Once you’ve got your business plan ready and your investors lined up, it’s almost time to launch your company. First, though, you need to develop your website. If you’re inexperienced in web design, these tips will help you sort through the many complicated steps.

Purchase a Domain Name

To increase your customers’ ability to find your page, purchase a domain name. The first part, also known as the subdomain, should be your company’s name or a recognizable version of it. The second part, called the top level domain, varies depending on the company that you purchase your domain name from. Common TLDs include .net, .com, and .info. Other TLDs are restricted to organizations with a specific purpose. For example, you cannot use the .edu TLD unless you run an educational institution. Keep in mind that you must pay to maintain your domain name and that if you do not make your yearly payments, someone else can take your name.

Learn About Fonts 

When you’re almost done with your web design, it’s tempting to pick the first font that you recognize. However, you need to use a variety of fonts depending on a block of text’s location and purpose. For headers, use serif fonts, which are fonts that include small dashes at the beginning and end of some characters’ lines. While these fonts are great for lots of text in print form, they do not translate well to paragraphs on websites. Instead, choose a sans serif font such as Arial for the body of your website.

Figure out Markup Languages

Depending on what type of design you are doing, you may not have to use markup languages. Still, it’s important to know the basics of the most common MLs. These languages add extra commands to the text on your website so that it arranges itself a certain way. For example, you can use HTML to write tags that change the color or format of a block. When working on an older website, you may need to use XHTML, but if you’re starting a new site, you will not encounter this language. With XML, you create a new ML specific to your purpose so that you can design your own tags.

Creating a website may seem overwhelming at first, and there is so much information online that it’s hard to know where to start. If you follow these tips, you can succeed at web design without getting stuck on the details.