Would you recommend building a "test" website first?

12 replies
Hey!

The past weeks I've been reading about internet marketing. I want to build my own website later this year. However, the more I read, the more complex it all seems. There are so many things I could mess up badly
Hence my question is: would you recommend a newbie to create a test website to mess around with (after all, you learn by doing)? Or would it be better to jump straight into the real website?

From my considerations so far... A disadvantage of a test site is extra costs (domain and hosting?). Also, messing up might be okay when the real website ain't a big player yet.

- Iris
#building #learning #newbie #recommend #testing #website
  • Profile picture of the author NK
    You're already going to put the work in anyway so just dive into it! If it doesn't work out, you can always build another
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    • Profile picture of the author Andre Slater
      Concentrate on creating a blog...

      Don't worry about making the perfect site. Just get started making post to your site. Your first post and your first site is gonna suck anyway. You'll get better as you make more post just starting is the key then figure it out.

      The great sites started off crappy and they keep working on it till it's great
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      • Profile picture of the author IrisMKH
        Originally Posted by NK View Post

        You're already going to put the work in anyway so just dive into it! If it doesn't work out, you can always build another
        Yeah, effort is best put into something substantial...

        Originally Posted by Andre Slater View Post

        Concentrate on creating a blog...

        Don't worry about making the perfect site. Just get started making post to your site. Your first post and your first site is gonna suck anyway. You'll get better as you make more post just starting is the key then figure it out.

        The great sites started off crappy and they keep working on it till it's great
        Think I'll have to mentally prepare for crappy quality in the beginning... I'm mostly afraid of disappointing people (including myself, lol). But "keep working on it till it's great" is a good way to approach it. Am I allowed to break stuff as long as I have a back-up?
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  • Profile picture of the author graceemily
    Nowadays domain & hosting fee is not a big amount. If you buy a domain & hosting, all of your visitor will come to your site. on the other hand if you use it as a testing purpose, your visitor will loss you. So I suggest you to make a good site, no need to test.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Holmes
    Don't put it off... don't make a 'test' site.

    Just dive right in... your first site will be horrible. I doubt if ANYONE has ever looked back on their first site and said "Boy, I sure got that one right!"

    One of the biggest problems everyone has is procrastination ... putting it off until it's "perfect"... I'm particularly guilty of it... I just HATE to put something online unless I feel it really reflects my ability and knowledge ... and nothing I do ever seems to meet that standard

    Most hosting packages allow multiple domains (don't buy it if it doesn't!) so you can have a 'test platform' if you wish - but don't work on the test platform at the expense of your real site. Just use the test platform later down the road to play with themes & plugins before installing on your main site.

    I wouldn't worry about 'messing up' a website when you first get started, you're not going to be having visitors anyway...

    Go for it!!
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Isn't every site, no matter the cost or effort involved, a test site?

      You create the site, add some content, start driving traffic to it, and begin making sales.

      If that scenario plays out, you start testing and tweaking your site to make it even more profitable.

      If that scenario doesn't play out (i.e. you don't get traffic or sales) you move on to the next project.

      Every site begins as a test - it will never be perfect right from the start.

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author growitinvestit
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    • Profile picture of the author IrisMKH
      Originally Posted by graceemily View Post

      Nowadays domain & hosting fee is not a big amount. If you buy a domain & hosting, all of your visitor will come to your site. on the other hand if you use it as a testing purpose, your visitor will loss you. So I suggest you to make a good site, no need to test.
      No guaranteee that I'll be able to create a good site... But I get what you're saying!

      Originally Posted by Khadaji View Post

      Most hosting packages allow multiple domains (don't buy it if it doesn't!) so you can have a 'test platform' if you wish - but don't work on the test platform at the expense of your real site. Just use the test platform later down the road to play with themes & plugins before installing on your main site.
      Especially thanks for that tip! I had no idea...
      And oh man, procrastination. At the moment I procrastinate my paper writing by reading this forum

      Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

      Isn't every site, no matter the cost or effort involved, a test site?

      You create the site, add some content, start driving traffic to it, and begin making sales.

      If that scenario plays out, you start testing and tweaking your site to make it even more profitable.

      If that scenario doesn't play out (i.e. you don't get traffic or sales) you move on to the next project.

      Every site begins as a test - it will never be perfect right from the start.

      Steve
      That's another way to look at it. Actually, IM as a whole will be a test for me. Let's hope I like it better than freelancing or 9-5 jobs.

      Originally Posted by growitinvestit View Post

      what are your goals?

      * A Site ?

      or

      * Internet Marketing ?

      I know it sounds crazy but there not always the same

      PM me if you need a mentor
      Internet marketing: a monetized authority site on learning to paint/draw realistically.
      It's kinda outlined in this post. I'm learning the craft myself so I'm going from that perspective. Still brainstorming about the specifics. Monetization: Google Adsense, Amazon associate and once I get good, I'll create my own ebooks too
      It will probably start out as a blog format.
      First Income Goal: $900/month after six months

      - Iris
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      Currently drawing: http://irishopp.com/

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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Iris, I don't consider myself a newbie, but I still keep at least one "laboratory" site that I don't care if anyone sees or uses. That site is just for me.

        I use it to try new plug-ins, tweak code I'm adding to themes (sounds more impressive than it is), playing with layouts, and so on. I keep notes as I go, so that if I decide to do the same thing on a "real" site, I can do so with minimal interruptions or interference due to debugging.

        Suppose you put up a contact form or opt-in form and find out that you used a ":" instead of a ":" and the form is broken. Meanwhile, potential customers get a broken form and leave. [Side comment: this is my pet Facebook peeve - apps that don't work unless you have a specific hardware/software setup.]

        That said, I agree with Khadaji's advice to not use the test site as an excuse for not working on your money site.
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        • Profile picture of the author IrisMKH
          Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

          Iris, I don't consider myself a newbie, but I still keep at least one "laboratory" site that I don't care if anyone sees or uses. That site is just for me.

          I use it to try new plug-ins, tweak code I'm adding to themes (sounds more impressive than it is), playing with layouts, and so on. I keep notes as I go, so that if I decide to do the same thing on a "real" site, I can do so with minimal interruptions or interference due to debugging.

          Suppose you put up a contact form or opt-in form and find out that you used a ":" instead of a ":" and the form is broken. Meanwhile, potential customers get a broken form and leave. [Side comment: this is my pet Facebook peeve - apps that don't work unless you have a specific hardware/software setup.]

          That said, I agree with Khadaji's advice to not use the test site as an excuse for not working on your money site.
          So you're working on your main sites, but test changes/additions separately first That's a way to test safely without taking away time from productivity.

          There's unanimous agreement that I ought to focus on building the real thing - couldn't be more straightforward! Thanks, warriors

          - Iris
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          Currently drawing: http://irishopp.com/

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  • Profile picture of the author Highway55
    Test? You have to test everything anyway... Test the real thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author FrasserBeecroft
    Someone once said to me don't get it right, get it done.

    I say jump in at the deepend. You can always change it as you go along....

    Hope this helps.

    Frasser
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  • Profile picture of the author godabhi
    For buliding it require hard work... so I suggest you to just focus on the real website...
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