Tips for Building a Great Business Website
Many small business owners resist building a website for their company, because they say they are not tech-savvy, it’s expensive, or they don’t have time. But the truth is you don’t have to be tech-savvy to run a business website.
Having one for your business is inexpensive and easy. Also, the lack of a professional website may cost you more money and time than you might believe.
According to Entrepreneur, almost half the small businesses in the United States don’t have a business website. But building a business website is crucial for informing your audience, enhancing brand recognition, explaining your value proposition, and simply driving sales.
You don’t have to be tech-savvy to build a site. And no matter which program you pick, you only have to follow a few simple steps to give your website a professional look, and make it easy for users to find and share the news about your company.
The following are our ten steps to build a great and successful small business website.
1. Pick the right domain name for your site
Many good things will happen if you pick the right domain name for your business. It will make it easier for your clients to find you and leave a good impression when they arrive.
A good domain name is memorable, and visitors will perceive your site as reputable. In addition, your website will improve your search optimization; that is, bring in more visitors.
To create a good domain name, you must:
- Keep it brief
- Make sure it’s simple to spell
- Use legal extensions like .com
- Don’t use numerals or hyphens
- Make it memorable
- Make it SEO-friendly
The domain name you choose should make it possible for your business to grow. Avoid focusing too much on your niche; that might restrict your options in the future. We can help you select the appropriate domain name for your site with our development services.
2. Choose a secure and stable web host
You’ll need a host, which is a company that provides the servers, technology, and support required by your business website to be visible on the web. Because hosting your own website might be expensive for your operation, a hosting company will likely play a major role.
Depending on your budget, you can choose a shared web host, which is the less expensive option. This means you will share a server with other business websites. The alternative is to go with a dedicated web host that will be more expensive but comes with your own private server. In that case, you wouldn’t have to compete with other business sites that could slow you down.
Some options for web hosting services include:
3. Describe your business clearly
Visitors will immediately get confused if they visit your website and can’t tell what you do or maybe even who you are. It’s vital to let them know who you are and what your business does.
An excellent way to describe yourself and your business is by stating your mission, vision, and philosophies. Such content will enable potential clients to connect and become your loyal customers and your brand promoters.
Your website should have a separate section for business ideas so your customers can fully understand who you are and what your business is all about.
4. Find a good Content Management System
A Content Management System is a web application that will assist you in creating, editing, and managing your digital content. Different CMS’s have different features; but most will include content format management, web-based publishing, media library, and use, plugin, and many other functions.
Make sure the CMS you pick is suitable to meet your budget, user-friendly, and extensive. One of the best and most popular CMS’s you can use is WordPress, which has numerous plugins that will empower you to gather, analyze, and use your website’s traffic statistics.
5. Pick a good e-commerce platform
Choosing an e-commerce platform is not as easy as it might sound. You could hire a web developer to build your business website, but you may also choose an already developed e-commerce platform to save money and time. When you choose a platform, consider:
- Payment and pricing
- SEO friendliness
- Integrations
- Customer service
- Mobile friendliness
- Scalability
- Security
6. Have an engaging website User Interface (UI)
The user interface is the amount of experience in using a website. Having a great UI can help your website turn visitors into buyers and entice them to explore your services or goods further.
Also, easy navigation and easy-to-use UI features will communicate that you know and understand your target audience and their needs. This makes visitors more comfortable and more contented, and should motivate them to engage with you in improving their general user experience.
7. Optimize your website for search engines
Optimizing your website for search engines makes it easier for people to find it. Strongly optimizing your website for search engines also means you will rank high in search results.
To achieve strong search engine optimization, you should include:
- Fast loading speed
- Ideal website coding
- Security, with an SSL certificate
- Keyword implementation and search
- Mobile optimization
8. Create and publish high-quality content regularly
Creating and publishing high-quality content on a consistent basis is an excellent way to improve your search engine optimization. This helps because search engines give high ranking to content that is fresh and plentiful.
Plus when it comes to branding, steady content gives your customers what they want and need. One excellent way to do this is to have a content calendar that consistently reminds you to publish content on your site.
9. Use analytics
A great way to have an effective and successful small business website in the long term is if you have a way to know whether it’s effective in the first place. If you’ve created a website using the above tips, you’ll want to find out how effective it is.
The following are some elements to track when you use analytics:
- Number of views on every page
- Daily, weekly, and monthly website visitors
- Bounce rate
- Time spent by visitors on your site
- Crawl errors
10. Have a plan to Maintain your website
You’re now at the final step of creating a small business website: launching and maintaining it. The website should not be created and left at that. You must ensure it’s well maintained to stay secure and rank high in search engines. Everything has to remain relevant at all times. Keep your website updated with fresh content and try to be swift to address any technical issues.
Bottom Line
Building a website for your small business might be complicated and exhausting. Remember, however, that having one is crucial for your business. It will enhance your brand recognition and attract more customers. A robust online presence is vital if you hope to reach a wider audience.
Outsourcing a website builder might be expensive; however, some friendly platforms like WordPress can save you time and money. The customization options are all but limitless; there are more than fifty thousand plugins, no third-party ads, you get complete control, and best of all, it is dependable.
At Warren Research, we focus on delivering full-stack development services like custom WordPress websites. So whether you have an e-commerce business, brand site, or niche community that needs to scale fast, we have your back.
