Starting your own business can be both difficult and scary. In the world of business, how are you going to make yours stick out? When it comes to building your business’ website, it almost seems futile. Making your business stick out in your own neighborhood is tough enough but trying to make your website grab peoples’ attention in the midst of the vast ocean that is “the internet”… Talk about getting lost in the crowd.
But fear not! I’ve got a list of questions for you to ask yourself in order to figure out how to build the best website for you.
1. Why do you want a website?
You need to determine your focus for your website. This will help you figure out the best design (and template) to use in order to maximize the time that your visitors will spend on your site. Not only that but this decision will also help with setting-up website navigation, set goals for your site, pick which widgets you want, etc.
You can have different types of goals for your site. For example, your website might be used for:
A website dedicated to selling your products will look different from one whose main focus is to inform the visitors about the goings-on in your company. Once you narrow down the main reason for your website, you will be able to create a custom website just for that experience. Find your purpose.
2. How will you add new content to your website?
Just like social media accounts, you should either keep your website updated regularly or not have one at all. Having a stagnant website is worse than not having one.
It is important to have updated information but also web content. New web content is important to keep your visitors coming. A great tool to keep them coming but it can also show your audience how knowledgeable you are is to have tutorials on your site. Teach them something.
You don’t necessarily have to write the web content, you can also perform it. Host a podcast. Set up a video tutorial. You can have some of them available for free but also have some advanced content available for purchase if you like.
If you don’t have the time to do it all yourself, invite guest speakers and bloggers. Have someone else write your web content. You can hire ghostwriters or just someone specifically for your blog. Have your team post blog posts regularly. It’s a great way to introduce everyone to your team members and have a little fun as well. Just make sure that your content matches the tone of your brand, business, and site.
3. Is social media enough?
It is my personal opinion that websites are a necessity for any business these days. At the very least, it can be a landing page for all of your social media accounts and contact information. Everyone is mobile these days so make sure that it is mobile friendly also.
4. Do you know how to build one from scratch?
You don’t necessarily need to know how to code in order to create a fantastic website. However, I would suggest picking up some basic HTML code skills.
WordPress is a great service that allows you to create websites and blogs for free. There are paid services as well. They have templates that will give you different looks, widgets, plugins, and add-ins. However, at its core, it is a blog. That being said, I must say that it is incredibly easy to use. The free versions limit the plugins and will give you a [YOURBUSINESS.wordpress.com] address. If you pay the minimum web fee, you can get a personal web address.
5. Do you need a web developer and designer? (Yes, they are different)
Web design is all about how the website looks. Web development is all about the behind the scenes of websites. With services like WordPress, you don’t necessarily need a web designer. Although if you want something a little more (with more interactive aspects, more flash and panache), spend the money on a web designer.
In some instances, you may need both. The web designer will help you get your website set up and then you can consult with a developer in order to fix bugs and troubleshoot other problems.
Please share this article if you find it helpful…
Sources:
Image by PixelCreatures (http://pixabay.com/en/wordpress-blog-post-cms-265132/
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