Lake Gaston is located on the border of North Carolina and Virginia. It is a very large lake with over 300 miles of shoreline.

However, there are not any large towns close by so most of the people who own homes on the lake are either:

1. Older people who have retired.
2. People with families from larger cities which are around a 2 hour drive, like Raleigh NC and Richmond VA, who own vacation homes there.

The average price of a waterfront house is around $400,000, which is about 3 times as much as the average price of a house in the surrounding areas.

Because of the high relative prices for Lake Gaston properties and the big commission checks they generate, there is a lot of competition from other local real estate companies, as well as realtors part of national brands like Century 21. Since many of the people who buy houses on the lake are new to the area and don't have existing relationships with local realtors, there is a good opportunity to pick up potential clients when they search the internet for information on the area and local property market.

My father's existing website has several problems including poor search engine ranking, technical glitches, and a dated look and feel. Given all the problems, I have decided to trash the existing site and start with a clean slate. So basically, the process being described applies to creating a new business website.

This guide will take you, in a step-by-step manner, all the things I did to create a new site for my dad. If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments as we go through this process I welcome them in the comments area below each item.

I am also happy to answer any questions for those that follow along with this process for their own sites.