Building a website can be overwhelming and time-consuming. There are many different elements to consider such as the design, functionality, content, social media integration, and where your site will live. These key steps will help you build a great small business website design:
1) Establish goals for your company’s web presence.
2) Gather feedback from stakeholders and target audiences.
3) Determine if you need an eCommerce solution or just want to provide information about your products/services.
4) Consider how much input control do you want? Do you want to have full admin access or would it be better if someone else manages the technical aspects of the site?
5) Decide on which hosting provider is best for your needs.
The choice of a web designer and developer for your small business website is crucial since it forms the foundation for your online presence and can’t be changed later on.
Steps To Building A Great Small Business Website
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Choose a domain name for your small business
You’ll find where to buy the best domain names for your small business at these places like GoDaddy and Bluehost.
You can also search on these sites if you already have a specific domain name in mind that you are looking to purchase.
Choosing the right commercial domain name is really important, because it could be the only thing someone sees before deciding whether they want to do business with you or not.
Some things to consider when choosing a domain name for your small business are:
-Does the domain name sound professional?
-Is it easily spelled?
-Relevant in 2021? Or do you need something more specific in order to target your audience better?
-Did someone else already have the idea?
-Is it easy to remember, so that your customers will be able to easily find you again?
-Will it clearly shows what you do?
The best domain names for small businesses that sound professional, are spelt easily and quickly remind your customers of what it is you do, are often premium names.
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Get web hosting and register your domain
Think about this for a moment, why do most websites go down?
The short answer is because they don’t have good web hosting. The long answer will be explained later in the article.
This is a common problem that a vast majority of people face when they build or design their own website. They spend all these hours on their website only to find that when they are ready to go live with it, the site is down.
Now think about this for a second if you are just building your website, what will your business do if your website suddenly goes offline? Your business will not be able to conduct sales or promote itself in any way if it does not have an online presence.
With this said, it is important to go with a reliable hosting company. There are many out there but very few compare to the best web hosting services.
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Decide on a web design template and edit as per your industry
It’s time to create a website for your small business.
But what kind of template should you use? Well, it depends on the industry of your business. No matter what type of small business you have, there is a web design template out there that will suit it perfectly.
The most common types of small businesses include:
- retail or e-commerce
- restaurants and cafes
- professional services
- trades
The most popular platforms for small businesses are:
- Magento
- OpenCart,
- Drupal
- WooCommerce
- Joomla!
Add multimedia to enhance the experience of visiting your site
Visual aids such as photos and videos help visitors understand what your business is about. Customers want to better understand the product or service you offer, so adding multimedia content to enhance their experience on your website is a smart way to increase engagement with potential customers.
The following are tips for adding multimedia content to your small business website:
Add Photos
Pictures paint a thousand words, so make sure your site has plenty of them.
The benefits of adding photos to your website include:
Create Videos for Your Business Site
By uploading instructional videos, you can help with product or service usage in addition to showcasing how it is used in practice.
Videos can reduce your customer’s reliance on having to read a lot of text and can give you the opportunity to showcase your product or service in more detail than before.
Adding videos to your website provides positive results such as:
Add Other Visual Aids
Photos and videos aren’t the only types of multimedia that can benefit your website:
Voiceovers and music can be added to your site, as well. When adding voice overs, make sure that you or someone with experience operates the microphone; or it could end up more distracting than helpful.
Use Animations & Graphics Sparingly
Too many animations and graphics on a website can be overwhelming, so use them sparingly. They should accentuate the site but not overwhelm visitors.
The best way to know what types of multimedia will work for your business is to ask a qualified consultant who specializes in working with small businesses. Working with a company that knows how to optimize websites for search engines and other means of marketing can give you the edge on reaching customers.
No matter how distracting additional multimedia on your site may seem, too little media could also work against getting visitors’ attention. If you are unsure of what types of visual aids to add, ask a consultant about adding multimedia content that will encourage more leads and sales for your small business website.
Define your goals for the website
Before you begin your small business website, define the goals you wish to accomplish. If you aren’t aware of what they are, how will you ever know when to measure success? Define each one before starting your project.
“I want my site to be easy for customers to find me online.”
The goal here is to have customers find you easily online. When making your site, keep this in mind so that it may be optimized for search engines to have an easier time finding it.
“I want my site to provide all the information I know about my business.”
This is a very important goal for small businesses because if potential customers can’t figure out what you do or why they should buy from you, then there is no point in having a site. Make sure that your site has all the information you want customers to know about your business.
“I want my site to let people contact me.”
This is also very important because if visitors can’t reach out to you for any reason, there is a problem. Make sure that your site has a way for visitors to contact you through the website or through social media.
“I want my site to give customers an idea of what I’m about.”
This goal ties into the previous one as well as it should be made clear as possible what exactly your business does. You should also make sure to have some sort of imagery to make the site look aesthetically pleasing.
“I want my site to be easy for me to manage.”
If you don’t know how to design or code websites, this goal is essential. Make sure that your developer can easily address any issues with your website that you have or add new features to your site in a timely manner.
“I want my website to make me look professional.”
The design and appearance of your website should reflect the professionalism of your business. Make it clear who the company is and what they do, but also make it attractive to visitors. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive-looking website out there, but it should make you and your business look like a legitimate and professional company.
Conclusion
If you want to build a great website for your small business, it’s important that you first outline the goals and objectives of the site. This will help determine what type of design is appropriate and how much time should be spent on each section (i.e., homepage).
Once those decisions are made, you can start with an overall plan or sketch before moving into more detailed designs based on user research and analytics data.
There are many different styles available for websites these days; choose one which best suits your brand as well as its target audience. As long as there is ample content updated regularly, people visiting your site won’t mind if it doesn’t look like other sites they’ve seen before!
