Although there are so many ideologies circling around the knowledge on “how to build a website for my small business”, most of them are more of personal views rather than a formula that actually works. It will interest you to know that there are about 30.7 million small businesses in the United States of America. Amongst all of these small businesses, only 64% have a website. With the rich information in this article, you can scale your business’s online presence to join the leagues of website owners in the US. In this article, you will be equipped with amazing tips on creating a website for a business.
You may have at one time or the other thought about this; Does my small business need a website? YES! Your small business deserves a website for a good number of reasons including:
- It makes your business credible
- It can improve your sales
- It helps you build customer loyalty
- It opens up your business to a larger audience
- It gives your business the aura of professionalism
You do not have to wait for your business to become a multinational before capitalizing on this secret knowledge on how to build a website for your small business. Knowing the tips on creating a website for a business can scale up your small business faster than you can imagine. We would be discussing several tips on creating a website for your small business. Now, let’s get started!
Step-by-Step Approach on How to Build A Website for My Small Business
1. EASY TO FIND DOMAIN NAME:
Choosing a domain name for your website is not what you should rush at because it may be pretty difficult to change later on. You must consider using a simple and easy-to-find domain name. Nowadays, human beings no longer appreciate anything that seems difficult or uneasy. You may also be in situations where you need to provide your domain name orally and you really do not want to get misunderstood. While choosing your domain name, avoid using double letters. For instance, presssick.com.
Another thing you should avoid is using a hyphen or using difficult words. Instead, make your domain name revolve around your niche without jettisoning being unique. Your uniqueness as a brand distinguishes you from other brands. You can also choose to use domain name generators. It will help you suggest a lot of domain names you can use. Domain name generators that you can use are wpbeginner, isitwp, and nameboy.
You should also consider making your domain name revolve around keywords in your niche. This will help you rank higher on google. After choosing your domain name, never forget to search your domain name before attempting to register it. Do this to avoid having a similar matching name with another brand. Having a similar domain name with another brand can confuse your audience. Choose to stand out!
2. PURCHASE A VERY GOOD WEB HOSTING WITH GREAT TECHNICAL SUPPORT:
Web hosting is like renting a space on a server that will help your site run correctly. It is wise to choose a very good web hosting service because your choice of website hosting affects your website’s credibility, it also affects your site’s page speed. A good website hosting service further ensures the security of all your information. Your sensitive information is hidden from hackers. You may want to consider these web hosting services BlueHost, HostGator, DreamHost, and Hostinger.
Also, before choosing a website hosting service platform, many small businesses carry out a cost analysis. As a result, they end up choosing the cheapest option which isn’t necessarily a good choice as it could be detrimental in the long run. Although, one of the factors to be considered before choosing a hosting platform is the price, nonetheless, it should not top the priority list on what to look out for as performance should be rated more highly.
There are a good number of professional website designers who build affordable websites for small businesses and select the best hosting from experience. You can do well to hire one here. Keep an eye out for these factors when choosing your website host.
- The server’s reliability, credibility, and uptime score
- Their subscription and maintenance price
- Do they have very good and available customer service?
- Do they have a very good backup plan?
- Is the web host speed high and very responsive?
3. HAVE A CLEAR DESCRIPTION OF YOUR BUSINESS:
By business description, I mean an explanation of what your business is really about. This is couched in your ABOUT US page on your website. From a research carried out by Nielson Norman Group, people now expect that companies will be transparent with a very high level of trustworthiness. As a small business, you need to pay rapt attention to the information you will input on your About Page. The ABOUT US page is one of the most visited pages on websites today.
The majority of persons who will visit this page are prospective clients who intend to purchase your goods or access your services. What they are trying to do is to determine if they can trust you. They want to know what you can offer; they also want to be sure you are reliable or you will be reliable. On this page, be sure to communicate the uniqueness of your brand with facts.
Your about us page is to your business what a resume is to someone who seeks employment opportunities. By the use of facts, I mean you should explain the benefit of your business and why prospective clients should choose you. Never attempt to tell lies in your description. State only what you can do.
4. USE THE BEST CMS:
You may have imagined how this relates to your question “how to building a website for my small business?” Well, the CMS you choose is very important. A CMS (Content Management System) is a tool you use in building a website easily without the need for writing a script. If you want to build your website by yourself and you are not tech-savvy, you can build one for yourself by using these simple tips on creating a website for a business. Meanwhile, when choosing a CMS to build your website, choose the best. The reason for this is that you may not be able to easily change your CMS the way you switch on and off a socket.
Among top CMS around the world, WordPress remains the best. It is the best and most reliable CMS. You can find out more reasons why you should choose WordPress for your web design. In all, prioritize choosing a Content Management System that will help your website increase its traffic. You should also test the CMS before using it fully.
5. CHOOSE A VERY GOOD E-COMMERCE PLATFORM (For ecommerce businesses):
There are tons of e-commerce platforms to choose from, with varying advantages and disadvantages, meaning the choice you make is very delicate. How can you be sure the one you picked is the best for your business? Consider these key features as a guide to choosing an e-commerce platform:
Simple setup: endeavor to look out the various templates each platform offers before going ahead with choosing one. Make sure it is one you can easily understand and work with.
