It does not matter if you are a bike shop or a professional barber, or have another type of small business, a great website is extremely important to the success of your business. Creating a good website is more difficult than just plugging in some preloaded theme and changing some text.
If you are thinking about a new website for your current or new business.
Here are 7 tips to help you with your business website.
1. Get an easy-to-remember domain name.
Your domain name is the key to the front door of your business. It needs to be SEO-friendly and customer friendly.
-
- Make it easy to spell. Don’t use words that are not spelled correctly or a word your three years old child pronounced and you decided it sounded like a cool domain name.
- Keep it short and sweet. Having a short domain name makes it easier to remember and more importantly easy to spell.
- Keep the name broad. You are going to want to be able to grow into your domain name. If you have a domain name like OnlyRedSocks.com there is not much business growth you can obtain with that name and have it be effective. Thinks of names like Amazon.com or Google.com. Short and sweet and either could be any kind of business you want it to be.
- Research the domain name. You will want to use Google and other sources the US Patten or Trademark offices to make sure your domain name is not already taken or has any filings on it.
- Make it SEO-Friendly. Like the example up above, OnlyRedSocks.com is very SEO-friendly, even though it is very narrow in scope. Try to get a balance of both.
2. Website hosting needs to be secure, user-friendly, and with good tech support.
- There are a couple of options for hosting. If your site is small and you plan to have very little traffic. There are some inexpensive hosts out there that will do just fine for you.
- If you plan on your site growing and you don’t want to be in the website design business. You might want to look into managed website hosting with a company like f9 digital media. They offer plans and packages that will make your life much easier.
No matter what type of hosting you decide on, make sure they have good customer service and good reviews. Do your research before you get started.
3. A clear description of your business displayed on your website is important.
- Like a billboard or business sign on your building, a simple and clear description of what your business does is essential early on your website. Use an image on the top half of your website that will put a mental picture of what your business does.
Also, you will want a good and complete “About Us” page. So your website visitors can get a more detailed picture of your business.
4. Start with a good CMS – Content Management System.
You will want to build your website with software that will grow with you and your website. Do some research and watch some videos on the different types of CMS that are out there.
5. A good e-commerce platform is essential.
If you have any plans on selling products or services, you will want a good e-commerce system that will grow with you.
6. Make your website memorable.
- Use eye-pleasing graphics and fonts that are easy to read.
- Be sure to use images and graphics that are compressed for faster website loading.
- Research the website of your competition, and make sure yours is nicer looking and more important more user-friendly.
- Keep your branding consistent. Logos, colors, fonts, images. Be sure they are consistent throughout your new website.
- Create a call to action button and links to keep your customer engaged.
- Create standard website pages to start then expand as needed. Id: Home – About Us – Store etc…
7. Optimize your new business website for the top search engines.
SEO is something that you will definitely want to do your research on and implement on your website. You need to make sure that your website is easy to read and navigate for Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.
Bonus Tips:
Create quality content on your website on a regular basis. It is important that you keep your website fresh and informative.
Install webmaster tools from Google. You want to use those tools to keep an eye on your website traffic. And see what parts of your website your potential customers are using and which parts they are not.
In conclusion, building a good website is not as easy as some commercials will lead you to believe. So take your time and do your research before tackling your website project.
This article is not written to scare you off from building your own website.
It has been written to give you a basic understanding of where to start with your website.
If it all seems too much, look at hiring a professional website designer like Evolve Websites to create your website.
It just may save you more money in time and mistakes than a good website developer would initially cost.
If you have any questions about building a website or need a new website. Give us a call here at Evolve Websites. We will be happy to assist you in any way we can.
About the Author
Evolve Websites is a professional website design company that works with small businesses to design, build and maintain websites. We also offer SEO and Social Media Marketing and Social Media Management.
If you are in need of a good website design agency that will be there for you, and you are not just a number. Give Evolve Websites a call today.
