You know you need a website to represent your business, but what kind of website? Small businesses have it easy when it comes to websites because there are many different templates available to choose from, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.
In this article, we’ll go over the pros and cons of three different types of small business websites and explain how you can create one using WordPress (the content management system used by millions of websites worldwide).
What Do I Need to Know About Designing a Website?
Websites are now a crucial part of doing business, regardless of whether you’re running a small boutique or managing an entire corporation. This means that having your own website is an essential part of building your brand and your image. While you don’t need to be (and probably shouldn’t be) a web designer yourself, it’s important that you do know what questions to ask when it comes time to design and build your website.
To help guide you in building your own website with confidence, here are some things you should know about designing websites for small businesses: 1. Budget: Designing and maintaining good-looking websites doesn’t have to cost an arm and leg—or even require hiring someone who knows how to code—if you do it right.
What Do I Need To Know About Hosting My Site?
Choosing and hosting your site are two key factors in your success as an online business. You’ll want a place to store your content and drive customers to visit. Ideally, you want fast loading speeds and secure hosting. First things first: decide what kind of website you want.
For example, do you need it optimized for mobile devices or is it primarily aimed at desktop browsers? Another consideration is whether or not you have any technical skills, because building your own site will require some web development knowledge.
What Should I Include On My Home Page?
The three most important elements of your home page should be 1) your call-to-action, 2) content that supports that call-to-action and 3) branding. While it’s tempting to use all of your homepage real estate for images and flash animations, we advise against it.
What Should I Include on Other Pages?
If you already have a basic website set up, you might need to add content on one or more of these other pages: Careers (for jobs and employment opportunities), Contact Us (where people can email your business or ask questions), Press Kit (detailed information about your business, products, and services) and About Us (information about who is behind your business).
If you plan on selling products online, it’s also important to include an eCommerce page where customers can buy what you offer. Depending on your needs, all of these pages could be included in either their own separate tab or as part of one of your tabs. The key is to keep things simple.
What Should My Contact Page Look Like?
When designing your website, keep in mind what you want users to do on it. Are you looking for customers to give you their contact information so that you can send them marketing materials? Or do you just want an email address so that you can send them info about appointments and other updates? You’ll need contact pages accordingly.
Most likely, however, if you’re creating a website for your small business, both of these things are important. In that case, think about including all your basic contact info as well as a map and/or hours of operation on your main contact page.
What Social Media Integration Do I Need?
If you’re thinking about integrating social media into your website, it can be difficult to determine which elements are necessary. Some companies will say that you absolutely must integrate Facebook and Twitter into your site if you want to be competitive; others suggest that you may be better off having no integration at all. But what do these social media giants have in common? How can they help small businesses without being overwhelming? And how exactly do they work with existing websites? Let’s take a look.
What Payment Integration Do I Need?
Before diving into building your website, it’s important to determine what payment integrations you need. Do you plan on accepting credit cards? If so, can you use Stripe or PayPal as your payment processor? Will you also need an e-commerce site? Depending on your answer, you might need additional features like WordPress plugins or app integrations.
For example, if you want to accept payments through Stripe, use their WordPress plugin and get started right away. Otherwise, create a website and download one of the dozens of other e-commerce plugins available today (like WooCommerce) instead.
If you need any help in building a professional website for your business you can book a consultation call with us. We’ll help you find the best possible design for your business website.
