The Essential Stages for Developing a Fantastic Small Business Website
The Essential Stages for Developing a Fantastic Small Business Website: No matter what small business you run—freelance photographer, hardware store manager, etc.—a good website is essential to your company’s success.
As a webmaster who has assisted in creating and promoting over 100 small business websites, I understand what it takes to develop unique and engaging websites for businesses.
If you want to develop a new website for your business or improve the effectiveness of your existing website, here are ten critical measures to help your small business website compete in the online marketplace.
Purchase a suitable domain name.
Regarding usability and SEO, it needs to provide a good first impression (SEO).
Here are some suggestions for a good domain name:
It should be simple to spell.
Avoid using colloquial, made-up, or excessively esoteric terminology.
Make it as brief as possible. Shorter words are easier to remember and spell accurately.
Please make sure you are using the correct domain extension.
Always go with a.com unless you think of a good reason to use another extension (like.gov,.edu, or.org) (rather than. net,.co, etc.).
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Numbers and hyphens should be avoided. They are difficult to recall, less elegant and memorable than plain word domain names, and can be mispronounced when the domain name is spoken.
Make the address as broad as possible to allow for future growth. Amazon.com, for example, is a far broader website address than BooksOnline.com, allowing Amazon to sell virtually any form of consumer product rather than only books, as was the original aim.
Make it unforgettable. Because there are so many websites on the Internet, your website name must be unique so that people remember how to access it in the future.
Look into the domain name. Google it to determine if a similar website URL exists, then check USPTO.gov to ensure it does not contain registered trademarks.
Check the prices to see if they are reasonable. Most desirable domain names are already taken, so you’ll need to buy one if you want to use it for your website.
Avoid illogical names. Choose a meaningful name so that users understand what your company is about right away. Although Yahoo and Google have memorable names, their branding was highly costly, and your little firm may not have the same budget.
Make a URL that is SEO-friendly. If at all feasible, attempt to select an SEO-friendly website address that includes keywords and the location, such as “www.LasVegasElectrician.com.”
Purchase a scalable, secure website hosting service with top-notch help from the technical side.
A website host, or web host, is a company that provides the infrastructure (server space, network connectivity, etc.) necessary for an online website to be accessed by the general public. and services required to show a website on the Internet.
They link your domain name to your hosting provider so that when customers visit your website address, they see the website you have saved in your hosting account.
Depending on the technology and support you select, hosting services might range from $2 to $100 or more each month. An annual plan is often less expensive than a monthly one.
Here are some tips for selecting an excellent website hosting plan:
Although a “shared server” hosting package can be obtained for as little as $2 per month, I would generally advise against it.
Using shared hosting means your site will be stored on a server that also serves the needs of other customers.
Furthermore, if one of the other websites on your shared server is hacked, your website may also become affected.
The most expensive web hosting plan type is the “dedicated server” setup. with monthly charges ranging from $100 to $2,000, it will keep your site running at peak performance.
If the necessary technology is in place, it is safer than a shared hosting package.
However, it is significantly more expensive than most small enterprises are prepared to spend. If your website is particularly intriguing, this may be the best course of action, yet for most startups, this is too much of a good thing.
In most cases, I will suggest a “virtual private server” (VPS) hosting package as a happy medium because it offers the features of both shared and dedicated servers.
The monthly fee ranges from $20 to $50, which is reasonable for the hosting services.
A virtual private server (VPS) is a computer that has been partitioned to behave as several computers. This makes it comparable to shared hosting while providing the same security and speed as a dedicated server hosting service.
Make sure your hosting firm offers phone and chat assistance to get help fast if you run into any issues. Email help can frequently take too long and be annoying if an urgent issue must be addressed.
Phone support is preferred, although chat is equally effective.
To access your server, you must have an easy-to-use server interface, such as cPanel. Unless you can afford to hire a skilled server administrator, you don’t want to have to use terminal commands to inspect the contents of your server and make changes.
Be sure to investigate the server’s level of security before making a purchase. Secure File Transfer Protocol should allow you to connect to your server (SFTP).
Your server’s material should be backed up daily. There should also be a quick and straightforward way to install Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates. Check that the hosting business does frequent security checks.
Ideally, your hosting provider will maintain a publicly accessible security log that you may review to learn how it keeps its servers secure.
Some well-known website hosting firms are:
GoDaddy
DreamHost
Bluehost
InMotion
SiteGround
In the forefront, including a concise description of your company.
Visitors must immediately understand who you are and what you do so they are not confused when visiting your small business website.
Check that your homepage’s primary banner (also known as the “hero picture”) and subsequent banners visually depict your services. You have introductory text at the top of the page that conveys who you are and what you do.
Additionally, ensure that your primary and footer navigation menus include easily accessible links to your “About Us” page so your visitors can click on it and discover more about your company.
Use the best content management system available.
A content management system (CMS) is software that allows you to produce and manage digital material. A solid CMS will help you maintain your website and requires little technical knowledge to utilize.
Different systems are employed for various purposes, including simplicity of use, expandability, and cost.
