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A Guide for Building a Business Website
Setting up a website these days is simple and easy. However, if you’re a business, the quality of the website design and its functionality has to be top-notch. If you’re new to setting up a website for your business, the guide below can help.
Establish Your Main Purpose
A good website has a clear purpose. While in some cases the purpose is straightforward, in others, it can be a bit murkier. To establish the purpose of your website, you’ll need to evaluate your branding, your products and services, and what you want it to achieve. For example, is the site there to promote lead generation or to make sales?
If you’re not entirely sure about your website’s purpose, it can be helpful to review the most popular types. These include:
- E-Commerce website: to sell products
- Publishing website: to publish news or stories
- Lead Generation website: to capture leads
- Branding website: to promote the brand and its services
- Support website: to support other services such as tech
Pick a Domain Name
The domain name is one of the most important steps because it constitutes the URL of your web address. The last thing you want is an overly complicated URL that is difficult to remember and type out. Choose a domain name that aptly describes your company name or business and be sure to keep it short and simple without symbols or numbers. Also, check that the domain you’re creating is unique and not used elsewhere.
Choose Your Host
Your web host is the central port-of-call for the storage and accessibility of your website’s data. Depending on your tech needs and budget, hosting can cost anywhere from $2 to $100+ per month. In terms of the different types, you can opt for shared hosting, which means you’ll share a server with other sites, or dedicated hosting, which means you’ll have your own private server. Popular companies include:
- Bluehost
- HostGator
- GreenGeeks
- InMotion
- SiteGround
Get Building & Designing
Once you’ve set up your domain and website host, it’s time to start building those pages and designing the site! Depending on your expertise, you may want to use a pre-made template from the likes of WordPress or call in a professional website designer like ALT Agency. The benefit of the latter is they will be able to create a high-quality bespoke site that fits your business requirements.
Set Up Payment Systems
If you are setting up an e-commerce site or one that sells products directly, you’ll need to set up an online payment system. Again, this might be best left in the hands of a professional website designer, but if you’re tech-savvy enough, you could also do this yourself. The sophistication of the site will depend on the scale of payments you intend to take, but generally speaking, the easiest method is to use e-commerce software or third-party payment processors.
Test & Publish
You’ll be ready to publish the website and let it go live! Don’t forget to test the links and the pages first before launching, though, as there could be errors that were missed in the early stages. Good luck with your new website!
