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Here is part three of the “Developing A Geo Domain” article from Domainer’s Magazine. This segment discusses actual site development and brings up some questions you might want to keep in the back of your mind as you’re going through your planning and development process. Read part one of the series here if you missed it and part two here.

Geo Domain Site Development

Developing a Geo domain (or any type of domain in particular) requires technical know-how and project management skills. You also need to decide on how big a scope of development you will aim for. Should you create a mini site, or should you opt for a big, flagship website? The following are some of the practical questions that you’ll have to answer when developing your Geo domain site:

Where will you get your content?

Where will you get the content that you will use for your site? Will you syndicate content from content directories? Will you buy content in bulk from PLR article databases? Will you aim for community-generated content? Will you outsource your content needs to freelance writers? Should you hire in-house writers?

Content-wise, most successful Geo domainers advise that you use fresh and original content. This means the better bets include the last three options: you should outsource your content needs to freelance writers, hire in-house writers and/or cultivate an active following for fresh and original community-generated content.

How should you decide on site design and graphics?

If your Geo domain is an online version of a real-world place, then your site design and site graphics should reflect the theme and colors of the actual place to which your Geo domain refers. Sites for California-related Geo domains, for instance, are probably better off with sunny and upbeat themes.

This is no firm rule, of course. You can design your California-related, Geo domain site in a dark and cloudy theme if you want. Just remember that your site has to be intuitive – it should correspond to your target audience’s expectations about the place they want to learn more about. If they are expecting sunny California in your site and see doomsday instead, they’re unlikely to stay.

Originality of site design and graphics is not as crucial as originality of written content. Nevertheless, original design and site graphics will give your site an original and unique flavor. For your site design and graphics needs, you can hire freelance designers and graphics artists online or you can employ an in-house designer.

How do you optimize your site for search engines?

Search engine traffic will be an important factor to the success of your Geo domain site. To this end, you will need to have at least a basic understanding of how search engine optimization works. An important component of this subtask is determining what keywords to focus on so that your Geo domain site can rank high in the search engine results, not just for primary keywords but also for long-tail keywords. If you have a small budget, you can SEO your site yourself. You can also hire an SEO consultant who’ll assess your site and make recommendations for you to follow.

How do you develop your website and required utilities?

It’s easy to set up a blog; there are free blog platforms like WordPress. If you need something more complex, you can install a content management system like Joomla or Drupal. If you have no knowledge about these platforms or no inclination to learn about them, you should hire a professional site developer and programmer.