If you have been convinced by someone that a website is a waste of time and money and that Instagram is leading the industry, then they are partially true. Instagram is certainly needed to spread the word about your business, but it doesn’t imply that your business does not require a website. A website is similar to a physical store or shop of business, but the former exists in virtual mode.
When a person comes across your business, he will immediately check on Google for any website of yours. Alternatively, you will try to find it on social media. But a website sounds more authentic and concrete for small and big businesses. Hence, skipping the website creation part is not advisable for any new business entrepreneur out there. In fact, we suggest you plan out your website development, designing, and launch processes wisely.
What does a website do for your business? If this question is again bothering your mind, here are two answers.
- A website provides an ease to your business. It helps the audience find you. It helps you portray a true image of your organization, brief about your products and services, and let them shop directly from your virtual store or contact you.
- A website provides you better results as compared to the business having no online or alternative presence.
In this post, we won’t be outlining the entire process as it is technical and involves numerous steps. So we can save it for later. But in this post, we will brief you on the website creation process in short and highlight the essential aspects of the same. So be ready!
Buy your domain from a trusted site
You must have seen ads of various domain selling companies convincing you how important a domain is for a business, no matter when it has been set up. Yes, that is true, and you can believe those ads for a while. A domain name is a vital component of your website, and it is advisable to buy one as soon as your business is registered. You can get it at a reasonable price, and it will be easily available (or it is taken by someone else).
Following are a few places from where you can buy a reliable domain:
- Google Domains.
- GoDaddy.
- SiteGround.
Buying a domain is the most reasonable yet important investment that you make for your online presence. Choose a name that is the same or similar to your business name, or else it might create a conflict in the minds of your audience.
Plan out the website content
The first thing that we will suggest while planning out the entire website content is to keep things simple and not make them complex. You need only the basic five pages that a regular website has in the initial days of the business. No need to make it glossy or include 3D graphics and videos on your homepage. The website should convey the business aim and purpose.
You can hire a freelance writer to get your content on track. If you are planning to do it by yourself, we suggest getting the same checked by an editor or by a good friend of yours. The content should be properly worded, grammatically correct, plagiarism-free, and should incorporate SEO principles. Hiring a freelancer saves a lot of tasks, but you can personalize it anyway and do it on your own.
Following are the basic pages of your website:
- Homepage – It is the page that the audience will land upon. It needs to shout the message in a short and precise manner.
- Shop – The visitors will convert into customers by purchasing products and the services from this web page.
- Blog – Use SEO to make your blog posts visible to the world. Blogs work no matter what you sell or services you provide.
- About – This page talks more about the business, mission and vision, and founders.
- Contact – Visitors can contact you by accessing the details on this page.
Choose the right website builder
We have a tie between WordPress and Squarespace or Wix. Let us differentiate the important elements of both.
| WordPress | SquareSpace |
| This is for the curious-minded people who want to know how things work and experiment with options and tools available. | This is for the relaxed-minded people who want to build a website quickly and easily without any stress. |
| You can customize your website freely as per your requirements as you have numerous options. | Customization is not available, but the easy-to-use options are enormous. |
| You need to invest time and effort to build a website as it is in your mind. | You can seek only 80 percent output for the 20 percent results you put into the website creation process. |
Guidelines for choosing the right website builder
The following are a few basic things to keep in mind while choosing the right builder. First, we know there are plenty of website creation tools, and being confused is about to happen.
- The tool you choose should be easy for you. You shouldn’t feel that you are exhausted while using it. It must be simple and accessible for you.
- The website builder must be pretty fast and effective. Only then can you manage to hold visitors’ attention on the web. You cannot afford to be slow on the internet.
- The website should look professional. For a small business, this is a must. But if your business is more on the creative side, you can prefer to add colors and vibrance to the site. Squarespace guarantees a professional look, but WordPress is for customization.
- Choose a tool that has embedded features that you need. You should not compromise on the website’s appearance and settle for something less.
To conclude, website creation is highly advisable (even if it is not mandatory) for every small business in the United States. Plus, you can refer to this post for insights on choosing the right website creation tool.