A Beginner’s Guide to Creating Websites for Small Businesses
Today, having a website is a no-brainer for small businesses. After all, does your business even exist if you don’t have one? A well-designed website not only boosts your credibility but also attracts new customers and keeps your business available to customers 24/7.
Whether you’re just starting out or looking to improve your online presence, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know about the benefits of websites for small business success.
From planning and designing to optimizing and maintaining, we’ve got you covered with practical tips to help your small business thrive online. Let’s get started!
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Why Your Small Business Needs a Website
There’s no debate, having a website is a must. You really need a website, and here’s why: half of internet users say that they use website design as a factor to formulate their opinion on a business, so you don’t want to miss out (Forbes). A website helps you look legit, reach new customers, and show off what you have to offer, all day, every day.
Here are some more quick facts:
- 71% of businesses have a website.
- In North America, mobile devices account for 45% of website visits.
- 29% of commercial transactions occur online.
- Visitors form an impression of a website in just 0.05 seconds.
- 61% of people say they will leave a site if they can’t find what they need within about five seconds.
- 40% of visitors will abandon a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load.
(Source, Forbes)
Why a Website is Awesome
- Always Open: Your website is working for you, even while you sleep.
- Affordable Marketing: It’s a cost-effective way to get the word out about your business.
- Builds Trust: A professional site makes you look more trustworthy.
- Know Your Customers: You can use website data to learn what your customers like.
- Stay Ahead: Many small businesses still don’t have great websites, so yours can give you an edge.
Addressing Common Concerns
- Cost: While there’s an upfront cost, the benefits pay off in the long run.
- Technical Skills: Website builders and templates can help even the least tech-savvy.
- Time: It takes some time to set up, but the ongoing rewards afterward are worth it.
Planning Your Small Business Website
Before jumping in and creating your own website, take a minute to plan things out. Think about your goals, who you want to reach, and what pages you need. Usually, you’ll want the following:
- Home: The main page that welcomes visitors.
- About: Tells your story and introduces your team.
- Services/Products: Details what you offer.
- Contact: Makes it easier for people to reach you.
Setting Goals and Knowing Your Audience
- Goals: You’ll need to think long and hard about what you want your website to do. Do you want it to generate more leads, sell products, or just provide info?
- Audience: Do your homework, so you can know who your customers are and what they need. This helps you to shape your website to be more appealing to this target audience group. For example, have you considered adding Google reviews to your website?
Pro Tip: Make it mobile-friendly. Make sure your website looks good on both phones and tablets. Not sure it’s worth it? We can name at least three good reasons. One is search engines like Google prefer to recommend mobile-friendly sites, so it increases your chances of showing up higher in search results.
Need a helping hand? Broadly’s website and design services can help you create a site that works on all devices.
Helpful Industry-Specific Resources:
- Take your Law Firm Website Marketing to the Next Level
- Our Guide to Effective Dental Website Design
- Best Lead Generation Websites for Contractors
- Top 12 must-haves for your plumbing website design
- Websites 101: What Your HVAC Company Website Needs and Why
Choosing the Right Domain Name and Hosting
Your domain name is your web address, so make it easy to remember and relevant to your business. Here are some tips:
Keep it Short: Simple names are easier to remember.
- Example: Instead of “JohnsBakeryandPastries.com,” go for “JohnsBakery.com.”
Use Keywords: Include your business name or what you do.
- Example: If you run a pet grooming service called “Happy Tails,” a good domain could be “HappyTailsGrooming.com.”
Avoid Numbers and Hyphens: These can be confusing and easy to mess up.
- Example: Instead of “Best4U-Flowers.com,” choose “BestFlowers.com.”
For hosting, you’ve got a few choices:
Shared Hosting:
- Description: A budget-friendly option where your website shares resources (like bandwidth and storage) with other websites on the same server.
- Pros: Low cost, easy to set up.
- Cons: Slower performance if other sites on the same server use a lot of resources.
- Example: Ideal for small personal blogs or very simple business websites with low traffic.
VPS Hosting (Virtual Private Server):
- Description: Provides more resources and better performance by partitioning a single server into multiple virtual servers. Each site gets its own dedicated portion of resources.
- Pros: Better performance and more control compared to shared hosting.
- Cons: More expensive than shared hosting and requires some technical knowledge.
- Example: Suitable for growing businesses that need more reliability and performance.
Dedicated Hosting:
- Description: You get an entire server dedicated to your website, offering maximum resources and control.
- Pros: Best performance, and complete control over the server environment.
- Cons: Highest cost and requires significant technical expertise.
- Example: Best for large businesses or websites with high traffic that need top-notch performance and security.
Need fast, affordable hosting? Broadly offers fast and secure hosting services that keep your site running smoothly.
Designing Your Website: DIY vs. Professional
Now it’s time to decide if you want to build your site yourself or hire a pro. Here’s the scoop on both:
- DIY: Cheaper and you have full control over the process. Tools like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace make it a lot easier.
- Pros: Lower cost, total control, and more flexibility.
- Cons: Can be time-consuming and has a learning curve.
- Professional: More expensive but you get a polished-looking website fast.
- Pros: Looks professional, saves you time, often includes regular support/maintenance
- Cons: Higher cost, less control over small changes.
Can’t decide? Broadly offers design services and DIY templates to help you get the best of both worlds.
Essential Elements of an Effective Small Business Website
At the end of the day, your website should (at minimum!) tick off the following boxes:
- Clear Homepage: Right away, visitors should know who you are and what you do.
- Easy Navigation: Make it simple for people to find what they need.
- Call-to-Action (CTA) Buttons: Guide visitors on what to do next—like contacting you or buying something.
