How To Set Up A Basic Website For Small Business

Small business owners often are pretty slow to get online, and when asked, some say they don’t have the time, skills, or money to build a website. Surprisingly, many still believe they do not require a website, and don’t realize how much it would benefit their local small business. In this article we will go over how to set up a basic website for your small business

The recent lockdowns and stay at home instructions due to Covid-19 saw online businesses booming and the in-person brick and mortar businesses taking a beating. People prefer to buy their services online and avoid the risk of going to retail outlets. While some business owners acted quickly and wisely to build their online presence, many still have to decide.

If you are still in two minds about going online, read on to know why you need a website. Also, learn how to set up a basic website that will earn you new customers and improve your sales and productivity. You must invest in the services of a professional web design and development company to optimize your website. As a small business, you should not invest in an in-house team to set up and run your site.

How to Set Up a Basic Website?

Before going into the details, you must understand why your business requires a well-designed website. Here are the reasons you need a small business website:

1. Customers expect businesses to be available online

People search the internet to find information before making a purchase, even if it’s something they may buy from an offline retail shop. If you don’t have a website, people might presume you are not open anymore.

2. Have control over information

A website represents your brand on the internet. You have complete control over what you wish to present and display with your logo and company branding instead of relying on your customers talking about your services.

3. Sell products online

Online sales have been on the rise for the past few years. Covid-19 hastened it further by keeping everyone at home. People had no other option than go digital for their essentials during the lockdown. Now, your customers can buy from you either online or offline.

4. Around the clock service

Your online store sells your products 24/7, even while your retail store is closed or you are asleep. Being online allows you to compete with the bigger brands in the market.

5. More audience at a lesser investment

You place your business in front of millions of online consumers within minutes at much lower costs and faster than sending promo materials. Your website will show up on the search engines with proper marketing strategies.

Creating a website: You have two options:

1] pay a nominal fee and use the website builder tool with ready-made templates (most of them come with a domain name for a year, an SSL certificate, and web hosting on a shared platform.)

2] hire a full-fledged website design and development company or freelance website designers and developers to build a professional website and allow them to manage and market your business on the internet.

The first option works to be more affordable, but by using ready-made templates to design your website your website might get lost in the crowd. Since several other individuals and businesses will be using the same designs and tools you want to be able to stand out from the rest.

If you hire a professional company like Black Kite Marketing we can design and manage your site making sure it caters to your objectives.

Setting up your website: 3 Steps

1. Register your domain name

Your domain name should relate to the products or services to easily enable your customers to find your business through a search engine. The domain name must be similar to your business name, and you should also use it for your email address. For a domain name, you must contact a domain name registrar, check if the domain name you choose is available, and finalize by paying the fee.

2. Hire a web hosting company

You will need a web hosting company to get your domain name on the internet. Almost all the major internet service providers (ISPs) offer web hosting services. You also will get multiple email addresses. Web hosting charges vary according to the website’s size, the traffic you attract, and the type of server you use.

3. Prepare your content

Consider what you want your customers to do via your website. Think about the information your customers should know and structure it to make it easy for them to find and do the things they need. Then you can accordingly include the sections or pages.

At Black Kite Marketing we can help you with all the above requirements.

Features Your Website Should Have

1. You must have an insight into the industry

With almost all businesses going online, the competition is increasing tremendously. While your website is the critical factor in enhancing brand equity, it is equally essential you know what is happening in your domain to create strategies for your website. Then you will have an engaging website to lure visitors and help conversions. As a new entrant, you might not be able to understand the market conditions to create crucial strategies immediately.

The website must look attractive. When you use the readymade templates, the site seems stale and repetitive as many people use them. Consumers may not want to visit unless they find something unique and different. You must customize the site as per your business requirements. The web pages must be neat and the navigation smooth to give the visitors an enhanced user experience. It requires a professional touch, or your viewers will go away to the next available site.

3. Website must be responsive

Most consumers try to access your website using their smartphones or tablets besides desktop computers. Hence, your website must be responsive and ensure that the visitors have a seamless experience across all devices. If you do not have an experienced and skilled designer, it is not possible to create a responsive site. Most small business owners are unaware of this technique and lose valuable customers.

4. Website must be SEO-optimized

Once you learn how to set up a basic website you will then need to make sure your website is optimized using the latest and best SEO practices. The website designer should know the various SEO requirements when designing the website. Only then will it help search engine crawlers to crawl the website without errors. Without proper SEO, online consumers will not find your business at the top of search pages.

5. Website must be secure and reliable

The website must have adequate trust factors that preserve its reputation. Your team must know the compliance rules and take care of the security aspects. The page loads must be fast and easy to navigate. The website must be secure with HTTPS and have the Trust Seal on the checkout pages. You must convince the visitors your website is safe to do business.

6. Adapt new technologies

To keep your website innovative and ahead of your competitors, you need to upgrade with new technologies frequently. For this, you must have a strategist monitoring competitor activities and market trends.

7. Maintenance

Your website requires frequent monitoring for health checkups. There might be bugs during an upgrade or some component replacement, which can otherwise hamper the site performance.

Conclusion

If you look at the above factors, even setting up a basic website requires a lot of expertise. For your site to be functional you need a company or person that understands design, coding, SEO, security and maintenance.

Can a small business like yours afford to invest in and build an in-house team? Instead, you will save a lot of time and money by hiring a digital marketing company like ours that caters to small businesses.

If you enjoyed our article on how to set up a basic website for your small business and are interested in learning more about how we can help contact us today!