolutely get a blog for your brand and how doing so can put you ahead of the competition and boost your bottom line. I listed down 5 of the best reasons, check it out:

1. To establish your brand as an Authority

What brand wouldn’t want a little piece of authority? To be considered as an “Authority” means you no longer have to be where your audience is at (at least, not if you’re the supreme authority), they’ll usually flock to you. In any case, having a blog means you have the ability to be the main source of information for your audience.

And how can you not be if you’re consistently posting content that continues to relieve your audience’s pain by providing answers and solutions to their questions and problems? The power to have authority is obtained by simply putting yourself out there with a blog.

2. To get search engine rankings

Google and other search engines loves fresh and relevant content. To own a blog means to have some sort of magazine that publishes new stuff regularly. So in theory (and in some case studies), if you own a blog, you immediately gain the favor of the big G. This, in turn, means more traffic and potential money for your brand.

Search engines, particularly Google, crawl the web regularly for fresh content. Having a blog that you proliferate with content on a regular basis makes you a fresh relevant source of information – which could land you a good spot on the search engines.

3. To humanize your brand

Would you rather listen to a talking brochure? Or a person in the form of a website? You see, a blog can be your brand’s spokesperson. By telling stories that resonate with your audience and by engaging them with fascinating articles, you’re actively humanizing your brand.

You see, when you blog, you’re not only spewing out random information, you’re giving value by providing answers and solutions to your target audience. This gives your brand a personality who understands things from your audience’s perspective – a vital thing if you want to be trusted.

4. To be ahead of the competition

The best place to be ahead of the competition is in the Internet. If your competitors are already there, then all the more you should be there too! You see, one edge the Internet brings you, besides the stellar online presence, would be the engagement you could have with your customers.

Besides, let’s face it: Not everyone understands the potential of the Internet. With a blog, you can take advantage of this potential and leave the competition in the dust.

5. To build trust

As mentioned earlier, with a blog you spread all sorts of content – from informative blog posts to list-type how-to articles that help your audience get a clearer grasp of your niche. And this is a good thing because you’re slowly making a connection.

Once you’re the go-to blog for what your audience is interested in, anything you recommend and ask them to do – they WILL do. This is because you’ve taught them all that they needed and wanted to know.

That’s 5 main reasons why you need to get a blog for your brand. Remember, once your blog is up and running, the potential for people from around the World Wide Web to know about your product increases. When that happens, you get to reach your bottom line (get more customers), keep your audience entertained and, at the end of the day, everyone’s happy.

So start a blog now and claim your spot in the Internet. No one else deserves it but your brand.