What are the basics I need to know for building a successful small-business website?

I have hosting and a domain name set up. It's a real-estate based company

Here are the steps you need to take when creating your online business:

STEP 1: Set Your Goals - Why do you want a web site? What is the size of the online market? What are the goals for your website?

STEP 2: Develop Your Web Site Strategy - Who is your website target audience? What typically appeals to your target audience? How are the other websites (your competition) reaching out to this target audience? How will you measure your performance?

STEP 3: Set-Up Implementation Plans - What name will you give to your site? How do you envision the design of your web site? How will you create your website? How will you create your content? How will you maintain your website?

STEP 4: Start the Ball Rolling - Do you have a logo? For e-retailers, do you have the critical components needed to run an e-commerce site? How are you going to host your site?

STEP 5: Create and Launch Your Web Site - Have you uploaded your site with your chosen web host provider? Are the scripts and application you need for your website functioning well? Have you tested your website?

STEP 6: Promote Your Web Site and Measure Its Results - Do you have a plan in place to market your website? Do you regularly review your traffic logs and web site performance tracker? How are you going to get sites to link to you? Do you know the search engine keywords that you rank well? If your site is not visible in the search engine results pages for its keywords, what strategies do you intend to do?

STEP 7: Maintain Your Website and Grow Your Web Business - Continue to find ways to grow your web business. How do you intend to continue your education on web development?

Domain and choosing a web host are initial steps. You now need on how to attract visitors to your site, what type of content and how you are going to manage your site.