It’s hard for a business to thrive in this day and age without having a strong online presence. Business Websites were once a privilege of big companies, as small business owners didn’t have enough resources or the necessary skillset to build Websites by themselves.
Fortunately, today, the costs and logistics of building a Website have dropped significantly, and citing cost as the reason for not having an online presence is only an excuse. Although this isn’t something an absolute beginner could do, here are 6 things you should consider when building your fist business Website.
Choose a Domain Name
A domain name represents the name of your Website, for example, www.mybusiness.com. The first thing you need to do is to research available names and see if the name of your business is available. If the .com domain of your business name is available, you should take it immediately, and if it isn’t, try using different phrasing. The best course of action when it comes to choosing a domain name is to incorporate words that people will be using when they search for your products and/or services. Google and other search engines rank .com Websites far better than .net or .org ones, so try grabbing the .com domain if you can.
Find the Right Hosting
Most of the companies that are into the business of selling domain names also sell hosting. However, this does not mean that their hosting is actually good. For example, GoDaddy is an excellent choice for purchasing domain names, but their hosting leaves something to be desired. Bluehost, on the other hand, offers reliable hosting for a yearly fee of just $12. Not to mention that getting a domain name and hosting from different vendors allows for more control in case anything goes wrong with either of those two or if you decide to change one or the other.
Choose the Appropriate Platform
Once you’ve decided on the domain name and hosting, it’s time to choose the platform for your Website. WordPress is the single most popular choice for small businesses, especially those into e-commerce. You can customize your Website with themes, which come in free and paid for varieties and with a number of different and useful plugins. It’s also very, very easy to set up; all you need to do is download it and extract it onto the server, and you’re all set up. If you’re looking for a more complex solution, Joomla and Drupal might be better options.
Settle on the Design
When it comes to design, you have two main options to work with. The first is to create your Website using WordPress and enjoy all the functionality that comes with its themes and plugins. This might take some trial and error before it’s set up perfectly, but the learning curve is really not as steep as you might think. The second option is to consult a professional and have them do all the dirty work for you. Unfortunately, professional Web design work can be somewhat expensive, depending on the complexity your Website.
Work on the Content
Content always revolves around the ones who consume it. This means that all the content should be tailored towards the end-user or the consumer. The content you provide must not just attract people to your Website but also to grab their attention and keep it long enough for them to want to find out more about your products or services. Having a mixture of images, videos and written content works best in the majority of cases, but keep in mind that when it comes to content, quality is always more important than quantity.
Optimization Is Crucial
Optimization can be broken down into two distinct categories. The first is Website optimization for users. This means that your Website has to be functional and easy to use for the average Joe. Overly complicated Websites only grab the focus from what is really important, and that’s what your business is actually offering to the consumer. The second category is optimization for search engines, or SEO for short. SEO describes a set of practices used to optimize your Website so that search engines such as Google and Bing place your Website at the top of the search engine results page and, in turn, market your Website and boost its traffic.
These are just some of the things you need to consider when making a Website for your company. Some can be done without any actual prior knowledge and with some help from Google, while others demand a helping hand. Hiring a professional to build your Website may end up costing you a pretty penny; however, their services go beyond simply making a Website, and most developers end up taking care of the Website they’ve built. Having a Website has become a necessity, and not having one can only have a negative effect on your business.
Steven Clarke is business consultant at Logo Design Sydney and Seo Reseller. In his spare time, he likes to write about his ideas and share them with the world.
