For a small business, having an active and professional-looking Business website is a must in today’s cell phone-equipped and computer-reliant world. The clients who are interested in learning more about you are likely going to search for you online, and this is where a nicely organized and structured How to Build a Business website can help in making the clients get to you.
But if you are here for the first time or if you have forgotten how to create a website then the article below will give you some tips on how to get started and take the stress out of building a Business website.
1. Buy a domain name for your site and get it registered
First things first: You need a domain name. This is just a fancy way of saying the web address (using the ‘www’ prefix) that everyone will use to get to your Web site.
Selecting your domain name may often be like naming company and similar to this. In an ideal world, your domain name should be a short one and as closely related to your enterprise as possible. Ideally, it should be memorable to your customers and this should not be arbitrary. As far as the majority of business owners are concerned the chosen domain name should be the same as or similar to the name of the actual business.
Suppose you are starting your bagel business named The Corner Bagel Shop. You would want your domain name to be basic and easy, for instance www.cornerbagelshop.com. If, for example, the domain is already registered by another person, then we can register its analogue. Well, perhaps something like www.cornerbagel.com may be enough for this job. You might also end it with.net,.info, or.us. They are not as popular as.com, but they will be sufficient for your needs nonetheless.
Choose your domain name carefully and choose a name draw from your business name or at least as close to it as possible. It is important that the domain name you use is not far from your business name but if it is different ensure it relates to your main products.
Here are some places to search and buy a domain name:
2. Protect your web hosting provider
The contents on your Business website have to be stored somewhere, a hosting site is the place it does. That information is stored and it brings it out for the visitors to see.
There are two types of hosting for websites
- Hosted: A hosted site usually is created using a website editor or a content management system tool such as Wix or Squarespace. Obviously, hosted websites are perfect if you are at the initial stage in website designing and personalities or companies that need a special service for developing the site themes of your website and storing all your site’s information. These services help you, or your team to build your ideas if you have no coding skills, or have never set up a site in your life.
- Self-hosted: Self-hosting helps you to buy hosting plan individually and then, design the site on your own. A self-hosted business site is recommended if one makes use of more advanced features and more customization is wanted. You’ll be able to set your own unique themes and add options you want, such as setting up an online payment gateway system so that you are able to accept money on the site and other similar options that make your site a pleasure to run.
With that in mind, you’ll likely end up purchasing your domain and hosting all in one spot: from the website builder you choose, which we will look at in the next section of this guide. If you decide to go for a hosting service alone, majority of the domain providers listed above have the hosting services bundled with the domain you pick independently.
3. Find your website builder
A website builder is a perfect solution for those small business owners who may have numerous problems with creating a website from the ground up.
When comparing various website builders, note the options you want with you as lay down by the builders. For instance, will your bagel shop require a special capability for people to order bagels and seasonings online? A feature you require may dictate the type of website builder to use. You have to define who your typical user is, or who your users would be, and think about what expectations they would have when they come to your site.
Once you know what to look for, let’s cast the light on the different builders you have in front of you. Some of the most popular ones include:
- GoDaddy: It is best used where a business person or firm requires creating a basic website in the shortest time possible.
- Shopify: A good fit for companies that are intending to create an e-commerce store.
- Squarespace: Good for companies that would like more types of websites to select from.
- Weebly: Good for big stores who also need small functions of an online store.
- Wix: Would benefit entrepreneurs that prefer an uncomplicated layout of the platform.
These platforms have the ability to provide you with your unique name on the internet or your site’s address, the hosting service that lets people view your site and the templates which make it easy to create an attractive and professional site for your small business.
WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org
What you will also hear about as you look for a platform to use are things like WordPress. It is the most popular website builder currently, as it is expected to be found in 30% of virtual spaces.
However, it’s important to note that WordPress has two hosting options for websites—and this can make things a little confusing. Here’s the gist:
- WordPress.com: This is the company’s hosted website builder, your website will be built on WordPress’s hosting platform. You will have to buy your domain from somewhere else and point it to your WordPress website.
- WordPress.org: By a large margin, this is the most used add-on on WordPress. WordPress.org on the other hand is a version that you use to build your own website and they are self-hosted. They’re fully customizable since there is no drag and drop feature available for it—chances are, you’ll need to employ the help of a web developer to build your website.
The choices are plentiful, and this is why there isn’t one perfect solution for every single niche, every online shop, or any businessman out there. However, what is the best choice for choosing an elegant site with minimal further fuss is to stick to Wix or Squarespace.
4. Create website content
You have your domain, and your web hosting platform, and you’ve chosen your Website builder software. Now it is time to start compiling a data that needs to be put on your website, which isn’t necessarily the same as what is out there.
Based on the site plan we came up with earlier examine the templates your website builder provides and select one. It will help you get an idea of what kind of content it will require to fill it up or how many photos, blocks of copy and so on.