Security: Be sure the platform is secured because you risk exposing your customer’s bank details as well as yours too. You do not want customers to complain of the missing fund in their account simply because they decided to shop with you, which could practically be the end of your business. For the best results, only use platforms that supports HTTPS/SSL.
Mobile and SEO friendly: It is a great advantage for you if the e-commerce platform you choose is both mobile and SEO friendly. This will enable that your platform is easily found and that mobile users can access your site without any glitch. It is beautiful to know that 45% of sales in US e-commerce are done on a mobile device.
Price: You should and will normally consider the price. However, do not choose a platform because it is the cheapest, instead, select one because it is the best for your type of business.
6. MAKE YOUR WEBSITE USER INTERFACE MEMORABLE AND INTERESTING:
Do you know that your User Interface (UI) can turn your visitors into clients? It can considerably increase your conversion rate! Your website’s UI is that point where your audience interacts with your website. The elements that constitute your User Interface are; the visual design, the structure of the information, and the interactive design. Follow these simple suggestions to implement the best user interface:
- Research your competitor’s interface: by this, you will know what currently exists in your niche and how to improve on it.
- Research your audience to know what they like: Everything you want to input into your website should be centered on your users. Always be conscious of this. You should not consider your audience only if your website user will be only you.
- Be consistent with the message your brand intends to put forward with all of your designs. Consistency makes your interface look very organized.
- Use beautiful images. Beauty attracts; therefore, the beauty of your design can attract an audience.
- Ensure contact is easily accessible. Never make it difficult for prospects to take action.
- Avoid excessive use of animation decoration, it can be pretty boring.
- Make your page layout smart and purposeful.
7. OPTIMIZE YOUR SMALL BUSINESS WEBSITE FOR SEARCH ENGINES:
If your website is not optimized for search engines, you may lose out on numerous search traffic. Potential clients may not even be able to locate it and will not even realize if it is beautiful or user-friendly. The first thing to consider is to prioritize your keywords. Your website is more likely to discover more relevant clients if it ranks for relevant keywords. Once you have done that, you move on to optimizing the metadata for your pages.
Do not forget to optimize your website images too. You then move on to creating a calendar to keep the content on your website running consistently. One of the ways Google will know you have authority in an area is by consistently creating content for that page. These contents however need to revolve around related topics and keywords. Another very crucial factor for SEO is backlinks.
Weave your content in a way that one will link to another. Hyperlink current content with previous content or one of your products. Surely, applying all of these would see you experience a rush in traffic to your website. For more SEO knowledge for your business website, check out these secret ways to make your website SEO-friendly!
8. REGULARLY CREATE AND PUBLISH QUALITY CONTENT:
The creation of content is a vital aspect of building a website for your small business. Everything on your website is content. Hence, this aspect is pivotal. DO NOT SKIP IT. Your purpose of creating a website will be ultimately defeated if the content on your website is not of great quality.
To write good content for your website, you need to define who your target audience is. Their pain points should be the solution your content always solves. If you can consistently solve the problem of your audience, you will win them over. How then do you know what the pain points of your audience are? You will get to know them through the current solution you solve for your existing customers.
You can also know this by researching your competitors, by have an inkling of what your potential customers are reading. Knowing all of those will help you create better content. You should also ensure you use the best keyword for any content you are writing. Keyword optimization helps you rank well on search engines. By this, you become easily visible. It will make your website rank well. Ensure the content you create sufficiently solves your audience’s problems.
Maximize keyword optimization, but never underplay the value your content will give. Keyword optimization can make clients visit your website. Also, keep in mind that only valuable content can build trust with your audience and convert them into clients. You can also read this for more in-depth information on content writing for your business website.
9. UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE:
Without a constant update, a very high-ranking website can go down the drain because it is stale. However, by constantly updating your website, Google notices it and re-arranges your site’s ranking. Quite a handful of website owners forget to update their site.
As a small business owner who wants success, if you follow the simple steps you are about to read right here, your website will always be up to date. It will keep ranking high and compete well with other websites. I am sure you do not want to be amongst this set of web owners whose website will rank well for a while and go down the drain because it is stale.
- Your design should be in alignment with the current trend: you can get this done by updating your keyword. Keyword planner will help you achieve this
- Ensure all plugins and themes are up to date: Change outdated information from the content. Another thing you should consider is fixing all broken links and features on your website.
- Always check data analytics: Analytics helps you to understand your website’s performance. All the data gathered will help you make the right decisions that will improve your website. It will also help you to always satisfy your customers. These are three analytic tools you should consider for your website; Google Analytics, Crazy Egg, and Optimizely.
CONCLUSION
Although the steps on how to create a website for my small business are arguably lengthy, in the end, its worth it. If you follow through diligently, your business would stand a far greater chance of ranking on the search engine result page and gaining more visibility.
