How to get started
One of the first things people do when they find your business online is to check out your website. If your website is not user-friendly and looks like a high school project, you are missing a major opportunity to make a good first impression.
And if your website does not do what it is supposed to do, you are also missing a major opportunity to connect with potential customers.
In this article, we will look at 10 steps you should take to build a website that works for you.
1. Plan Your Site
Before you start building your site, you need to understand what your goals are for your website. Do you want to drive traffic and sell products? Do you want to build a community of customers? Do you want to provide information for existing customers?
These are all questions you should answer before you start.
If you do not know, that is okay. Just take a step back and think about what you want your website to do. If you do not have a clear idea of what you want your website to do, you are going to be building something that does not serve a purpose.
2. Pick A Hosting Service
Once you know what you want your site to do, you are ready to start building it.
The first step is to find a web hosting service that will host your website. You can use Google to search for a hosting service in your area or you can use a website like HostGator.com.
3. Choose A Domain Name
You need to pick a domain name that reflects your business and your brand. If you are a local plumber, you might want to consider using plumber.com. If you are a local pizza delivery service, you might want to consider pizzahut.com.
If you are a business that sells handmade candles, you might want to consider candle.com.
If you are a business that sells custom-designed leather products, you might want to consider leather.com.
4. Pick A Design Template
Once you know what you want your domain name to be, you need to pick a design template. There are a ton of options to choose from. You can choose from a simple WordPress theme, or you can choose to build your own website using something like Squarespace or Wix.
If you are just starting out, you will want to choose a WordPress theme. If you are an experienced business owner, you might want to choose a website builder that will make it easy for you to build your own website.
5. Create A Content Plan
Once you have a website, you need to create a content plan. If you are running a blog, you need to plan out how you are going to create updated content for your blog. If you are going to provide content for your customers, you need to have a plan for how you are going to provide that content.
This is also a wonderful time to think about what kind of content you want to share with your customers. Do you want to post quick tips on how to fix small business problems or do you want to author long articles about topics like entrepreneurship and small business?
You also need to plan out what kind of content you want to share with your existing customers. You can create a community page on your website, but you are going to want to do more than just post information on that page.
6. Start Building a website
Once you have a plan for your website and a domain name, it is time to start building it. You can use pur website builder based on WordPress. You can also build your website yourself if you are starting from nothing.
You can use an online tool like WebsiteMapper.com to make it easy to make changes to your website.
The bottom line is that you need to create your website in a way that will keep your customers coming back.
7. Start Using Your Website
Once you have your website, you are going to want to start using it.
But before you do that, you need to make sure you have enough visitors on your website. You need to post regular updates, so your customers know what you are doing.
Once you have your website up and running, you need to start sharing the content you have created with your existing and potential customers.
8. Start Raising More Business Through Your Website
The way you promote your website is also important. You need to use social media to build your brand. You can post your content on Facebook and share it on Instagram. You can also use blogging platforms to get your website in front of your existing customers.
You also need to promote your website with content. You can create infographics that show your customers how they can fix small business problems, or you can post short videos on YouTube.
9. Start Raising More Business Through Your Website
A website can help you get new customers in the door. But you also need to promote your business using all the methods we talked about in this article.
With a few simple steps, you will be able to build a profitable business online and use your website to get even more business.
Thanks for reading, see you again soon.
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