Creating a robust business website is essential in today’s digital age, where your online presence can significantly impact your business’s success. This guide walks you through all the necessary steps to develop a functional and engaging business website.

Competitor Website Assessment

Understanding your competition is the first step in developing a successful business website. It’s important to take a close look at the top competitor websites in your industry. This will give you inspiration and ideas for the pages and content you want on your own site. Don’t worry, we’re not asking you to copy them! We’ll help you take those ideas and rewrite them in your own words to make them unique to your business.

  • Design and usability: How easy is it to navigate? What does the design say about the brand?
  • Content: What kind of information is provided? How is it structured?
  • Features: What functionalities are integrated, such as e-commerce, appointment booking, etc.?
  • Performance: How fast do the pages load?
  • SEO Strategies: What keywords are they targeting? What is their search engine ranking?

This assessment will help you identify what works in your industry and, more importantly, what opportunities there are for you to stand out.

Choosing a Web Development Platform

Selecting the right development platform is critical as it determines the capability, scalability, and manageability of your site.  The options include:

  • Static HTML5: Best for small, simple websites with infrequent updates. Static sites are more traditional, with individual pages that you edit using a wyswyg editor or the code directly.
  • WordPress CMS: Ideal for dynamic sites with regular content updates. Content management system (CMS) store and render content from a database. This is necessary if you want features like blogs, e-commerce, and visitor interaction.

We’ll help you decide which option is best for your business.

Choosing a Good Domain Name and Extension

Your domain name is your identity on the web; it should be descriptive, SEO-friendly, and easy to remember.

  • Keep it short: The shorter, the better.
  • Use Keywords: Integrate keywords related to your business.
  • Avoid numbers and hyphens: They can be confusing.
  • Choose Appropriate Extension: A .com extension is generally best for most businesses, while .net is a popular alternative.  And of course .org is for organizations, .edu for education, and .gov for government sites.

We recommend purchasing your own domain from popular providers like GoDaddy, NameCheap, or Domain.com.  And in most cases one domain is ample.  You don’t need to purchase variations unless your Brand is likely to be copied (piggybacked).

Choosing an Affordable and Reliable Hosting Provider

Hosting servers are Linux (PHP) or Windows (ASP).  You’ll want Linux hosting since PHP is needed for CMS websites like WordPress, and most web scripts are designed to work on PHP servers.  Shared hosting is the least expensive option, and at the mid-tier pricing range the better provide a fast processor and ram with ample storage and free SSL.  For the hosting backend we recommend cPanel.  Your hosting provider affects your website’s reliability and speed, which impacts user experience and SEO.  Popular hosting providers that we recommend include Bluehost, HostGator, and InMotion Hosting.

Note: It’s a best practice to register your domain and hosting in your name to ensure that you are the legal owner.

Writing Engaging Copy that is SEO Optimized

Content is king in the digital world. Engaging and SEO-optimized copy is necessary to stand out and be seen. Key components include:

  • Headlines: Catchy and clear.
  • Keywords: Well-researched and integrated naturally.
  • Meta descriptions: Compelling and relevant.
  • Calls to Action: Clear and persuasive.

To create engaging content for your website, we’ll ask you to provide us with a list of pages you want, known as a sitemap. You can also let us know what type of content each page should have, such as slideshows, e-commerce, or password-restricted pages. If you need images, we’ll guide you on how to provide them in the correct format. And don’t worry, we’ll take care of optimizing the images for you.

Value of Business Email

A professional business email (e.g., name@yourwebsite.com) enhances your credibility and brand, offering a more professional interaction with your customers and partners.  While cPanel webmail can be used,  we recommend using professional mail servers like Google Workspace or Microsoft Exchange. These servers provide excellent security and spam protection. We’ll ensure your email setup is properly authenticated and verified.

Best Social Media for Business

Social media can be a powerful tool for your business. We’ll help you choose the right platforms to reach your target audience. And don’t worry about managing too many accounts right away. Start with a couple of platforms where your target audience is most active and expand as you have more time to dedicate to social media. Popular platforms include:

  • LinkedIn: For B2B interactions.
  • Facebook and Instagram: For B2C engagement.

You can view more social media options on our website submission page.

Leveraging Reviews and Testimonials

Reviews increase visibility and credibility, and are often very effective as an engagement feature within a web page.  We’ll guide you on how to optimize your presence on platforms like Yelp and Google Review. And when it comes to testimonials, we’ll help you showcase them on your website in a way that builds trust with your visitors.

Encourage Reviews: From platforms like Google and Trustpilot. We typically don’t invest too much time into Yelp since they will hide legitimate reviews unless you pay for their service.

Blogs and Video

Blogs are a great way to provide valuable information and engage with your visitors, and it helps with SEO. We’ll assist you in setting up a blog using a CMS platform that suits your needs. If you’re interested in video content, we’ll guide you on the best practices for hosting and embedding videos on your website.

Directory Websites

Getting listed on top-ranked directory websites can improve your SEO ranking. We’ll help you identify the directories that are most relevant to your business and ensure your website is linked to them.  You can view the better directory submission options on our website submission page.

Security and Ongoing Maintenance Requirements

A website is not a set-it-and-forget-it part of your business. Regular updates, backups, SEO optimization, and content updating are necessary.

Keeping your site and data secure is our top priority. We’ll utilize the best security plugins and settings to protect your website from malware and hacking attempts. We also offer discounted maintenance updates to ensure your website stays up to date with the latest security fixes.

Website Tracking

Tracking the performance of your website is essential for making informed decisions. We’ll help you set up tracking tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to monitor your website’s traffic, visitor behavior, and search engine rankings.

Working with a Professional Web Developer

If you’re unsure whether you need a web developer, let us assure you that hiring a professional will save you time and ensure a high-quality website. We’ll guide you through the entire process, from selecting the best layout to customizing it to meet your branding needs. With our expertise and experience, you can trust that your website will make a great impression and be easily found online.

Let us take the stress out of developing your first website. To get started, contact us today, and we can start the discussion on what’s needed to create a powerful online presence for your business!