Regardless of the type of business you own, a website is essential for its success. Customers now turn to the internet when looking for products and services and if they cannot find your business online, you might miss out on a lot of customers and revenue. However, creating a website is not enough as it has to be set up right for it to be an important asset for your business. Below, we will look at some tips that will help you set up a successful business website.
Determine the Website’s Purpose
Before you can start building, it is important to know what you will use the website for. You might need the website to tell people about your business, showcase your products and services, or sell these products and services. Your website’s purpose will determine how it is built and set up because its purpose will determine the functionalities it will have.
Domain Name and Web Host
Your domain name will be the address people use to access your website and will be shared with your customers, on social media, and marketing material. It is therefore important to choose a domain name that is descriptive, easy to remember, and incorporates your business name if possible. Remember to keep it short and avoid using abbreviations.
Once you choose a domain name, you need to check if it is available. If it is not, try to play with some variations or choose a different top-level domain. For example, if your business is not available on the .com top-level domain, you can try non-traditional top-level domains such as .io or .shop if you run an ecommerce business.
Once you’ve purchased the domain name, you will need a web host. The web host stores all the data and files your website will use. Depending on your budget, you can choose shared hosting or dedicated hosting. Shared hosting is cheaper but your website will share a server with other websites which can impact its performance. Dedicated hosting is much more expensive but your website will live on its own server. A dedicated server is also often faster than a shared one so you should choose this option if speed is important for you – as it should be.
Add Important Pages
When setting up your new business website, you might concentrate on the pages people will visit often such as the homepage, product pages, and about us page, and forget about other important pages. The pages often ignored include the contact page as well as the terms and conditions page.
You might be tempted to add your email address, physical address, and location to your contact page but people often need more information, such as your opening hours as well as if you open during public and international holidays.
Although not legally required, the Terms and Conditions page is very important for your business. It sets out the terms for using your website. A terms and conditions page reduces your liability in case a customer takes you to court. This is because if a customer agrees to your website’s terms and conditions, they agree to binding contract terms that govern how they use the website and what your business is and is not responsible and liable for.
When creating the terms and conditions page, you want it to be as detailed as possible while being easy for people to understand and follow. You also have to ensure it can hold up in court. When creating these terms and conditions, it can be hard to cover every angle. That is why business owners are advised to use a generator for terms and conditions to be added to their website. A generator makes the process infinity easier and ensures your business is covered from liability from as many angles as possible.
Test Everything
Once you have the website built, you should test everything. Top of the list should be mobile responsiveness, payment systems if you have them, and speed. Mobile responsiveness ensures your website can be viewed and be usable regardless of the size of the customer’s device’s screen. Testing your payment systems ensures customers do not get frustrated when they try to buy from you and testing your website’s speed ensures it is fast enough so people do not leave if they cannot access your website, its content, or your products fast enough.
Conclusion
Setting up a business website can be rather convoluted but if you plan it out properly and do it in an orderly manner, the task becomes simple. If you have any issues setting up your new website, asking for directions or help from a web developer or IT team can make things easier.
