Launching a small business website from scratch involves a lot of moving pieces. In fact, there is so much to worry about that it’s easy to miss out of important details or variables that you should have focused on from the start.
Since you as small business owner are concerned with turning in a profit, you may not have the experience or knowledge about the other cogs that make your business spoke up and running. This is perfectly normal, which is why you should get all the help to set your website up the right way. After all, if you don’t do it right then it’s not worth doing!
Below are crucial factors that you need to worry about to build a website that captures the essence of your small business.
Platform
If you ask around for the best platform where to run your site on, then most would probably answer WordPress. With over 75 million websites running on this CMS and thousands of third-party plugins to help supercharge your online business, it’s hard not to like the platform. However, regardless of the number of people saying how great WordPress is, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best one for you.
Since you are the owner of the small business, you need to find something that you will find easy to use. Aside from WordPress, there are lots of other platforms where you can set up your website.
Website builders like Wix and Weebly will help you create a beautiful website without writing any line of code. Squarespace and Joomla are WordPress alternatives that offer something different to the table without compromising usability.
Hosting
Your hosting is where you store the files on your platform and set up your site. Self-hosted platforms like WordPress and others require a web host, so you need to choose the web host that suits your needs and wants.
Initially, you’d go with a hosting provider with the most affordable overhead. However, the cheapest one also runs on the least optimal hardware and resources, which means less than optimal performance for your site. If you choose this hosting type, there will be times when your site will load slower than usual and won’t be available for your browser. This could pose a problem for your business if this persists. An inaccessible site means no leads or sales to your business, which leads to your downfall as a business owner.
SEO
Optimizing your website to rank on top of Google search is an art. A lot has been said about SEO in growing your business. It offers the most efficient way to drive traffic to your site without breaking the bank. It also puts you on par with bigger competitors with deeper pockets if you do SEO the right way.
Therefore, it is crucial that you form a solid foundation for your SEO strategy, starting with the tools that you will be using. Similar to website platforms, there are lots of tools specially made to perform SEO tasks like keyword research and tracking, competitor research, and so on. It’s easy to get lost with SEO if you choose tools that you feel uncomfortable using.
Before settling on any tool recommended by the experts, it’s best to comb through this list of tools that will help you rank on Google organic search. It would be ideal to sign up for a trial of the tool and spend time using them to come up with an informed decision for each.
Employee advocacy
An exceptional small business is composed of employees who believe in the goals and objectives of your brand. As a loyal soldier, they are willing to dedicate themselves to the ideal espoused by your business. To get to this stage, however, you need to learn how to mobilize your employees correctly. You must get your employees on board with your business so they can help you not because they have to, but because they want to.
One of the tools that will help you achieve this is EveryoneSocial. The tool allows you to curate content for your employees to share so you can track and measure team members who are the most active. Having employees share content on social media benefits your marketing and sales strategy. More importantly, they create buzz to your website like no other method or technique can do for you.
Motivation
Photo credit to this site
The lack of focus among your employees is an issue that you need to address immediately. Putting your feet in the shoes of employees, it is all too easy to become jaded at work due to a lot of factors beyond your control. However, a factor you can manipulate is making your objectives clear enough for them to follow and perform. Most importantly, you need to empower them to do what you want instead of imposing your will.
One way to get people on board with the vision for your business is through project management gamification. Doing so allows you to engage your employees by turning business tasks into bite-sized goals and incentivizing their performance like you would in an actual game. An example of this tool is Habitica, a tool that recreates your business tasks in an RPG environment. While it may appear to some that gamification is a gimmick, these little things can go a long way, especially when making your employees care about launching your website.
Conclusion
A small business website is never determined by its size. By creating a site with a solid foundation from the tips mentioned above, you can expect to overcome the size deficit and compete with better business. As a result, you can focus on more pressing matters in growing and expanding your business.
Hey Christopher,
thanks for sharing your insights with this interesting post.
For me, web hosting is among the most important factors to consider when setting up a business website.
I’ve a dedicated server with HostGator, 99,9% uptime, it’s really fast!
Agree 100%, Eric! Web hosting is rarely highlighted unlike content, social media, and other on-page variables of a business site, but it should not diminish its importance to your site performance. Having a fast-loading site with great uptime, both of which are characteristic of a great web host, allows you to connect better with your audience. There are many great hosting providers out there – Hostgator, SiteGround, Bluehost, etc. Just make sure to pick one that you’re most comfortable in using.
