OK, so you opened your business, or maybe you have been operating your business for some time now but want to get online visitors. Where to start? The answer to that really depends on the type of business and your goals. If all you want for your business is to have a place online that your customers can visit and read updates about your business, you might want to start with a simple blog and maybe even a newsletter. A newsletter will help you grow an email list to send updates to customers and keep them informed of any changes to your business. This list can also be used later for sending out promotions, we talk more about that with digital marketing (hyperlink to digital marketing page).
If you want to sell products online, you are going to want to look for ecommerce platforms. There are a lot of stand-alone options, but the most flexible ecommerce platforms will be available as a plugin in most content management systems (CMS). A CMS just makes things easier in terms of organizing and managing all your website data so making updates and adding new content is much easier. Whether you are selling products on your website or have a blog community for customers to interact with you and your staff, one thing is always universal. You will need to keep updating your website with fresh unique content. Doing that will score some points with Google and help you rank higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages).
So, have you decided what type of website you want yet? One good thing about building a website is it can be anything you want it to be. That means your website doesn’t need to serve only one purpose. You can have a blog, informational website and store all in one. You can even have one-off landing pages for seasonal promotions. The possibilities are endless. So with that being said, the real decision making goes back to the way you want this thing built. We always recommend going with an open source CMS option because that will provide more freedom to make as many customizations as you want. Most of the base code is done for you and all that is left is making any customizations and adding your content.
Planning Planning Planning
Now that you know some of the basics that go into building a website, you will need to start planning. The more planning the better because in the end this will mean less modification and a smoother operating website. This is the point in the build that you are going to want to think about all the features you want on your website. Do you want a booking calendar to allow customers to set up appointments? Do you need to be able to take credit card or paypal payments online? Do you need to sync emails leads to an email platform? Those are only a few things to consider, but knowing all the features and styling you want from the start will save a ton of time in the long run. It will also help keep all your web files in order so making edits and updates will be faster and easier.
Where does the website live?
Since a website is just a bunch of files and programs that work together, it will live on a computer. But not just any ordinary computer. It will need to live, or be hosted, on a server that can be accessed by the public. It is possible to buy your own server and host your website from home or your office, but that would be extremely expensive and on top of the expense, you would be responsible for making sure your server is protected.
To make things easier, you can use a hosting provider and just rent space from their servers. This is so much more convenient and cost effective. Most hosting providers keep up to date with the latest technology for speed and security so that’s one less thing you need to worry about. Some of the things to look for when choosing a hosting provider are:
- Storage and resource limits
- Type of storage (SSD vs HDD)
- Free or paid SSL
- Uptime guarantee
- Level of server access (cPanel or FTP)
These are only a few things to consider when building a website. There are hundreds of points to keep in mind but knowing these basics will get you pointed in the right direction. Just keep the end goal in mind and you will have an amazing new asset added to your business. Having a website is extremely important in this day and age because so many people know they want to buy a product and may not know where to buy. Your website can help guide new customer to ultimately making a purchase from your business.
If you would like more information on building a professional website for your business visit our creative blog or feel free to contact us.
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