When people start their own business or expand their existing services is set up an online presence so that customers can find you, see your services or products and more importantly buy from you!
For many, the build of a website can be a minefield, and in some cases, quite stressful. The technology and choices can be too daunting, others may find the scale of costs off putting.
Knowing where to start, planning ahead and avoiding the common pitfalls, clients find building a website can be quite a smooth and cost-effective process to expand alongside business growth.
Purchase the domain name for your website
It used to be that you could buy the domain name that directly related to your business name, but there are so many domains that are already registered so it is worth checking if your chosen brand name or company name is available in some form. There are many alternatives to a .com or .co.uk, although they can come at a premium price, these may use the suffix .design, .tech or similar.
Did you know in the UK alone there is over 7 million registered domains – nearly 10 per person!
All domains are unique if you chose to book www.yourbrand.co.uk, please check whether the domain www.yourbrand.com is already booked and, if so, what does that company do. You do not want a similar business using an almost identical name confusing your visitors. I advise clients to buy both where available to ensure their brand is unique to them.
I book a lot of domains on behalf of my clients and ensure that they are registered in my client’s name – if you ask a web designer to do the booking please check that it is you that owns the domain to protect your business.
Very cheap or free website offers are not always what they seem
There is definitely a place for free website builder platforms, sometimes using them as a beginning is helpful to test your service or offerings. These templated builds can be limited, and it is important that you know you do not own the website design. Web builders on the big hosting companies are also rented and it is not possible to move them elsewhere.
SEO professionals (Search Engine Optimisation) will not advise you to build on these as it can impair your search engine results.
Choose the right website hosting or platform
It is a cost saving to start as you mean to go on. Given that you can’t move or migrate websites on website builders you may need to explore the alternatives.
I will always advise that clients use a ‘self-hosted’ provision. This means that you buy a hosting account and directly install your website there. If my clients are booking their own, I usually ask to check its provision before we start on their build. This is to ensure that it has the right servers, storage size and speed.
WordPress has its own platform which although I build a lot of WordPress sites I will install them on self-hosted accounts or on my own provision on their behalf. The WordPress platform is enormous and not as flexible individually hosted accounts.
It is important too that your hosting provider can supply a secure certificate (SSL certificate) to display a green padlock in the menu bar.
Choose the right web build
The choice you make may very well be governed by budget, but it is a good idea to ask yourself ‘what do you need your website to do for your business’. Websites range from a small brochure site with a few pages, it will do ‘what it says on the tin’, giving your visitors information about what you do, like a brochure.
Using a more dynamic build, such as WordPress, will allow you to have more flexible content such as blogging, interactive galleries, e-commerce (shopping cart), search options and so much more. It is a good way to start if you think that you will expanding your site in the future as the growth and functionality are limitless.
There are so many options they can’t all be listed here, but they could include collecting visitor’s emails addresses to send newsletters, private members areas, discussion platforms or areas where visitors can leave their feedback or rate products.
Websites must be responsive
Over 60% of first visits to a website are done from mobile devices, so it is essential that your visitors have a good experience whether it is from a phone, tablet, laptop or desk-top computer. Google searches are giving preference to mobile ready sites with mobile menu options included.
Make a start on the content of your site
Having a good idea of what you need to show your visitors will help you decide the pages or tabs you need. At first this just needs to be list of contents, not the full fleshed out text. A good place to start with this is to take-a-peek at what your nearest competitors are showing prospective clients – this can also give you a clue about what you don’t want as well as what you like.
You need to show visitors what you do or what you offer with clear navigation, calls to action and how they can get in touch with you.
Click here for my blog post on Content to include on your website.
If you are unsure about where to start or just about the technical side of domains and hosting then please get in touch for an introductory phone conversation. We can set you on the right path. Click here to email us your contact information and we can call you back at a time that suits you.