Welcome to The Ultimate Guide to Small Business Website Design: Your ultimate guide to small business website design, featuring the ultimate guide to small business website design and how to get found online!
If you’ve been looking for information on the ultimate guide to small business website design for a while, you know the internet is full of conflicting advice and confusing facts about creating your own ultimate guide to small business website design.
It’s important to thoroughly discuss the ultimate guide to small business website design to dispel the misconception that agencies are the only option. While agencies offer convenience, growth potential, and expert knowledge, you can absolutely lay the foundation yourself by following this ultimate guide to small business website design.
This post is for small business owners who want more information about the ultimate guide to small business website design before bringing on an agency or those who want to build their plumbing or home service website that converts by themselves. However, it’s also informative if you’re considering the pros and cons of managing your online presence on your own as you navigate the ultimate guide to small business website design.
The Ultimate Guide to Small Business Website Design: Key Strategies for Success
Topic 1: Understanding the Terminology – We’ll clarify essential terms like hosting, registrar, and CMS, ensuring you understand the core components of building a small business website.
Topic 2: Diving into WordPress – Learn how to use WordPress as an easy-to-manage platform, especially when enhanced with helpful plugins to simplify your website management.
Topic 3: Overview of the Guide – We’ll provide an overview of the article so you know what to expect, making it easier to navigate and find the information you need.
What Is a Small Business Website and Why Should You Care?
Whether you’re a small business owner looking to build a website yourself or just diving into the basics of getting your business online, getting clear on terminology is crucial. It helps you make informed decisions, communicate effectively with freelancers or agencies when you are ready to hand off your website to someone else, and ensures you understand the key components of your website.
A website, in a simple concept, means a connection to your clients without you having to interact personally with them. It allows your business to be available 24/7, providing information, answering questions, and even generating sales, all without requiring you to be there in person.
In other words, it’s a 24/7 salesman that works tirelessly to attract and inform potential customers, making your business accessible anytime without requiring your presence.
Some implications of having a small business website for your business are:
- Personal Benefit: It allows you, as a business owner, to save time by providing answers and resources to potential customers without your constant involvement. This gives you more freedom to focus on other parts of your business or personal life.
- Business Benefit: A website acts as a 24/7 salesperson, driving traffic, generating leads, and providing credibility to your small business. It also enables targeted digital marketing efforts, such as SEO and advertising, to be more effective.
- Societal Benefit: By making your services easily accessible online, you contribute to better customer experiences. Customers can access information, book services, or make purchases at any time, which is convenient and empowering for them.
History of Small Business Websites
The history of small business websites began in the early days of the internet, when only large corporations could afford to create and maintain an online presence. As technology advanced and website-building platforms became more user-friendly and affordable, small businesses started realizing the importance of having an online presence. Today, having a website is almost a necessity for small businesses to stay competitive and connect with their customers effectively.
A side effect of this history is that small businesses now have access to tools and platforms that make building and managing a website more feasible than ever, even without technical skills. This evolution has leveled the playing field, allowing small business owners to compete with larger companies by providing value and accessibility through their websites.
If you want more than just the Cliff Notes version: I learned most of this history of small business websites from Moz’s Guide to Small Business Websites.
Key Terms You Should Know
While writing the ultimate guide to building a small business website, I realized there are many specialist terms or jargon that may trip up readers.
I want to ensure that anyone, even with little to no background info, can understand the concepts and get the most out of this guide.
Domain
A domain is the address of your website that people type into their browser to visit your site (e.g., ). It’s like your online ‘street address’ that makes it easy for customers to find you.
Hosting
Web hosting is where your website’s files are stored, making it accessible on the internet. It’s like renting space on a server to store all the content and data for your website.
CMS (Content Management System)
A CMS, like WordPress, is a platform that allows you to create, manage, and modify website content without needing advanced technical skills. It’s the backbone of your website that makes updating and managing your content simple.
Advantages of Building a Small Business Website
Are you excited about building your website? Me too!
Let’s dive into the pros of having a small business website:
- Increased Credibility: A well-designed website helps establish your business as legitimate and trustworthy, which is crucial in today’s competitive market.
- 24/7 Availability: Your website can provide information and generate leads even when you’re not working, acting as a 24/7 salesperson.
- Wider Audience Reach: With a website, you’re not limited to local customers. You can reach people beyond your immediate area, expanding your potential customer base.
Disadvantages of Building a Small Business Website
Look, building a website is pretty rewarding, but like anything, there are downsides to consider.
