Things to do before you get a website
It can be a bit overwhelming when you are starting a website. To help you through the process, go through the following steps before you start to build a small business website.
Create your brand identity
Your website should accurately match and reflect your branding. So before you start designing and laying out your site, develop your brand identity. These details will drive the design and look of your site.
- Brand colors
- Logo
- Font and typography
- Photos of your business, team, products, etc.
Identify the primary purpose of your website
A small business website can serve many purposes and act in many ways, but it’s helpful to know the top one or two main purposes of your site. That way, the site can be optimized for that purposes. The main purpose of your site may be to:
- Attract traffic and grow an audience
- Show your products
- Share what you know
- Advertise your business
- Entertain your readers
Decide what you want users to do when they get there
It’s great to get people to visit your website. It’s even better to give them something to do when they get there. Decide what you want your audience to do when they get to your site before you start creating it so you can lay out the content and conversion points to drive users to take action. That action could be to:
- Sign up for your list
- Schedule consultation
- Schedule an appointment
- Buy a product
- Visit your physical business.
- Call your business
Create content
You can’t launch a website without at least a little bit of content. When first launching a site, it might be overwhelming to think about all of the content you need. So before you start building your site, take steps to create the initial content you’ll need to launch. You can develop other content later. Start with creating an:
- About page: Create a page that describes who you are, what you do, who you serve, what makes you different and why you do it.
- Product or service list: Create a page that introduces your top products and/or services.
- Launch blog post: Create a blog post that announces the launch of your new website.
Start to build a small business website
Now you know why it’s absolutely essential for a small business to have a website. A website is not a luxury or bonus marketing tool.
It’s something you must have so you can:
- Have anchor for your marketing efforts
- Sell your products/services
- Connect with new customers (and keep existing customers)
- Compete with big brands
- Build your credibility
- Control your online destiny
- Market your business in a simple and affordable way
To start reaping these benefits, take these steps to build a small business website.
Pick your domain name
Once you decide to get a website, pick a domain name that works best for your brand. To choose the best domain name:
- Make it easy to type.
- Keep it short.
- Use keywords.
- Target your area.
- Avoid numbers and hyphens.
- Be memorable.
- Research it.
- Use an appropriate domain extension.
- Protect and build your brand.
- Act fast.
Even if you aren’t ready to build your site today, secure your ideal domain name so no one else can register and use it.