Some popular systems are included below, along with discussions of their merits and disadvantages.
WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system (CMS).
A WordPress developer can likely create a plugin specifically for your needs if none already exist.
WordPress is also free and extremely simple to set up. Most website developers are familiar with it. Therefore, finding someone or an agency to work on your website is not difficult.
Because of its versatility and extensibility, I recommend small businesses develop their websites with WordPress.
However, WordPress’ most serious flaw is security; because it is so popular, it is frequently attacked by hackers.
Your WordPress website must be routinely maintained and backed up to avoid hacking.
Furthermore, because it is challenging to secure every third-party plugin, the security of your WordPress website must be regularly maintained through various best practices (checking if your plugins have been updated in the last few months, making sure it is a plugin from the official WordPress repository, deleting unused plugins immediately, etc.).
Drupal
Drupal is another well-known CMS. It has many advantages in WordPress, such as flexibility, simplicity, and a strong support community.
Regarding security, it outperforms WordPress, the most popular CMS currently available. (less vulnerable to criminal behaviour); yet, it lacks as many plugin or theme possibilities, making it less expandable.
For many years, the White House website (Whitehouse.gov) was powered by Drupal, but it has since migrated to WordPress, which it still uses today.
Joomla!
Joomla! is another popular CMS with superior SEO, security, and multilingual capabilities than WordPress by default, but with the help of some plugins, WordPress outperforms Joomla!
Squarespace
Squarespace is a monthly or yearly subscription service that enables developing websites and blogs as simple as “drag and drop.”
Website design, development, software maintenance, metrics, domain names with an annual subscription, SSL security, 24/7 support, and limitless bandwidth and storage are all included in one bundle.
It is ideal for creatives and provides high-quality design templates.
Squarespace has a far lower learning curve than WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla!, but there aren’t nearly as many extension alternatives.
If you’re looking for an alternative, Squarespace is an excellent option if you have little or no technical experience and want a quick and easy approach to designing a website.
Wix is similar to Squarespace but has a more user-friendly interface. It has similar features and provides a monthly membership but not an annual one. Wix is also a drag-and-drop builder, which means you can freely drag and drop things onto the website; in comparison, Squarespace’s dragging and dropping into the page is more structured.
Wix has a lower learning curve than Squarespace, so if you need to create a site quickly, this may be the ideal option.
Wix has many more templates than Squarespace, but once you choose one, you must stick with it, or you will have to redesign your site entirely. You may change your template on Squarespace at any time without having to redo the entire site.
Select a reliable e-commerce platform.
(If you don’t currently sell anything, you should think about it because e-commerce has the potential to improve your income.)
You must select the right platform for your company’s strategy to allow users to perform financial transactions online.
Here are some major small-company e-commerce platforms:
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a popular e-commerce software that can transform your WordPress website into an online store. Many plugins are available for WordPress; WooCommerce is highly flexible because it is integrated with WordPress.
There is a large selection of both free and premium WooCommerce themes available. (It is usually preferable to use a premium theme from a known developer because it provides better security and support.)
If you are not technically skilled, you will almost certainly require the assistance of a WordPress developer to set up and utilize it. WooCommerce also provides the tools and scalability that your small business may want.
Shopify
Shopify is a web-based e-commerce platform that facilitates the management of an online store, including the storage and sale of goods, the processing of orders, and the shipment of orders.
It’s not a WordPress expansion like WooCommerce, but a standalone platform housed on the Shopify server. So, if you already have the main website, your e-commerce site is technically separate.
An ordinary website built with WordPress, Drupal, Wix, etc., can connect to your Shopify account without needing a Shopify connection plugin.
Some advantages are unlimited items, bandwidth, fraud detection, coupon codes, reports, and so much more.
The key benefits of Shopify are that you don’t require a developer to set up a store, and everything is already set up on the backend for you when you sign up.
Plus, Shopify
Shopify Plus is identical to Shopify, except it offers superior customization options, employee accounts, and international e-commerce capabilities. It also provides a higher level of assistance.
Of course, all of this comes at a more considerable membership cost, and it lacks the flexibility and customization choices of WooCommerce.
Business Squarespace
Squarespace provides an e-commerce subscription service. So, if you’ve selected Squarespace to design your website and merely have minimal e-commerce needs, you can choose this method.
Squarespace Business levies a transaction fee, which can be avoided by upgrading your subscription to a simple online store.
It comes with a free domain, SSL security, SEO, abandoned cart recovery, discounts, real-time carrier shipment, and more. It’s been pointed out, though, that it’s not quite as user-friendly as Shopify.
And, like Shopify, it’s not as adaptable as WooCommerce.
Wix
Wix offers a highly user-friendly Shopify plugin. To use it, you must first upgrade your Wix account and authenticate into Shopify.
Online store GoDaddy
GoDaddy offers a new standalone subscription e-commerce platform that is simple to set up and utilize. Setting up your store with GoDaddy Online Store requires minimal technological experience.
The templates are plain and uncomplicated and can be changed to some level. Marketing and SEO tools, social network integration, appointment booking, SSL security, fast page loading, and more features are available.
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