Thank you to Emily Graham for contributing today’s post.
Creating a successful website for a business involves many parts, some more complicated than others. These days, it’s about more than simply making a place for your customers to find you; you also want to find more customers, as well as make your services or product accessible and appealing. With so much online competition, it can be difficult to know where to begin, especially if don’t have experience with the tech end of things.
Tips for Building a Successful Website
Don’t let it intimidate you. The key to creating a great website is simply to do a lot of research and planning before making any final decisions. Not only do you want to ensure that your site is working for you, but you also want to familiarize yourself as much as possible with analytics, SEO practices, and algorithms, and how they affect you and your customers. You can also do a little homework on your competition to find out how they use their website to the best advantage.
Keep reading for some tips on how to create a successful website for your business.
Start with a Great Business Plan
No matter what type of business you have — from catering to consulting — it’s important to build up a great plan before you even attempt to create a website. Without a firm direction for your business, you’ll be unable to give your customers what they’re looking for, and a website will be a waste of time. Think about price points, company goals, shipping costs, and what types of fees are associated with credit card companies; many charge vendors an annual amount for the privilege of accepting their method of payment online. This is an especially important step if you work from home, as a good site will help you reach more customers or clients.
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Formulate a Layout
The best website is one that offers a lot of information but still requires interaction and engagement. For instance, you don’t want to give away everything on one page; allowing customers to click through will not only encourage them to engage more with your business and products, but it will also allow you to provide ad space that will bring you extra revenue. Make it look professional with lots of good photos and great copy.
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Learn About Algorithms
Algorithms and analytics are tricky, but they are an important part of starting a website. You want your site to garner as much attention from customers as possible, so it’s imperative that you understand how to get it to them. Google and other search engines use algorithms to determine which links pop up first on a search, typically going by the way the copy is written on a webpage or blog and how many keywords it contains. Learning more about how to make your site search-engine friendly — also called SEO, or search engine optimization — can help you get your business in front of more people a lot faster.
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Create a Great Social Media Presence
An optimal website will work in conjunction with social media to allow customers to find your business and interact with you. This means your site should have links to your social media pages, which should span across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, at the very least. Social media is a great way to engage new clients because you can place ads, create customized content such as videos and photo stories, and run contests and special promotions that will draw interest.
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Creating a successful business website requires a lot of careful thought and planning, as there are many details to consider. It’s important to do some research on how to get started and ask for help from a pro if you feel you need it. With some preparation, you can make a website that will attract new customers while allowing old ones to engage with you smoothly.
