If you are going to start a business then you need to build a business website.
Every business starts with an idea. Whether you are a non-profit wanting to change the world, a creative business wanting to make the first computer animated movie, or a small business wanting to build a business website.
Regardless of how your idea came about. Whether born out of frustration…why can’t a product be better or work like this. Or why can’t I find anything for people like me. Or born from seeing a need and wanting to help. However, your idea came to you there is still a wide gap between inspiration and getting people to buy into your idea. Your idea must be communicated.
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That was so Last Century
In the not too distant past, businesses shared their ideas through word-of-mouth. If you had a great product, people talked about it. They shared it through newspapers. Advertising revenue for newspapers was a billion dollar industry. But it has dramatically declined in recent years. If you were really big, you bought ads on TV…does anyone even watch TV anymore? And, then, of course, if you were small you bought an ad in the yellow pages…remember those.
The means of communicating your great idea have changed drastically over the years. But the main idea remains the same. If you want to build a business it needs to be communicated to people. How do you do that now?
Everything is Online: 21st Century Advertising
We transitioned from being a print-based society to all things digital. You can do almost anything digitally. Although, I am still a fan of somethings paper. You can’t substitute the kinetic learning with digital.
The way to communicate your great idea has changed over the years. We now use social media for word-of-mouth advertising. We create a Google My Business Profile, instead of a yellow pages ad. How do you communicate your great idea in the 21st century?
You Need to Build a Business Website
One of the most important things you can do for your business is to build a business website. How do you find answers to your questions? Or a product for a problem you have? The internet. Everyone searches for solutions to their problems online. Creating a website that will provide a solution to one of these searches is a must-have.
If you are ready to get started check out What to do before You Start Building a Website to Make it Easier.
Here are some tips for an engaging website that clearly communicates your vision, passion, and product.
When designing or updating your website, keep these 3 things in mind.
1. First impression
Your website is your first impression so make it count. When a potential client lands on your website what do they see? Are they overwhelmed by the amount of information? Or are they invited to walk through your story? Does your website engage your audience with its content and images?
Make your website highly visual. A picture speaks a 1,000 words. There are a lot of great websites with totally free images, no attribution required. Check out Pixabay, Unsplash and Canva.
Make your writing clear. If mechanics and grammar are not strong points for you, hire someone who can edit your work. Check out Fiverr for a freelance editor. Communicating ideas in writing is not easy, so this will be a worthwhile investment.
Focus on your client, not on you. While your website is about the services you offer, your potential fan wants to know how it will benefit them. Make your story about them. One of my favorite marketing books is Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller. He will walk you through this process step-by-step. I highly recommend this book.
2. Legitimizes who you are
A website legitimizes who you are. A whopping 84% of people said that a business with a website makes them credible. As opposed to a business that only has a social media page.
A website does a lot of communicating for you, so make sure you actually buy a domain and hosting. Here are 2 hosts that I recommend Bluehost and Siteground. There are free websites out there, but the only option will be a domain with .hostingname. It is a terrible look and makes it harder to find your business. There are numerous other reasons, but I will leave it at these for this post.
One of the first investments that you should make for your business is a domain name and hosting. If you want to work with a theme, check out Divi Themes by Elegant Themes. I also have videos on my Lifeunboxed Blog YouTube channel that will help you create a website with the Divi Theme. And I have more planned!
*Shameless plug* If you need someone to help build your website contact me through jodierperry.com. I love helping small businesses get started.
3. Give information
There seems to be a trend in marketing now that leaves the potential customer with one thought, so what are you trying to sell? My husband and I watch commercials (streaming shows online, we don’t watch TV) and look at each other like what on earth was that nonsense. I don’t even know what the product is.
You can have an awesome looking website, but if you don’t have good information on it no one will look at it. You want your clients to come back to your website and to spread the word about you.
Here’s what you need to put on your website.
Clear, concise information. You want to ensure that your sentences are clear—structured correctly and words spelled correctly.
Don’t clutter. It is a fine balance between just enough information and too much information. Be careful not to visually overload your website. Make it clear where you want the user to look. If your user is overwhelmed just looking at the website, you have lost them.
Easy to navigate. Have pages placed in logical spots on your menu bar. You want your users to easily the find the information they are seeking.
Conclusion: Build a Business Website
Are you ready to start building your website? Do you have more questions? I know I did starting out. Sometimes the questions were never answered because there was an assumption that I should already know the answer. If you have one of those questions, let me know. I never want you to feel frustrated because you can’t find the answer to your questions.
Also, check out What to do before You Start Building a Website to Make is Easier to start to build a business website.
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