5 Powerful Tips to Create a Website for Your Small Business

Are you a small business owner contemplating whether to create a website for your venture? Sure, you may know several businesses that don’t have a website and are doing phenomenally well — but just imagine how much better they would do if they had a strong web presence. Today, having a business website opens the door of untapped opportunity as people from around the world can gain access to the business.

So, are you ready to take your small business online? Here are 5 tips to get you started:

1. Name Your Game

Start the process with choosing the perfect name for your business. This is a twofold activity. You must first pick a name that resonates with your existing brand tone and then pick the best domain extension for it.

Start by checking if your desired domain name is available. Consider searching for your desired domain name on new domain extensions instead of compromising on your brand name.

With new domain extensions such as .SITE, .ONLINE and .PRESS, you are likely to get an exact match domain name of your business. For instance if you have a retail business, a .STORE domain extension is a smart choice or if you offer a service, a .ONLINE or .WEBSITE can fit well.

New domains also make your website name more memorable for your customers to remember!

Pro-tip: Keep your website name short, relevant, memorable and easy to type. For e.g. www.wardrobe.store is a super smart alternative for your fashion brand rather than www.thewardrobestore.com

2. Set The Game

Now that you’ve got the perfect name for your website, you must decide where to host it. A hosting service stores your website and then transmits it to web users across the world. There are numerous web hosting services that allow you to build a website hassle-free and host it with them at nominal costs. These include Weebly, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, to name a few. GoDaddy, Namecheap, Hostgator, and Big Rock make for other reliable hosting providers.

Once you zero in on your hosting provider, you need to decide which type of web hosting server is best suited for your website. Think of this server like the CPU of your computer — it has a specified processing speed, hard drive space and RAM. Depending on the size of the content you plan to host and the traffic your website will attract, there are four types of server hosting options — Shared, VPS (Virtual Private Server), Dedicated and Cloud.

Pro-tip: Picking the right server type is pivotal to your website as load time, browsing speed, user experience and overall traffic management — all depends on what server you are hosted on.

3. Design the Logo

Consider every brand that you have ever come across. They are all powered by a logo or a mascot that is recognizable from a distance. Facebook has a signature blue and white ‘F’, McDonalds has the bright ‘M’, Mercedes Benz has the iconic three-point star and so on. So, before you head on to design your website, you must design your logo. After all, the color, font style, and overall tone of the logo will set the design palette of your website.

Although there are loads of logo design software available, Fiverr.com is a cost friendly option that connects you with various designers who will send you logo options in a few weeks. You can also check out 99Designs.com to run a contest of sorts where designers get to submit their entries and bid for your business.

4. Make Content Your Ally

The next step is to plan what your website will convey to its visitors. A great website is characterized with content that is specific, informative, precise and packed with keywords. So, be sure to use words that are relevant to your business type and location of operation as it will enable your website to enjoy SEO supremacy. Additionally, gripping content reduces bounce rate, enhances user experience and contributes towards building a solid brand.

Strong content architecture depends on the structure of your website and the pages and sub-pages that you plan to incorporate within it. Plot the pages, structure and flow of the website keeping the user journey in mind. This will enable logical flow and dissemination of information in a digestible fashion.

• Home Page: Should include your brand name, logo, a navigation bar to other pages, a search option, a short description on your unique competency, footer, and chat option for a personalized touch.
• Products & Services: Should clearly talk about what you offer, use cases (if any), high resolution images, pricing. Keep it short, crisp and informative.
• About Us: Should talk about your brand and business, mission and vision, client testimonials, and awards or recognition received.
• Contact Us: Should include a simple contact form, your email address and contact number. Also include a link to your dedicated social media handles and embed a Google map of your location.

Pro-tip: Use Grammarly to keep track of any grammatical errors and use KWfinder for keyword research and planning.

5. Sharpen the Look

This brings us to the final, most interesting step of the website creation process —sharpening the look of the website. It takes a matter of seconds before your visitor decides to bounce off your website and flock to someplace else. The only way to grip him in the first look is a slick web design. Follow these tips for creating a super-sleek website.

• First impressions last.

Your website must be clutter-free, cleanly laid out and smartly designed to effectively convey information on pricing, products, person of contact, etc. at a single glance. Any complication or confusion to the visitor will result in them making a swift exit from your website.

• It’s gotta be fast.

Your website must be super quick to load. Any delays or snags attributed to heavy design elements or animations will not go down well with your visitors. Also, choose the best hosting service provider and server type to guarantee fast load times.

• Less is more.

When it comes to design, minimalism is the way to go. Going overboard with your animations and design effects will only increase the risk of creating a gaudy website. Be generous with the white-space and get creative with the typography.

Other design hacks include using a refreshing color palette that is in conjunction with your brand tone and one that complements your logo.

Pro-tip: Checkout F3.Space for some amazing websites and to learn about web design in depth.

There you have it. For a quick recap, have a look at this video and get started with your kickass website.