Explore our concise guide to create a small business website. We’ll guide you through essential design considerations, useful tools, and steps to launch your site.
How to build a website: a step-by-step guide
Your website is a powerful sales and marketing tool. In just five steps, you can craft a captivating business or personal website that engages and excites visitors. Here’s how to begin:
Choose a domain name
A domain name is your website’s unique identifier. Opt for a name that aligns with your business or professional identity. Consistent branding not only enhances your image but can also improve search engine rankings, increasing your site’s visibility.
Consider these tips while brainstorming domain names:
- Incorporate keywords related to your business to boost search engine visibility.
- Make sure it’s easy to spell.
- Use a domain name generator if you’re struggling with ideas.
- Keep it short for better recall.
- Avoid abbreviations, acronyms, hyphens, and numbers.
- Prefer traditional top-level domains (TLDs) like .com or .net, or one that best suits your business.
- Ensure the domain isn’t already in use. While you can buy an existing domain, it might be costly. Consider choosing another name or a different TLD, like .net.
Register your domain and select design and hosting providers
Once you pick a domain name, register it with a domain registrar such as Domain.com or Network Solutions. Registration costs range from $10 to $20 annually, depending on your TLD.
Next, find a provider to host your domain and potentially another one for design. For simplicity, you might prefer a provider offering registration, hosting, and design capabilities. If you’re new to coding, consider all-in-one options like WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix.
If using separate companies for hosting and design, seek a hosting service with benefits like tech support, a free domain, or a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. An SSL certificate ensures data security and is indicated by the ‘S’ in HTTPS, which is favorable to search engines and visitors alike.
All-in-one providers typically offer these features, but always verify before purchasing. Notable web hosts, with or without integrated design features, include Bluehost, DreamHost, GoDaddy, and InMotion.
For hosts lacking design integration, third-party programs like Canva and Adobe Creative Cloud can be used to create designs for your website pages.
Add essential pages and captivating content
Organizing your business content offers various possibilities, but be sure to include these crucial pages on your website:
- A compelling homepage: Your website’s central hub should immediately engage visitors and clearly convey your services and target audience. Use striking graphics, readable fonts, succinct descriptions, and irresistible calls-to-action.
- An insightful ‘about us’ page: Narrate your business’s origin story and spotlight your achievements, mission, and values. Introduce team members to foster deeper connections with your customers.
- A booking or shop page: Enhance revenue by integrating a third-party online scheduling tool or an e-commerce platform like HoneyBook or WooCommerce.
- An accessible contact page: Provide social media links, email addresses, phone numbers, and a contact form for easy communication. If applicable, include your operating hours.
- Engaging content: Share compelling content to establish your expertise and build a loyal community. This can include blogs, videos, podcast episodes, and case studies. As a bonus, such content can improve your search ranking and drive more traffic to your site.
Business website with engaging content - A Comprehensive FAQS Page: Addressing common questions builds trust in your brand and can reduce calls and support inquiries.
- Testimonials and media coverage: Enhance credibility by showcasing positive reviews and media mentions of your business.
Enhance your website for search engines
Search engine optimization (SEO) involves refining your site to improve its ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs), especially Google. It’s crucial for visibility and discoverability.
Keep these basic SEO practices in mind while building your website to boost visibility and traffic:
- Integrate relevant keywords throughout your content thoughtfully. Avoid keyword stuffing, which can harm your ranking.
- Regularly publish valuable content for your audience.
- Conduct routine content audits to identify areas for consolidation or updating.
- Optimize your website’s loading speed by compressing images and enabling browser caching. Faster loading pages rank higher. Use tools like GTmetrix to assess page speed.
- Ensure your design and content are compatible with computers, smartphones, and tablets. With significant web traffic coming from mobile devices, mobile optimization is vital.
While having a beautifully designed website is important, search engines also consider your site’s authority when indexing it. As you optimize your site, prioritize your visitors by creating intuitive navigation and ensuring fast load times. Follow Section 508 guidelines for accessibility, accommodating a diverse range of user abilities.
Review your site before publishing
Before launching your website to the public, it’s crucial to test and ensure everything functions correctly. Here’s a checklist to guide you:
- Thoroughly review your content for accuracy and errors.
- Identify and fix any broken links.
- Eliminate any placeholder content in your theme or template.
- Test your site on various browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari.
- Connect your website to Google Analytics to track performance.
Once everything checks out, go ahead and publish. To attract visitors, share your new site with friends, market it to clients, and feature it on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
Keep your site updated
Publishing is just the beginning. To maintain high search rankings and enhance user experience, regular updates and maintenance are essential. Add these tasks to your webmaster agenda:
- Utilize webmaster and analytics tools, like Google Analytics, to monitor site usage. Key metrics include bounce rates, click-through rates, and average session duration.
- Frequently refresh your site with new blog posts, products, and promotional offers.
- Conduct monthly reviews to ensure all site components—links, pages, and plugins—function as intended.
- Update the “About Us” page to reflect new team members or achievements.
Over time, building relationships with other business sites can enhance your credibility and SEO. When reputable websites link to yours, search engines regard your site as more authoritative, boosting its search rankings.