Creating a website: formalities and obligations

WordPress, SquareSpace, Joomla, Wix...there are so many possibilities for creating your own website, and the French are well aware of this, since the creation of websites and web pages has never been so high!

Even so, it's important to do your homework before setting up your website, because without the right information, there's a risk of missing out on current obligations and regulations.

Focus on the creation of websites, through the various steps to follow to comply with regulations.

How to create a website 

Because you can't just invent a website, here's a quick summary of the steps you need to take to create a site that's both practical and ergonomic, as well as fully compliant! 

Define your project and your goals!

Knowing where you want to go, what your project's objective is, is an essential starting point!

So nothing is more useful than taking a little time to define your expectations before moving on to the operational part. This step, which at first seems time-consuming, will in fact save you many hours in the process of building your project.

Here are a few interesting questions to ask yourself: 

• Why do I want to develop a website?
• What would be the added value of such a site?
• What budget can I devote to it? 
• Who is my target audience? 
• How do I manage my site on a day-to-day basis (interaction with visitors, uploading content, etc.)? Do I have the time?
• Can I go it alone? 

Finally, it's a good idea to think about your site's structure and tree structure, to give you a good idea of what the final result will look like. 

Determining the domain name

The domain name is the web address of your site: the link between Internet users and your platform.

Selecting a domain name is not that easy:

• It must be representative of your business.
• That it contains certain keywords useful for your site's referencing
• Don't be endless
• Check that it is not already being used by someone else

Once you've selected your domain name, don't waste any time: register it with AFNIC to avoid having it stolen and, above all, to speed up access to your site (it can take from 24 hours to a week for your site to be activated). Don't forget to register your site with the CNIL (French Data Protection Authority), and with the CCI (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) if it's a commercial site. 

The choice of host

Once you've created your site, you need to place it on a server. As this server belongs to a hosting company, you need to choose it carefully. Its role is to ensure that your site is available 24 hours a day, in the best possible way. There are a number of criteria for determining which hosting provider is best for you: price, memory, site structure, target country...

The web site guide hébergeur, an effective comparison of different hosting providers, will help you to see things more clearly.

The development of your site! 

You have two options for creating your site: 

• Do it yourself if you feel up to it: if you're a beginner, it's still best to take a training course.
• Entrust such a mission to a professional service provider: the time saved and the quality of the work will be certain, but it will obviously cost you a certain amount of money. The CCI has compiled a list of service providers in the ICT sector.

Feed your site and develop its appeal

A central and often overlooked task in the creation phase of a website is the referencing of your site. Register it with search engines and directories, post it on your social networks: put it in the spotlight!

But beware: a site that has no content, even if it's visible, will still have no visitors... Remember to feed your site regularly once it's online!

Obligations and regulations 

For the creation of a site, certain obligations and regulations must be respected. 

As such : 

• When setting up a merchant site, you are fully responsible for the legal obligations incumbent upon it, even if the mission is entrusted to a service provider. 
• When using images, texts, sounds or other software, it's also important to respect copyright . If this is the case, purchase the rights or go for so-called royalty-free content. It would be a shame to be sued for image rights. 
• If your activity requires you to collect certain personal data from your visitors, it is essential that you comply with the obligations set out in the French Data Protection Act (Loi Informatique et Liberté). It is also necessary to make a prior declaration to the CNIL to be able to collect such data. Failure to do so may result in criminal penalties. Similarly, the dissemination of information relating to individuals must above all have received their consent. 
• Creating a merchant site also requires compliance with the laws governing merchant sites. 
• The legal information page, defining who is responsible for the site, must be clearly established.

Failure to comply with these rules may result in severe penalties. 

In conclusion, we must remain vigilant with regard to the new regulations to come.

As the draft CNIL 3 law is being debated, questions are being raised around the obligation to provide enhanced information, the right to recover one's data , which has been at the heart of the news since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and finally the question of whether or not to createan abuse of a digital dominant position , in obvious reference to GAFA or GAFAM with Microsoft.