Cred: @kevinbhagat
Purchase A Domain
In order to build your business website first, you’ll need to purchase your domain. Once you have figured out what you want your domain to be, you can buy it from any number of different sites including Google Domains, GoDaddy, or whatever service you are using to host your website.
What To Have On Your Website
Cred: @firmbee
Once you have your domain you’re going to need to decide what you want to have on your site. A lot of people overcomplicate this, really most websites only need about five main pages. First, you’ll need a homepage. That’s the page that people first see when they visit your website. Then, if you’re selling something on your site, you’ll need a shop page.
You also might want a blog page if you’re going to be regularly posting content on your website. Then, you’ll want to have an about page so you can tell people who you are and what you do. Finally, you should have a contact page so that people can connect with you.
Platform
There are many different tools you can use to build your website but the two that I would recommend are WordPress and Squarespace. Trying to decide between these two really comes down to your personality more than anything else. If you are more of the sort of person who likes to figure things out, understand how things work, want to customize things to your exact specifications, and you’re willing to invest the time and effort to do so, WordPress is going to be the best option for you.
On the other hand, if you want your website to be done as quickly and easily as possible and you’re fine with cutting a few corners and getting 80% of the results for 20% of the effort, then Squarespace will be a better option.
Pick What’s Best
Like I said earlier, there are lots of different options out there so you might be considering using a different service and that’s totally fine. But whatever service you are considering, just make sure that it meets these three most important qualifications. The first one is that it is easy enough for you.
If you pick a service that’s too hard, for example, if you choose WordPress even though you don’t really want to invest the time and effort to figure out how to work it, then you’re going to be continually frustrated. This will cause you to probably not update your website as often as you should because you don’t want the hassle, so make sure you choose something easy enough for you.
Second, your website service and hosting need to be fast. This is paramount because everyone on the Internet is impatient and also if your website loads even slightly slowly, then Google is going to significantly dock your ranking and you won’t show up on Google’s initial pages.
Third, if you are using your website for business, you need to make sure that whatever tool you pick can give your website a professional appearance. Squarespace definitely checks this box and WordPress can if you know what you’re doing.
Other Things To Consider
Cred: @jenskreuter
Beyond these three most important features, there are a couple of other things you want to consider. One of them is price. You have to ask yourself how much you can afford to spend on your website. Squarespace plans start about $16 per month or $12 per month if you’re paying annually. WordPress is free but you’re going to have to pay for hosting which is around three or four dollars per month.
It’s important to note that typically after you end the promotional period with your hosting company, you’re going to be paying more like $12-$20 per month. At the beginning of starting your business and building your website, you need to have another source of income.
While online self-employed jobs are highly popular these days, they are definitely not lucrative enough at the beginning for you to give up your day job just yet. Another thing you want to consider is any specific features that are important to you. Maybe you really want to have a slideshow on your website, be able to have people purchase things on your website, or for there to be a quiz on your website.
You need to figure out if the website option that you are considering will give you that possibility. Make sure you research your host platform thoroughly before you begin a plan so that you can have the website that you want.
Design
When designing your website, it really is all up to you (as well as how much the platform your website is on can cater to the design). Some simple tips to keep in mind is that firstly, make sure it looks professional. This means that you use a font that is neat, clean, and readable.
The color scheme of your website can be anything you want, as long as it doesn’t look too wild, distracting from the information that is on the website. Don’t overcrowd your pages with words. Most people don’t spend the time to read 1000 words on a website, so keep it short, simple, but informative.
Make sure that each page is very easily accessible so people don’t get frustrated in finding the information that they are looking for. Also, remember to update your website on a semi-frequent basis. This won’t only keep your website more engaging and interesting, but it will also allow Google to push you further into the first two pages of the search engine.
Lastly, always make sure that you have your contact information (email address, social media, or business phone number) so people can inquire further.
