How to create a business website

Jul 26, 2012, by admin

Creating a website for your business is crucial in today’s market. Your company website establishes your online presence and allows potential customers, suppliers and employees to learn more about your business. It can help save time and effort since users can get information that normally would only come with a sales call or mailer. Learning how to start a business website and such items as web design and content may seem overwhelming, but it’s really not that hard to get started.

Steps to create a business website

1.Set goals for your website. make a decision what you want your website to achieve. It could be as simple as establishing an online presence and telling potential customers about your company. This type of website is like an online brochure. More complicated features include online shopping carts so that customers can buy directly from your website or a calendar for them to schedule appointments. You could also put blogs, forums, news content or other elements on your website.

2.Make a decision how much you want to spend on web design. Options include hiring a designer or designing it yourself. Most hosting companies offer free or inexpensive templates that allow you to easily design your site and add features like shopping carts and forums. How much to spend depends on the image you want to project. If you are selling high-end products or services, it’s probably worth the expense of having a site custom designed by a professional who knows how to start a business website.

3.Choose a domain name. A domain name that is the same as your company name is ideal, but may be impossible to find. Try adding words like “online” or the name of your state to the domain. Keep the name short and memorable; avoid numbers and abbreviations. A domain name that ends with “.com” is desirable; although “biz” and “net” are common, they are harder to remember and may confuse customers.

4.Determine how to host your website. You’ll have the most control with your own web server, but this is expensive and difficult to maintain without an IT staff. Web hosting companies offer dedicated and shared space. A dedicated space will cost more, but there’s less chance of your site timing out during busy periods.

5.Compare hosting companies. Look for hosting options with 24 hour support and guaranteed up time. Other features to consider are how much space you get for storage, the number of email addresses you can have, and how many uploads and downloads are included in the hosting fee. Read reviews of hosting companies and check for customer complaints.

6.Make sure your site has important information featured prominently. Visitors should right away understand what kind of company you are. They should be able to send an email or find a phone number right on your front page. Include information about who runs the website.

7.Design the site so that it is easy to load and navigate. Don’t use too much Flash or large images that take a long time to load. Keep the navigation similar to other sites so that is familiar to users. Make sure the site can grow and new pages can be added easily. Keep the same look and navigation on all pages of the site.

8.Put good content on the website. Content should relate to your business, whether it’s static content or blog posts. Use keywords on your site so that people can find you, but avoid keyword stuffing or content that looks like spam. Your site should be informative and easy to read. Be sure to update it often.