About 4 out of 5 people will go online and search before they ever patronize a business. Having a great storefront and ads don’t cut it anymore. Not having a presence on the web means missing out on the majority of potential customers. Frankly, businesses can’t afford not to have a website. The good news is that you don’t have to spend thousands to have a solid site. In fact, it’s easier than ever to do it yourself! Here’s how to easily create a website for your business…
Prepare your content
There are some core basics like hours, location, a description of your products and/or services, and contact info that should be included on any website. Next, think about the most common questions you get in emails and calls and include that on your site as well. By putting that information on your website you can save yourself the time of repeating the same answers over and over, so you can get back to running your business.
Coordinate your branding
Customers are more sophisticated than ever before, and they do not respond well to sloppy or cluttered content. Even basic branding (like a logo, color scheme, and overall content appearance) can help customers recognize you and convey that your business is consistent and reliable when executed well. Your website should coordinate with every aspect of your business. For example, if you have a certain color uniforms, or your business is decorated in a specific way. Also, if you have any business cards or stationery already in use for the businesss, match up with that. Keep it simple and strategic, and stick to the brand identity that rings true for your business.
Register a domain name
Visit a domain registrar like GoDaddy or Blue Host to register your domain name. The domain name is your website address (for example, Google’s domain name is “google.com”). Owning your own domain name is important. For example, let’s say you own Frankie’s Burgers, and your customers affectionately refer to your burger joint as just “Frankie’s”. If another person or company owns the domain name frankies.com or frankiesburgers.com then people may go to their site and business instead of yours. Think of this like your online real estate. The closer your domain name is to your business name, the better. If that’s already taken, choose a domain name that’s memorable and related to your business.
Choose a platform
There are many user-friendly website builders out there for novices such as Weebly, Drupal, Wix, Joomla, and WordPress (we know, the names are ridiculous). These tools provide you with a basic framework or a “template” that you use to fill in with your business information to create your website. This is called a “CMS” or “content management system”. You’ll have a username and password to be able to access the “back end” of your site, where you can edit the content and then publish it to the web when you’re ready. Review the pros and cons of each CMS to determine which is best for you.
Sign up for hosting services
A website host is a service that stores your website files on a server, and then delivers that content to the World Wide Web so that customers can view your site from their phones, computers, and tablets. A good hosting provider will load your website quickly – which is more important than you may think! Not only are today’s fast-paced customers expecting instant content when they visit your website, search engines like Google and Yahoo will penalize your site if it’s slow, pushing you down in search results and making you less visible to customers. Don’t cut costs here, choose your hosting provider wisely!
Depending on your CMS, an independent hosting provider may or may not be necessary. For example, some CMS systems like Wix “host” your site for you. Sites running on platforms like WordPress, however, need a separate host so that you can send your site out to the web. Let’s look a little closer at WordPress, because its is far and away the most widely used CMS in the world. When it comes to WordPress, there are two options. Pretty much any standard hosting provider can host your WordPress site, but there is another category called managed WordPress hosting that actually specializes in hosting WordPress sites. WordPress is an ever-changing platform, and these specialty hosting providers keep up with all the latest features and nuances of WordPress so its easier to manage and you have fewer glitches. Definitely worth your consideration if you’re going with WordPress.
Proofread
This may sound silly, but seriously. Proofread. If you have a basic 1-3 page website, customers WILL NOTICE if you have typos and formatting issues. Have a trusted colleague or friend look over the content and give you honest feedback, then refine it a little before publishing.
Remember, every business is a global business with the internet. People will see you online and determine whether to give you their dollars based upon their first impression. That first impression could be a lack of a website, or a site that looks thrown together. Or it could give the customer the convenience of everything they need to know about your business at a glance. Do it right and make it count, and your business will be better for it.