Building Your First Business Website – 9 Essential Tips

Posted by Rachel Hesser

Updated on April 16th, 2020

Tips on creating a website for a business

Photo by Mel Poole on Unsplash

Having a business means that you have to be responsible for a lot of things in order for it to be successful, including building a business website.

I want to build a website for my business. Where do I start?

First, you need to make sure that your product and service is of high-quality so that you don’t lose customers.
Second, you have to be in charge of all of your employees.

You also have to consider investments in the growth of your business, and you need to make sure that you keep having patrons for your business. You should also be on top of any trends that you need to adapt to for the continual development of your business.

With that said, one of the things you should invest in for the growth of your business is your own business website.

Get a website built for my business

Having your own business website makes it easier for you to establish a presence in the online world. This will help you connect with your target customers right where they are.

If your business is only starting out and you still don’t have a business website, then you should get one as soon as possible. Your business website can be an avenue for you to find more industry connections or even to find more potential customers to work with.

On that note, if it’s your first time building your business website, then here are nine tips that you might want to consider:

1. Determine the Purpose of Your Website

Before you start designing your website, you first need to determine its main purpose.

For some people, they want a corporate website for their company where they can post corporate events and highlight information relevant to fellow businesses in the same industry. In some cases, the website serves as an online shop where people can purchase products or hire services.

No matter what the purpose of your website is, you need to be specific about it. The reason for that is because it can influence what website platform you end up choosing.

Instead of starting a business website willy-nilly, it is best that you identify what you want to use it for and what results do you want to get out of it first.

2. Decide Your Domain Name and Choose a Reliable Host

Once you know what the purpose of building your new business website is, you can now start building its actual foundations.

You start things off by choosing your domain name. A domain name is essentially what people will type in to find your website. Think of it as your business’s address on the Internet.

Choosing a domain name is tricky because you want it to reflect your business somewhat while also having your own branding to it.

Small business website hosting

After the domain name, you can then look for a reliable hosting service for your website. You want your hosting service to be able to handle the traffic that your website is likely going to get.

For a business website that has an online shop on it, you would especially want a web hosting service provider that is able to accommodate tens of thousands of traffic. More so, if you’re organizing promos and sales.

You want a hosting service that can be flexible as you grow, but also affordable while you’re still growing.

3. Install Safety and Security Features

Image by Werner Moser from Pixabay

Having safety features on your website prominently will make people trust your business more. They won’t be dubious about your products or services, and they’ll feel more comfortable doing transactions on your site.

Thus, having a security feature in place on your website is crucial, especially if you’re going to have an online shop set up on your site.

With that said, you can get an SSL or Secure Sockets Layer certificate that will indicate that your site has an encryption measure. This measure protects any sensitive data (i.e., credit card details) that might be put into your website.

Having an SSL certificate will communicate to people that you take your business seriously enough to guarantee safety while they’re on your site.

4. Craft Compelling Online Content

It’s not enough that you have your website’s design and layout in mind. You now also have to think of creating compelling online content to fill your website. Otherwise, it’ll look like an unfurnished house.

With that said, you need to invest in a great copy, high-quality visuals, and excellent content that will engage your target audience.

Having compelling content will make your website visitors engaged and stay on your site longer. Aside from that, it helps develop your brand even better. It will get your name and business across the Internet, and you will grow more traffic, which is always good for any business.

5. Incorporate Strong SEO to Your Website

Image by Diggity Marketing from Pixabay

Speaking of gaining more traffic, if you really want to drive leads, then you need to implement appropriate search engine optimization strategies on your site. SEO essentially encapsulates strategies that make it easier for your website to come up organically on search engine results for the right queries.

Having a solid SEO strategy will help you rank high on search engine results, even if you didn’t start a pay-per-click ad campaign.

You can apply SEO on your entire website, to your content, and more. As long as you apply ethical SEO strategies that fall within the rules of search engines, then you should be fine.

Do note that search engines such as Google updates their algorithm without prior notice, so you have to be vigilant about keeping up with these changes.

That way, you’re sure that your new business website will always appear on search engine results.

6. Use Crazy Effective CTA Buttons

CTA buttons or call-to-action buttons are going to compel your website visitors to do the desired action.

To find effective CTA buttons, you’re unlikely to just happen upon it. It will require quite a bit of testing to see which one is the most efficient and effective at getting you the results that you want. Therefore, don’t be afraid to experiment when building your first business website.

7. Use Responsive Design on your First Business Website

Responsive design usually refers to how mobile-friendly your website is. Given the fact that a lot of people can access the Internet nowadays using only their phones, it’s crucial for your site to create a comfortable experience even for mobile users.

There are plenty of website builders that provides mobile-responsive themes. For example, according to this Squarespace complete review, this platform has plenty of mobile-friendly web designs.

If you want to accommodate mobile users well, then you should look into responsive website designs for your business site.

8. DIY – Building Your First Business Website Yourself

If you have quite a bit of web design experience, or you’re willing to get down and dirty, then you might want to consider going DIY with your site.

Instead of getting someone to do it for you, you can code your own website until it satisfies you. Of course, it’s going to take you a lot longer, but your website is going to come out exactly as you wanted it to be.

If you’re very particular with your website design, then you are free to go DIY.

9. Clearly Display Your Contact Information

Last but not least, outside of the website, you need to ensure that users have a way to contact you.

Therefore, you should ensure that you either have a dedicated Contact page or have a contact form available at the bottom of your website.

As long as it’s obvious and easy to find, then you should be fine.

Building your first business website can be challenging and tiring, but if you do your due diligence, you’re going to find yourself with a site that suits your brand the most. Hopefully, these tips help you on that journey to a business website that’s best for you.

Good luck with building your first business website!

About Rachel Hesser

Rachel Hesser is a content writer and producer for businesses that specializes in web development and design.

Her mission is to help non-tech business owners to embrace technology

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About Adam Franklin

Adam Franklin is the bestselling author of Web Marketing That Works. He is an international social media speaker and CEO of Bluewire Media.  His blog was Australia's #1 Business Blog and his podcast was #9 on the top marketing podcasts in Entrepreneur magazine. His work has featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, Huffington Post and iTunes. Download the popular Web Strategy Planning Template which has been used by hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide. His weekly 'Bluewire News' email goes out to over 32,000 readers.

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