Hi Christopher,
I am beginner in this field.as you said many people use wordpress.but I use blogger.
is blogger is good for me?
please suggest me.
ruby singh
Thanks for the comment, Ruby!
To be honest, you should go with a platform that will provide you the most benefits in the long run. I can’t speak for Blogger, but WordPress offers lots of customization options and plugins that are guaranteed to supercharge your business site. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a platform with this much support and features. Hope this helps.
What small business owners most often overlook is what WordPress and all the other named companies, and the author of this piece, do NOT tell them in their misleading advertising narratives.
WordPress and these other alternatives are good choices as website building platforms that allows an average person to create a nice website free of charge. But…
Many, if not most, people who want a website really want a web BUSINESS –they want to make money with their site. Yet while putting up a site is easy (as the “cheap-quick-easy” marketing hype promises), knowing how to build an online business is another story.
Neither WordPress nor any of these other alternatives “as is” will build an online business which you get if you know how to do SEO and build traffic. They are all are missing a do-able start-to-finish BUSINESS process.
The reality is that most sites never get more than a handful of visitors. And without traffic, income is hard to come by. In other words, No traffic = No profits.
Surely, you can slog through the mountains of business building advice and tools that are out there. But for most WordPress users and those using these alternatives it all ends up being too much.
So, despite the dazzling display of WordPress/WordPress alternatives features (even SEO gadgets), the reality for most (non-tech) people who want to create a web business with WordPress or its alternatives is that they need to adhere to an easy-to-follow, all-in-one, proven, ethical webbusiness-building system (not a get rich quick scheme), tailored to say the WordPress platform, to get (1) a significant amount of traffic and get (2) targeted traffic (example of such a system: WealthPrinciples dot net).
Otherwise… you’ll end up having (and building) only a WordPress/Name of WordPress Alternative webSITE (or BLOG) but not a webBUSINESS.
Great points, K.R. I wouldn’t disagree with the arguments you’ve made. However, the point of the article is to establish some of the things that business owners often overlook in their business.
I mentioned choosing the right platform, for example, because you cannot run a business site if you are not comfortable with the platform you’re using or if the platform you chose has limited features. On the other hand, your online business site won’t succeed if you don’t have a motivated team that is willing to go beyond the distance of your beliefs and values.
The point I’m making (and perhaps a point that I ultimately failed to emphasize in the article) is that you need to build your website on ideal foundations.
Also, in my opinion, building traffic is not something that most business owners overlook in their website. Aside from the site you mentioned, you can also hop on to Nichehacks dot com to see actual blueprints on how to build a money making site. Therefore, information is not the problem here since there are lots of trustworthy resources out there.
I think most of their failure to generate traffic and revenue on their website is because they are not fully aware of the tools they’re using and the mindset they have when developing their online business. They want to build a successful, money-making site – they just don’t have the mindset to do it.
I think my comment is beyond the initial scope of the article. But I hope it answers any concerns you have about how I wrote it. Let me know what you think 🙂
Related to the element of good design, hiding information from your customers is a great way to get them to go somewhere else.Trust is everything when it comes to your company’s online presence. With scams and hacking hugely prevalent in this day, your company must appear competent and trustworthy. A great way to establish credibility is to have your basic information easily available to your customers.
Agree with what you said, Sagar! I too believe that trust is the foundation of a successful online business. If your audience doesn’t trust you, then they won’t visit your site to buy your products and services. By showing them that you deserve their trust in different ways, then you can generate more profit to your site.
Hi Christopher
Interesting share, Motivation is the key to success for any organisation or the person. One should keep his/her employees motivated to take business to next level.
Thanks for sharing your tips.
Thanks, Kuldeep! Glad to join that we share the same beliefs about motivation. 🙂
Hi Christopher,
Nice Tips!
A small business website can compromise in size but can’t compromise in efficiency. By following your tips one can create a small business website suitable for one’s needs.
I recommend using wix wesite builder.Wix is a low cost website builder that has been making a real splash amongst would-be entrepreneurs who find that creating a marketing website is easier than they ever imagined. There are approximately 200 readymade templates available to choose from while those with a more artistic frame of mind can start from scratch and build their own personal masterpiece.
The templates vary and can be categorized into Business, eCommerce, Real Estate, Music, Personal and many more niches besides. Initial loading takes just a few seconds and it is possible to create a website in minutes.
I will share your post on twitter.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
Launching a small business website from scratch involves a lot of moving pieces. In fact, there is so much to worry about that it’s easy to miss out of important details or variables that you should have focused on from the start.