Millions of people now search the web for product descriptions and the tiniest details about a business including business hours and location. One way to key into this is to build a website for your business. By doing so, you give your business power and an online presence.
Aside from this, you can use your website to tell your brand story, own your content game, control brand perception and increase sales. But as important as these are to business, many are yet to build a website.
This article aims to show you the importance of building a website for your business, the process involved, the best business website builders and examples.
If you follow our steps and guidelines, in just an hour you will have a website for your business even if you are not a techie.
8 Major Reasons Why Building a Website for Your Business is Important
In as little as 10 years, consumer behaviour has evolved. So have business strategies. Today, nothing beats the reward of being found online. Here are the benefits of creating a website for your business:
Fulfill customer expectations:
In today’s speed-hungry society, customers want quick access to information about your business. If they need to place an order, they expect to do so quickly, especially by accessing your website. If they need some kind of information about your services, then it’d better be on your website because they will be checking there for it. Moreover, to today’s tech-savvy customers and clients, NOT having a website for your business is a BAD first impression about your business.
Social proof & past projects about your services:
What better place to keep your testimonials and work portfolio, and make it accessible to the public than on your business website? The good thing is that you can link your social media profiles to it. This way customers’ comments and tweets appear on your website. Nothing beats this proof of what you do than a bunch of happy satisfied customers speaking well of you, right there on your website!
Tell your brand story:
The best place to narrate how your company started and what you stand for as a brand, is your website. Imagine if you run a payroll business, and build a website for it, your website itself becomes a statement of your brand. To us, this is an extension of your “brand assets”. And indeed one major reason business owners rush to build a website, no matter the cost.
To optimize your business for SEO marketing:
Search Engine Optimization is an amazing way of making clients COME TO YOU. When this happens because you rightly positioned your business through the best corporate strategies, they will be ready to talk business with you. So instead of chasing them through advertisement, they are seeking you out because of your website.
Be taken more seriously as a business:
Creating a business website lets the world know you are OPEN for business. It speaks about your commitment to your brand and business growth. As a result, your business will have high regard before those that matter when the need arises.
Answer major customer buying objections:
Most businesses can easily save the cost of employing in-house sales consultants or saving time on the part of a solopreneur simply by having a website that answers the most frequently asked questions customers have. The ROI of investing in a website for this purpose cannot be overemphasized.
Extend your working hours:
Starting a business can be daunting. The good news is, even though you can’t work 24/7 without sleeping your website absolutely can. Imagine having a salesperson you employ for cheap. He takes no salary from you yet works round the clock to meet up with customer inquiries and orders from all over the world. It is mind-blowing how many businesses aren’t utilizing this opportunity. That is one of the benefits you enjoy when you build a website for your business.
Announce your offers (including new offers):
It is pretty easy to have customers hop on your website to read a new blog post, only for them to purchase a current offer from you. After you create a website for your business, you can use it to introduce and display your offers.
How to Create a Website for Business: a step-by-step guide (no coding required)
With this step-by-step guide, you’ll have a clear guide on how to create a website for your small business. You don’t have to be a genius, a programmer or a nerd to do this.
All you’ll need to do is use the tips below, spend a little money and make some tweaks to your content to make it uniquely yours, and voila, a website will be right in front of you!
Step 1: Register a domain name
No matter the platform you decide to build your website on, you’re going to need a domain name. This is similar to the physical address of the house you currently live in while the website is your house.
For example, “www.google.com” is a domain name.
Most hosting providers and website builder companies add a free domain name as a BONUS to each of their plans. Even though there are pros and cons to going this route, you can end up saving some money by using these free domain names.
However, free domain names won’t give you or your customers that “PREMIUM” perception you want your business to have.
So it is usually best to go for a paid domain name.
You can visit GoDaddy.com or NameCheap.com to get very affordable domain names.
Step 2: Buy a hosting account
While many people use free hosting accounts, it can cause problems for your business in the future like frequent network downtimes throughout the day. That’s why it is way better to also get a hosted account.
Step 3: Install a website builder on a hosted WordPress account
After purchasing your domain, your next task is to log into your Cpanel area, provided in the email sent to you by your hosting company.
Once you’re in your Cpanel… simply search for the WordPress installation. And then, INSTALL “WORDPRESS”.
Step 4: Install your theme and plugins
With WordPress successfully installed, all you have to do now is tweak how your website looks by picking your theme. After that, install ONLY the plugins you believe you’ll need to sell. And that is it!
The 7 Best Business Website Builders
Build a website for your business. Choose from the list below. You can also check out small business website examples to figure out yours.
Wix:
Wix is one of the best places to build a website. It contains more than 800 beautiful templates. Its easy-to-use “drag-and-drop” feature makes it more alluring for businesses to build their website. Plus Wix is also a great choice for SEO beginners who want to optimize their website for online search engines.
Squarespace:
Squarespace is a website builder for people who possess great aesthetic taste. Thanks to a wide variety of stylish website templates and a cool-to-use web editor, Squarespace uses “aesthetics” as its USP to stand out in the marketplace. It also lets you add an e-commerce store to your website if you’d like that.
WordPress & WordPress.com:
WordPress.com is a website builder created by WordPress.org. It is somewhere in the middle between a website builder and a content management system (CMS). However, it doesn’t come with as much power as its more advanced big brother (the self-hosted option, AKA “WordPress”). Plus the best part? THEY ARE BOTH FREE for building a website.
Weebly:
Weebly is one of the easiest places to create a website for your website. Its editor might not be very intuitive, but it’s hard to get too confused. Plus, it is a great option when it comes to SEO, and it also offers a wide range of apps to support its core functionality.
GoDaddy:
Aside from being a domain name and hosting company, GoDaddy also offers one of the easiest business website builders you’ll ever come across. Simply follow the “Wizard” application that pops up after purchasing your domain and hosting, and the “Wizard” will walk you through an automated process… which ends up in giving you a beautiful website.
Carrd.co:
Arguably one of the cheapest platforms to build a website ever created in the late 2020s. Carrd.co has risen to become a force to reckon with, simply because of its easy-to-use interface. With so many features in its arsenal, it is a simple task to create your business on this platform.
Thrive Themes & Thrive Architect:
This requires WordPress to create a website. It is easy to use and very powerful in its versatility (coz you can also build a Membership portal with this builder)… the only downside is the monthly subscriptions you’ll need to pay. And it’s not so cheap either.
Elementor:
This website builder is another one worthy of mention. Just like Thrive Theme and Thrive Architect mentioned above, Elementor requires having “WordPress” as its core foundation. The good news is, that you can get a free version of Elementor to get started building your business website.
Business Websites Example
Check out a few small website examples below:
- Play Street Museum by Squarespace
- Treeland nurseries by WordPress
- Izzy Wheels by Wix
- El Pez by WordPress with Elementor
Conclusion
It is no longer enough to have a social media presence. And no matter how small your business is, creating a website should be a top priority. If you follow the steps in this guide, you will start to enjoy the benefits in no time.
FAQ
Answers to what people ask about creating a website for business:
Can I create business website free?
Which is the best website for business?
Can I build a website for small business?
References
- ittvis.com
- zdnet.com/article
- blog.shift4shop.com
- seeresponse.com/blog
- forbes.com/sites
- websitebuilderexpert.com
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