- Customer Testimonials: Reviews build trust. Here’s how to embed Google reviews onto your website.
- Contact Info: Make it easy for customers to get in touch no matter what page they are on. For example, you can include this info in the header and footer of your website.
Additional Must-Haves:
- Blog: Allows you to provide regular updates, improve SEO, and keep visitors engaged.
- FAQ Section: Answer common questions to help customers quickly find info.
- AI-Assisted Webchat: Enlist the help of smart technology to help visitors find information, schedule appointments, or make a purchase 24/7.
Also see: Why You Should Display Reviews on Your Website
Optimizing Your Website for Search Engines (SEO)
SEO helps the people looking for the products or services you offer, find you when they need you. Focus on these on-page elements to help you rise in the ranks:
- Meta Titles and Descriptions: Use key phrases known as short-tail and long-tail keywords to help you show up in relevant searches.
- Headers: Use H1, H2, and H3 formatting to organize your content and make it easier for search engines to read and index.
- Local SEO: Include your location and local keywords to attract nearby customers.
SEO Tips:
- Use Keywords Wisely: Naturally place them in your content, titles, and descriptions, stuffing them where they don’t belong could hurt your SEO rather than improve it.
- Quality Content: Provide valuable info that meets your audience’s needs, or answers important questions.
- Optimize Images: Use descriptive file names and alt text, this not only helps search engines better understand the content but makes it more accessible to those who are visually impaired too.
Discover how well you stack up to the competition with Broadly’s Local SEO. Choose between the graph or local grid view to gain wider insights into your local SEO performance.
Integrating Social Media and Online Directories
Make sure your business is visible on popular social media and review websites like Google Business Profile, Yelp, or Facebook. Add social media links to your website, and to help you get listed on directories for extra visibility.
Social Media Benefits:
- More Engagement: Get visitors to follow and interact with you.
- Brand Consistency: Keep your message consistent across platforms.
- Better SEO: Social signals can help with search engine rankings.
Not sure where to start? Broadly’s social media manager and directory listing services help keep your online presence consistent across the board.
Implementing E-commerce Functionality
If you sell products, think about adding an online store to your site to help you land more sales. Ensure it’s secure and easy to use to avoid abandoned carts left stranded at the checkout.
E-commerce Tips:
- User-Friendly: Make it extremely simple for customers to browse and make a purchase.
- Secure Transactions: Use SSL certificates and secure payment methods like Square or Stripe to reassure your customers their information is kept safe.
- Detailed Descriptions: Write clear, relevant, and enticing product descriptions. They should include things like size information, materials, product weight, and cool features.
- Include multiple photos: Products seem more legitimate when you have images featuring multiple angles. You can touch up or remove distracting background elements, but always ensure your images truly reflect what the product looks like.
Maintaining and Updating Your Website
Keep your website fresh and secure with regular updates. This includes anything from security updates to blog posts. You can also track performance and user engagement with analytics tools.
Maintenance Tips:
- Update Content Regularly: Keep your info current and relevant.
- Security Updates: Regularly update your website software to help prevent getting hacked.
- Monitor Performance: Use tools to track how your site is doing and where you can improve.
Did you know? Phishing scams or hackers target new and small businesses once every 11 seconds (TechReport). Broadly provides website maintenance services and analytics tools to keep your site secure and in top shape.
Measuring Success and ROI
Check out key metrics like traffic, conversions, and bounce rates to see how well your site is doing. From there, you can use this info to tweak and improve your site over time.
Metrics to Watch
- Traffic: Number of visitors to your site.
- Conversions: Actions taken from a visitor, like form submissions or sales.
- Bounce Rate: Percentage of visitors who leave without interacting with your website.
How You Can Use Data to Improve Your Website
User Behavior
Understanding how visitors interact with your website is key to making effective improvements. Use tools like Google Analytics to track:
- Page Views: See which pages are most popular and which ones are not getting much attention.
- Click Paths: Follow the paths visitors take through your site to see where they spend the most time and where they drop off.
- Heatmaps: Visualize where users are clicking, scrolling, and spending the most time. This can help you identify which parts of your pages are engaging and which parts need improvement.
Test and Optimize
Experiment with different elements on your website to see what resonates best with your audience. This is often done through A/B testing, where you compare two versions of a webpage to see which one performs better. Focus on:
- Headlines: Test different headlines to see which one grabs more attention.
- CTA Buttons: Try different text, colors, and placements to see which versions get more clicks.
- Layouts and Design: Experiment with different page layouts and design elements to improve user experience and engagement.
- Content: Test variations in your content, such as different images, videos, and text formats, to see what keeps visitors on your site longer.
Refine Strategies
Based on the data and insights you gather from user behavior and testing, update your website strategy to better meet the needs of your audience. This can involve:
- Content Updates: Regularly refresh and update your content to keep it relevant and engaging for your visitors.
- SEO Adjustments: Use keyword data to optimize your pages for search engines, helping more people find your site.
- Design Tweaks: Make small changes to improve usability and aesthetic appeal based on what you learn from user interactions and testing.
- Performance Enhancements: If data shows that your site is slow or has high bounce rates, focus on improving load times and overall performance.
Make sure to keep analyzing data to keep your website effective and engaging for your small business visitors. Things change online often, so it’s important to analyze data regularly and make informed updates. This can help drive more traffic, conversions, and growth. Start making smart changes to keep your website working well and keeping people interested. This will help bring in more visitors, turn them into customers, and make your small business grow.
Broadly: Better Websites for Small Business Owners
A well-designed website can turn the tables for small businesses. Start building your website today with Broadly’s easy solutions, and reap the rewards. Schedule your demo today!
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