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Having some sort of web presence has become a crucial component of running a business. The last 10 years have seen a major change in how people use the internet. Nowadays, consumers search for everything online to get information, whether it’s a product or service, a location, the working hours of a business, and so on.
Businesses, both new and established, could really benefit from having a website of their own. This will allow them to show potential customers everything that their business has to offer. Not to mention, it will build credibility, which will bring in more customers.
How to Create a Business Website
- Identify the purpose of your website
- Choose your domain name
- Select your web host
- Work on your web pages
- Install a payment system if needed
- Run a test of your website
- Use social media to publicize your website
- Optimize your website for search engines
- Don’t forget about maintenance
How to Create a Business Website – Step-by-step Guide
When you create a business website, potential customers get a chance to learn about your brand and what you stand for. This helps in driving more sales. There are numerous steps that go into creating a website. It helps to be familiar with all the important website-building steps, so you can make an informed decision when it comes to certain things.
Here’s a detailed guide that will help teach you how to create a business website.
1. Think About the Main Purpose of Your Website
Generally, your business website will be a place that offers your company’s general information to visitors, work as a direct ecommerce platform, or both. Either way, your business website should clearly show what your company is all about – that too right on the homepage.
Keep your visitors’ user experience in mind when you create a business website. No matter what the ultimate goal is of your website, for example, providing information regarding your company, your visitors must be able to achieve that goal when they navigate through the site.
2. Choose Your Domain Name
The domain name of your business website is one of the most important features. This will be the URL that you will share with others and promote on social media platforms.
You want your domain name to be easy to remember. Try to stay away from using numbers, abbreviations, and acronyms. It helps to choose a domain name that’s close to your business’s name.
Read our article on how to come up with a business name if you want tips on coming up with unique and creative domain names.
Moreover, another crucial factor of your domain name is the TLD (top-level domain), which is the suffix that’s located toward the end of a domain name. Some examples of TLD include .com, .org, .net, and so on.
You would have to check for your domain name’s availability after choosing it. Once it’s available, you would have to buy it through a domain registrar like domain.com, GoDaddy, Wix, Squarespace, and so on.
3. Select Your Web Host
A web host is a server where the data is stored so that visitors can access it whenever they can. You have two options to choose from based on your budget. You can purchase a shared web host or get dedicated hosting.
A shared web host requires you to share a server with different websites, but it’s the more affordable option. On the other hand, dedicated hosting allows you to have your own private server, which means you don’t have to share server resources with other websites or worry about your website speed. But this option will cost you a bit more.
Certain web builder platforms offer web hosting services within their monthly packages, such as Wix and Squarespace. Listed below are the various web hosting services:
1. A2 Hosting
You can get dedicated and shared hosting with A2 hosting. They also have a Lite hosting plan for $3.91/month in the first year, which is ideal for small businesses.
2. 1&1 Ionos
This company offers cloud hosting, including different cloud-based options like website and server backup. Their price plans usually start from $15/month.
3. DreamHost
You have the option to choose from several hosting plans that are made for managed WordPress websites. Their plans start from $16.95/month. If this web hosting service is not the right fit for you, there are several DreamHost alternatives to choose from as well.
4. Bluehost
Bluehost has an easy-to-use setup wizard, which is great for inexperienced users. When it comes to shared hosting, Bluehost’s price starts from $4.95/month. However, there are numerous Bluehost alternatives out there as well, in case this web hosting service is not for you.
You might need to change your web host once your business grows, or you might have to work with several providers when it comes to handling your website’s operations and traffic. Your hosting needs will depend on how well your business website performs and your customers’ experience.
4. Work on Your Web Pages
When it comes to making a website for business, you will need several pages that show various aspects of your business. This includes things like a comprehensive list of all the products or services you offer, your homepage, a page with your business’s contact information, an About Us page, and so on.
Overall, every page on your business website should support its primary goal, know its purpose, and come with a strategically-placed CTA (call to action) button, like ‘sign up,’ ‘learn more,’ ‘contact us,’ ‘buy now,’ and so on.
Your contact page is how your customers can get in touch with you, as it’s a direct link between the two. Therefore, you need to mention all the different ways they can reach you, such as through email, business phone number, address of a physical location, and so on.
Your ‘About Us’ page should include information about the founding team of the business. This allows visitors to connect the faces and names of people with your brand. Be clear about what your business has to offer. Visitors should immediately know what your company is all about right from your website’s homepage.
Keep in mind that a couple of well-developed pages are better and more effective than hundreds of poorly developed ones.
5. Install a Payment System, if Needed
This step is not for all business websites. However, if your company sells some sort of product or service and you want your customers to easily pay online, then installing an electronic payment system on your business website is the way to go.
This can be done through credit card processing solutions or ecommerce software. Numerous web hosting services offer some sort of in-house integration through ecommerce programs. Do more research and find a solution that’s ideal for your website. Choose something that’s flexible and will meet all your needs, even in the future.
Make sure to read our article on how to start an online business.
6. Run a Test of Your Website
Once you create a business website, run a test to see if everything is working smoothly. Check to make sure that your website works well on all major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Safari, and so on.
Go through every page to ensure that all images load, the text is there, and the links are working. Doing all this on every browser will take time, but it will help you avoid complaints from visitors in the long run.
Moreover, make sure that your business website is loading properly on different devices like smartphones and tablets. This is highly important as several search engines, like Google, have switched to mobile-first indexing. This means that search engines evaluate the performance of your website’s mobile version when it comes to their rankings.
