For small businesses, an online presence with a well-put-together website is essential for success. Customers who want to know more about you are going to look for you online, and a well-designed and structured website goes a long way in attracting customers.
But if you’ve never built a website before or looking for a refresher, follow these steps to build your online presence and take the stress out of creating a website that works for your business.
First things first: You need a domain name. This is just a fancy way of saying the URL or website address (starting with “www”) that people will use to get to your website.
Choosing your domain name can be similar to choosing a name for your business. Ideally, your domain name should be something simple and relevant to your business. You want it to be intuitive enough for your customers to remember easily. For most business owners, that means choosing a domain name that’s identical or at least similar to their actual business name.
Let’s say you’re opening your bagel shop called The Corner Bagel Shop. You’d want your domain to be something simple and to the point, like www.cornerbagelshop.com. If another person already owns that domain, you can choose a variation of it. In this example, something like www.cornerbagel.com could do the trick. You could also change the ending to .net, .info, or .us. These endings are less common than .com, but they’ll still work for your purposes.
Pick your domain name wisely and make sure it’s relevant to your business’s name or purpose. If your domain name isn’t identical to your business name, be sure it represents your core products.
Here are some places to search and buy a domain name:
Check to see if your preferred domain name is available by doing a simple web search. Type the URL in the search bar and see if anything comes up. If no site loads, the URL is likely available for purchase.
The information on your business website needs to live somewhere, and that’s the job of a hosting site. It stores that information and then makes it accessible to visitors.
There are two types of hosting for websites:
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’ll talk about in the next section). If you decide to purchase hosting separately, most of the domain providers we listed above also offer hosting for the domain you choose as a stand-alone service.
A website builder is a great choice for small business owners who may struggle with creating a website completely from scratch.
As you explore the different website builders available, keep in mind the features you need. For example, will your bagel shop need e-commerce functionality so people can order bagels and seasonings online? The features you need can influence the website builder you choose. Identify your target audience and consider what they’ll be looking for when visiting your site.
Once you know what you’re looking for, it’s time to look at the different builders. Some of the most popular ones include:
These platforms let you get your domain, hosting, and templates that make it easy to design a beautiful, impressive website for your small business.
Make sure your website is easy to use and showcases information that your target audience will find helpful.
As you explore your options, you’ll likely also run across mentions of WordPress. It’s one of the most popular website builders around, with an estimated 30% of websites running on the platform.
However, it’s important to note that WordPress has two hosting options for websites—and they can cause a bit of confusion. Here’s the gist:
There’s no shortage of options, and there’s no one right choice for every type of online store, business, or business owner. Nonetheless, going with Wix or Squarespace is a safe bet for creating a functional website without a lot of stress.
You have your domain, and your web hosting platform, and you’ve selected your website builder. Now it’s time to start to pull together the information that actually needs to go on your website.
Using the site plan discussed earlier, take a look at the templates your website builder offers and pick one you like. That’ll give you some direction about the type of content you’ll need to fill it up—how many photos, what blocks of copy, and more.
At a bare minimum, your business website should include:
You might also want to add a blog, an FAQ page, testimonials, or other pages. If you’re not sure what other pages you should include, consider looking at your competitors’ sites. Remember, the best small business websites convey the information their customers need and let business owners share their knowledge and expertise.
Start one folder or document where you can keep all this information in one spot. It’ll make things a lot easier when it’s time to actually start dropping it into your website template.
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is improving a site’s content and appearance to increase its visibility to users who are searching for certain information or products. To ensure your small business is seen on the web, you should consider implementing some SEO best practices as you’re building your website.
Some of these SEO tools and practices to keep in mind include:
By implementing these simple techniques, you can help your website’s chances of ranking high on the internet.
Before you launch your site, you’ll want to test it and make sure it works as well as you know it should. Start by running the site preview on your chosen design platform and make sure all pages load and format correctly. You may also want to get a friend, family member, employee, or trusted customer to run through your site and make sure everything makes sense to them. This lets you test for usability and ensures that your customers have a positive experience when visiting your site.
You should also check for speed and mobile optimization when possible. Slow-loading pages tend to drive customers away, and since more people rely on their phones and mobile devices to surf the web, making sure your pages display properly on those devices can keep customers happy in the long run.
Once you have your basic website looking the way you want, publish it. Don’t obsess over it being absolutely perfect—you can always add to it and change it later. The goal is to simply get something up that your customers can use to learn more about your business. Once the site is live, you can focus on building out more pages and creating helpful content that speaks to your target audience.
When you first start your business, customers may not know about your company or your services, forcing you to promote your business aggressively. The same holds true for your website. You’ll need to share your new URL and site with your supporters to increase awareness.
Here are a few simple ways to start promoting your new business website:
Don’t hesitate to get creative when promoting your site. The goal is to increase awareness of your online presence quickly.
While you’ll understandably be relieved to get your website out there, that doesn’t mean your work is done. Your website isn’t a “set it and forget it” sort of thing. Be prepared to check on it frequently (at least once per month) to add new information or confirm everything is working correctly.
Building a business online and finding ways to improve your website can feel daunting for casual internet users, but it’s also a task that’s easy to overcomplicate. You can make a great, useful website without knowing how to code or having an encyclopedic knowledge of HEX color codes.
Keep things simple and rely on the resources available to you, and you’ll get a website rolled out in no time. And remember, the internet isn’t in ink (it’s in … pixels?). You can always make changes. As your business grows and evolves, your website can, too.
To further fast-track and simplify your business growth, organize and run your business with accounting software like QuickBooks.
Creating a business website is a great way to strengthen your online presence, build your brand, and make it easier for prospective customers to learn more about your services and your offerings. But running a small business website requires keeping track of your expenses and monitoring your purchases.
Working with reliable accounting software can take the stress out of managing your books. This can help you free up time so you can focus on doing what you enjoy most.
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