At the very least, your company website ought to have
- Homepage: Business information that should be posted at the homepage of your site include: Look at it as the entrance to your business so it’ll serves you right if you ponder on the design and information to be presented.
- About page: It should contain information about how long your businesses has been in operation, why your brand is superior to other similar brands, although you are a sole trader.
- Products and services page: Knowledge about what your business involves. If you are having a site for online selling business, customers should also be able to put products in a cart here.
- Contact form page: A triad form for receiving contacts at your discretion. This can be your business’s phone number and your business’s social media accounts. If you have a physical business location, you should also put your business address on your website.
- Blog: The blog feature that you have provides you with the opportunity to demos your experience and pass this to your customers. It can also help you get some authority and improve your chances of being seen in the search engine results page.
- FAQ page: While creating a new page/post, having an FAQ page will allow you to answer your top customer questions. Firstly, you should likely dedicate a sizable amount of your time to the ten most frequently asked questions regarding your services or products.
- Testimonials page: Quite naturally, having a testimonials page is always beneficial as it will show your customers from a different perspective. Some reviews can be extracted from the Google or any other review page or you can send mail to your customers requesting for a testimonial.
You may also need a blog, a frequently asked question, a testimonial section or other pages. If you do not know which other pages should be linked to, you might try to look at competitors’ websites. Always keep in mind, that the most effective small business websites help the customers find the necessary information and help business owners to share their insights.
The first of these is to start one folder or document where you can keep all this information in one place. It will help to have measured things this way when it comes to applying them into your website template.
Also Read | How to register your business
5. Implement SEO best practices
SEO is making changes to the content and layout of a site to make it more front and center to users who are searching for specific information or materials. Some SEO best practices that should be incorporated as a small business is creating itself on the web includes?
Some of these SEO tools and practices to keep in mind include:
- By incorporating those keywords relevant to your business placed in the body of the pages
- Selecting an approach to content design that will work as effectively on different stations.
- They to having external and internal links on the website
- There should be no replication of the content of other websites.
By adopting this techniques you can ensure that your site stands a better chance to feature high on the internet.
6. Test your website
There are various considerations you may want to consider before the main goal of testing your site and ensuring that it operates effectively as you think it does. The first test is to use the site preview on your chosen design platform and make certain all the pages are loading properly and in the correct formats. You could also have a friend or relative, a valued employee or even a customer go through your homepage and be sure that everything is comprehensible to him or her. This can help you check for usability and make certain that your customers received good experience on their visit to your site.
You also need to make sure that your website responds at a decent speed and is properly optimized for mobile any chance you can get. Customers hate slow loading pages and because most people use their phones and other handheld devices ‘‘browse’ internet, optimizing your web pages for such devices assists in satisfying your customers in the long run.
7. Launch your website
After getting your simple site up to the design template you want, post it. Getting too attached to this Is not good because you can Always add to it And change it later if you need to do so. The objective is to put something – anything – up that your customers can use as a reference to know more about you. After the site is online more pages can be built and useful resources that would be beneficial for the intended audience could be developed.
8. Distribute and advertise your website
The flow of the customers is usually constrained due to their lack of awareness of the company or service, which could lead to a highly aggressive promotion of the business at the initial stages. The same is true for your website. To take effect, you will have to communicate your new URL and site to your supporters for them to enhance its visibility.
Here are a few simple ways to start promoting your new business website
- Post the URL in the social sites such as Face book click on the share button on the site and in Instagram.
- Place the URL on your business card and other related items that will be circulating in the market.
- Simply copy the URL into newsletters sent out to clients with links to other pages.
It’s important to note that there are no restriction to how you popularose your site. The idea is to raise the profile of your online brand as fast as possible.
9. Track and seek out improvements
Of course you’ll be thrilled to finally get your website off the ground and running, but that does not conclude the process. In Internet terms, your website is not a “build it and they will come” phenomena. Be ready to visit it from time to time, at least once per month, to add new data or to check everything is okay.
When one is involved in building a business online or trying to find how to optimize his or her website, involvements might seem rather challenging to even the amateur web surfer, although, this challenge is one of the areas that individuals often overdramatize most of the time. It’s not necessary to know how to code or memorize all HEX color codes to create an excellent functional website.
Stay with basics and work using the tools you have, and you’d get the website deployed in no time. Oh, and don’t forget – despite its seeming permanence, the internet is NOT written in ink (it’s written in pixels). You can always make changes. The other advantage is that as your business changes, and expands its services, your website also has the flexibility to change as required.
For further effective and easy way to accelerate your business, manage and operate your business with tools like QuickBooks.
On the subject of starting your business, you should do it confidently.
Building business website is a good way to intensify your presence on the internet, increase your exposure, and make it easier for potential customers to get information about the services and products which you offer. But the small business website indeed needs the record of how much you spend and controlling the amount that you need to pay.
Outsourcing accounting can be convenient because you are ensured of reliable accounting software to work with. This can assist you to spare time for you to practice some of the activities which you fancy most.
