In a world where consumers turn to the internet for just about everything, it is now imperative for all businesses to have an online presence. A business website can solidify your branding and spread the word about your products or services. Of course, this opens up new avenues for sales, too.
But how do you successfully build a business website?
As a business owner, you’ll be glad to hear that crafting a professional website for your business has become fairly straightforward. Website-building software is more accessible than ever, with a range of options available, from out-of-the-box solutions to coding-heavy, fully customizable programs. Whichever path you choose, some fundamental steps will help you craft a website that meets your unique needs.
9 Tips for Successfully Building a Business Website
If you’re beginning the process of building your business or looking to revamp your current one, then you’ve come to the right place! You will discover nine tips for creating a business website that will ensure you maximize your online presence and stand out from your competitors.
Determine the purpose of your website
Before you begin building a business website, you need to decide what purpose your website will serve. Your brand identity and your industry will influence this. Your business objectives will play a role in this, too.
Is your website simply for information sharing? Do you want to show potential clients your portfolio of work? Will your website have a blog? Do you want an ecommerce site where customers can make purchases?
Consider your target market and who your website is for. For example, RealVNC remote desktop solutions are relevant for particular B2B clients. Their website will serve a different purpose than a website offering discount shoes.
It is important that it is user-friendly and maintains consistent branding and tone of voice. Website visitors should be able to get a feel for what your company is about, find out key information, and be able to navigate your site easily.
Choose and buy a domain name
Your domain name is a critical element of your business website. A successful business website has a domain name that is easy to remember and descriptive. It should also reflect your brand identity.
What is a domain name? This is the URL that users type into a web browser to go to your website. It is how users will find you online.
Picking a domain name isn’t as simple as just choosing what you want and building your site. You must first check its availability and buy the name through a domain registrar such as Only Domains.
Remember that your domain name is how your site will be identified online. So choose wisely!
Choose a web host
A website host is a server where data is stored and makes the site accessible online. While you can host your own website, this is costly, so most businesses choose to use an external web host. If you’re starting an LLC Services business, it’s essential to select a reliable web host that can handle your specific needs.
There are shared web hosts where you share a server with other sites. As you may expect, this is a less expensive option but comes with drawbacks such as the fact you’re competing with other sites and your website speed can, therefore, be slower. You want to avoid your site crashing on popular sale days!
Dedicated hosting, on the other hand, is where you are provided with your own private server. This is more expensive but may not be necessary for your business.
Some web hosts offer tools that will make managing your website easier. For example, you may need an ecommerce system that allows customers to make and pay for orders online.
When choosing a web host, it’s a good idea to look at business website examples to see how well different hosts perform. Examining websites hosted by different providers can help you make an informed decision based on real-world results.
Free to use image sourced from Pixabay
Ultimately, your branding, your business needs, and your budget will determine which web host is most appropriate for your business website. While there are free web hosts out there, remember that they are likely to be very ad-heavy and have limited capabilities.
Plan your site map
The next step is to design a site map of the pages that are included on your website. Although this will vary,
- Home page
- About us
- Contact
- Products/Services
Of course, your site will include much more than this, but start with the basics and build from there. Make sure you always consider the purpose of your website and your business goals. For example, a company selling a business cloud phone system may choose to include a blog on cloud-based software troubleshooting. For other businesses, a customer testimonials page could be more relevant.
When creating your site map, always keep the customer journey at the forefront of your mind.
Build your website and create your content
Once you have decided on your site map and you know the basic layout of your website, it is time to start crafting content and designing each web page.
There are many platforms for website building, so do your research and choose the one that best meets your needs. Tools like Bootstrap can be valuable assets in creating web templates that make your website stand out. Some website-building platforms include:
- Wix
- WordPress
- Squarespace
- Ionos
Ensure that each page of your website supports the main goal of your website and enhances the customer experience. Use content that is meaningful and relevant to your website visitors, and consider how your content is optimized for search engines (more about this later).
Additionally, think about strategically incorporating website popups to capture visitor attention and encourage engagement. Sensitive use of popups for offers, newsletters, or important announcements can enhance user interaction.
Call to action (CTA) buttons are important to mention, too. A good website includes well-placed CTA buttons such as “Contact Us,” “Learn More,” or “Go Shopping” to guide visitors.
Test your website
Before you rush to launch your website and announce that it is live, take the time to test that your website functions as intended.
You should test your website on all major browsers, navigating through each page and testing your links and CTA buttons. You will also want to make sure the site is visually pleasing and looks how you expected. Testing mobile functionality is also vital, with 72.9% of the ecommerce market represented by mobile commerce in 2021. There are various small business tools available to help you test your site.
Invest in SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) can be a game changer for your business. Building relevant keywords and phrases into your website content can help you generate traffic and get your website seen.
For example, if your business has expanded to the UAE, you want to make sure that your website will show up in searches in that area. If you register .ae domain, incorporate relevant content, and add a local number to that site, this will help to build your brand presence in your new territory and get your website higher up in search engine results pages.
So, as you build your business website and create your website content, consider how you can improve your SEO tactics. Some top tips for SEO are:
- Use online tools to determine relevant keywords: Once you know what your customers are searching for online, you can optimize your content to include those keywords.
- Update and refresh your content regularly: Keeping your website up to date shows search engines that your website is relevant and worth sharing. A stale site will be low down on search engine results pages.
- Use strategic CTA links: Include links on your site to other pages within your site, as well as relevant and useful external sites. As long as your links are relevant and valuable to website visitors, this can boost your SEO.
- Use off-site SEO tactics: Collaborate with other sites to include links from their site directly to yours. Collaborate with other sites to include links from their site directly to yours. Search engines will see that your site is worth visiting and move you higher up the ranks.
Promote your website
So, your website is live! It is out there for everyone to see. But how do people know about it?
As well as SEO, you should actively promote your website as part of a wider marketing strategy. For example, you might launch a promotional campaign across your social media pages or hold an in-person launch event. You could even promote your business website by investing in pay-per-click advertising.
Monitor and maintain your site
Once your business website is up and running, you can’t just sit back and relax. You need to regularly update your website with relevant information, up-to-date contact information, new products, or fresh blog posts. No one will keep visiting a site that never changes. While maintaining your brand consistency, keep things fresh and exciting.
You should also regularly check your security software is up to date and functioning as it should. Keeping your site safe from cyber-attacks should be high on your priority list.
You should also consider investing in website analytics. These solutions can tell you a lot about your website performance and the behavior of your website visitors. For larger organizations with multiple domains, you could even gain insights into why your .io website is performing better than your other sites, for example.
Clearly, understanding which pages on your site are performing well or how long visitors spend on each page will be highly beneficial and help you make strategic decisions about your business website going forward.
Final Thoughts
An online presence is essential if you want to unleash the full potential of your business. Consumers expect you to have a professional, purposeful, and easy-to-navigate website. The fact is, if you don’t, they will go elsewhere.
Using these nine tips, you can successfully build a business website and ensure that you not only stand out amongst your competitors but attract new customers and ensure your business thrives.