From idea to launch: a simple checklist for your first site

Most first websites die in the planning stage — too many decisions, no order to make them in. Here's the order.

One: claim your name. Buy the .com or .ng domain before you do anything else; it costs less than lunch and stops the heartbreak of building a brand on a name someone else owns. Keep it short, spellable over the phone, and matching your Instagram handle if you can.

Two: get the design decided fast. This is where weeks usually vanish. Generate a few AI concepts, pick the direction that feels like you, and stop iterating — a shipped “very good” beats an unshipped “perfect” every single time.

Three: write five pieces of content before you touch anything else: what you do in one sentence, three reasons customers pick you, one testimonial, your prices (or “from ₦X”), and how to contact you. That's a complete one-page site. Everything else is decoration.

Four: make paying easy. At minimum, list your bank details and a WhatsApp link; better, add a payment link so customers can pay while the excitement is hot. Five: launch quietly, share it with ten customers, fix what confuses them, then announce it loudly. A website is never finished — it's just live or it isn't.

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