It also helps to integrate an analytics program right from the start before your website goes live. Doing this will help you tackle any issues that come up early on. You can also keep an eye on how well your website pages are performing to see which ones are more successful.
7. Use Social Media to Publicize Your Website
Various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn are some of the best places to increase your reach and inform customers about your business. You can post about your website on your social media handles whenever there is an update.
Also, make sure to include the links to your social media handles on your business website. You can add the links to the footer section of the website or the ancillary bar.
8. Optimize Your Website for Search Engines
As mentioned earlier, SEO plays a vital role in determining where your business website will rank on different search engines. A good SEO strategy will bring potential leads to your website.
This includes things like meta descriptions, incorporating important keywords, using URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers), and adding title tags that are relevant to your business. Doing this will help improve your rankings for the products or services you want to sell.
If you plan on adding a blog to your website that’s related to your business, then make sure that you publish new content on a daily basis. This allows you to add keywords that are relevant to your industry.
It also helps to add internal links, which lead to different pages on your website, and external links which lead to other high-authority websites. Strategically placing these links all across your website will help with optimization.
9. Don’t Forget About Maintenance
After you have created a business website, you are not done. There is a lot of maintenance required to keep a website running. When it comes to making a website for business, you frequently need to monitor different aspects of it, such as security, software updates, the latest company news, blog posts, product/service news, and other important website maintenance.
A website that’s regularly updated will keep bringing back more visitors, which includes old and new customers. A monthly maintenance check must be performed to ensure that everything is working properly.
Things to Consider When Developing a Business Website
It is crucial to have a proper plan before embarking on the journey to create a business website. Listed below are the important things you need to keep in mind.
1. Think About Branding
Branding matters. Your business website will represent your company, therefore, you need to pay attention to your branding. You can create a brilliant business website when you prioritize your branding throughout the development process.
Some features that are included in the branding of a website include:
- The color schemes
- Website design
- Fonts
- Your brand’s logo
- The core message or tone of your website
The color schemes, fonts, and website design should complement each other and match the tone of your brand voice. The logo of your brand represents your company and your customers should instantly be able to identify your brand through it.
Lastly, the core message of your website shows your customers what your business values, which allows them to connect more with it.
2. Ease of Use
Customers are more than likely to leave your website if they find it difficult to use it. A website that’s easier to navigate attracts more customers. You can improve the usability of your website by making sure it has the following features:
- A navigation menu to show customers what they can find on your website
- A search bar so your customers can quickly find what they are looking for
- Proper labels and headings to better explain your business website’s content
- A website that’s mobile-friendly will increase your brand’s credibility
3. Your Website’s Security
Human error is responsible for 95% of cybersecurity breaches, according to studies. That is why it’s crucial to pay attention to your website’s security. Hackers have developed innovative ways to bypass security systems in order to steal sensitive data.
Fortunately, there are ways to protect your business website against hackers, such as using server-side security tools, web application firewall services, and practicing cyber hygiene.
4. An Effective SEO Strategy
Search engine optimization (SEO) allows your website to be visible to others when they are using search engines. Potential customers use specific keywords on search engines when they want to purchase something.
A good SEO strategy will allow your website to appear on the first page of search engines when you link relevant keywords to the content on your business website.
5. The Cost of Developing a Website
The cost depends on various factors when making a website for your business, such as different features, the number of pages, and so on.
If you want to create a business website, then it’s obvious that you would need to hire people for the job. There are several companies that offer website-building services and are willing to develop your entire website. However, if you cannot afford that, you can find freelancers online who are willing to do the same but at more affordable rates.
On the other hand, you can create a simple website all by yourself. Several services provide drag-and-drop website-building tools, which have made it easy for anyone to create their own website.
How to Create a Business Website – Frequently Asked Questions
The average cost of running a website for a small business ranges between $4,000 to $10,000. The cost depends on the type of business and how much the business owner is willing to invest in it.
It helps to know the different website types, so you can pick the one that’s right for your business. The most common ones are corporate websites, ecommerce sites, blogs, and online portfolios.
A website for businesses can earn money through different methods like ad networks, selling ad space, affiliate marketing, getting paid for every visitor, asking for contributions and donations from loyal customers, and so on.
On average, a website requires a minimum of 50 page views in a day in order to be profitable.
The more traffic your website gets, the more attractive it will appear to advertisers. You need a minimum of 10,000 organic views in a month to get advertisers on your website.
How to Create a Business Website – Conclusion
Numerous factors go into starting a business, which includes creating a decent website. Making a website for a business can put your company ahead of its competitors, and also help in expanding your business.
You don’t need a high budget to create a business website. A simple, well-designed business website can completely change the view of your company in front of potential consumers by directly connecting them to your business.
Are you still struggling to find a good idea for a business? Read our article on how to come up with a business idea.
About the author
Dr. Gabriel O'Neill, Esq., a distinguished legal scholar with a business law degree and a Doctor of Juridical Science, is a leading expert in business registration and diverse business departments. Renowned for his academic excellence and practical insights, Dr. O'Neill guides businesses through legal complexities, offering invaluable expertise in compliance, corporate governance, and registration processes.
As an accomplished author, his forthcoming book is anticipated to be a comprehensive guide for navigating the dynamic intersection of law and business, providing clarity and practical wisdom for entrepreneurs and legal professionals alike. With a commitment to legal excellence, Dr. Gabriel O'Neill, Esq., is a trusted authority dedicated to empowering businesses within the ever-evolving legal landscape.