Knowing what the downsides are equips you to make informed decisions and address potential challenges ahead of time.
Some notable cons of building a website:
- Initial Cost: While there are affordable options, there are still costs involved in domain registration, hosting, and design.
- Time Investment: Building and maintaining a website takes time, especially if you’re doing it yourself. It requires consistent updates and management to keep it effective.
- Learning Curve: If you’re new to website building, there can be a learning curve. Understanding how to use tools like WordPress and plugins may take some effort.
How would you solve the challenge of maintaining your website effectively?
Here are some extra tips from me to you on how to manage your website efficiently.
Using Your Website in Action
Definitions are all well and good, but explanations without application can feel hollow and confusing.
So before we dive in, below are examples of how to use your small business website effectively:
Optimizing Your Content for SEO
One way to put your website to work is by optimizing your content for search engines. This helps you get found online by potential customers searching for your services.
Creating Landing Pages for Ads
If you’re running advertising campaigns, creating specific landing pages that align with your ads can help convert visitors into leads more effectively.
Sharing Customer Testimonials
A great way to build trust is to include testimonials from satisfied customers. These can be displayed prominently on your home page or a dedicated testimonials page.
Step-By-Step Guide to Building Your Small Business Website
Do you feel like you have a good understanding of the key terms and concepts?
Then it may be time to give building your small business website a go.
Step 1. Secure a Domain Name
First, you need to choose and register a domain that reflects your brand. It’s the address where customers will find you online.
Why is it important? A good domain name makes your business easy to find and memorable.
How can you do it? Visit registrars like NameCheap or GoDaddy, search for an available name, and register it.
You will need to connect your domain with an A Record or nameserver. This is usually easy to do and the Registrar’s chat can usually help.
Step 2. Choose a Hosting Provider
Decide on a hosting provider that suits your needs. For beginners, SiteGround is a great option, while more advanced users might prefer Cloudways.
Why is it important? Good hosting ensures your website is fast and always accessible.
With SiteGround, they even have a wizard that can help you easily connect your domain without any complicated setups. Cloudways provides you everything you need up front, you just need to enter it at the registrar you chose.
Step 3. Set Up WordPress
Install WordPress as your CMS. Most hosting providers have a one-click WordPress installation to make it easy.
Why is it important? WordPress is user-friendly and powerful, allowing you to manage your content with ease. Plugins make it easy to extend the platform for design, speed, SEO, and many other benefits.
Step 4. Design Your Website
Use a theme and a page builder like Bricks to design your website. Bricks offers many pre-built themes that are beautiful and easy to work with, drastically cutting down your design time. If you use your own photos, you can achieve a very personalized look for your brand. Ensure it looks professional and represents your brand well.
Why is it important? A well-designed website builds credibility and attracts customers.
Step 5. Add Essential Pages
Create the essential pages for your business, including Home, About, Services, and Contact. The more valuable pages you add that address common questions and topics people are searching for, the better you address your clients’ needs and improve your SEO.
Why is it important? These pages provide the information your visitors need to make decisions.
Step 6. Optimize for SEO
Add relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and internal links to help your website rank better in search engine results. Once the essentials are in place, you can easily expand to off-page SEO as well and link with other online sources.
Why is it important? SEO helps your website get found by people searching for your services.
Step 7. Publish and Promote
Once everything is set up, publish your website and start promoting it through social media, email marketing, and local advertising.
Why is it important? Promotion drives traffic to your site, increasing the chances of generating leads and sales.
Top Tips and Little Reminders for Building a Small Business Website
If you already consider yourself a master of website building, here are some additional tips and tricks that may be helpful:
- Best Practice: Always optimize your images to reduce load time. Fast websites provide a better user experience and rank better in search results.
- Reminder: Keep your contact information visible on every page. Make it easy for customers to reach you.
- Tip: Regularly update your website content to keep it fresh and relevant, which helps with SEO.
If you still haven’t had enough of small business website tricks, then check out this blog post on What Makes a High Converting Website.
Conclusion
Building a small business website is key to gaining credibility, growing your business, and driving more sales. While building a website yourself is a great option, it’s important to consider how your time is best spent. Often, your time is more valuable when focused on growing your business and driving more revenue, rather than trying to learn every aspect of website building. You might be amazed at how affordable getting a professional website built can be.
Let us take care of the website for you—so you can focus on what you do best: running your business. Simply schedule a time with us, and we can walk you through how it all works and answer any questions you have. Investing in a well-built website could be the best decision you make for your business’s future growth and success.
Let us help you build a website that drives success for your small business.
