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What You Need To Know To Build An Awesome Small Business Website

It doesn't matter whether you are a freelance photographer, own a hardware store, or run another type of small business. You need an effective website for your business.

My experience as a webmaster and marketer of over 100 small business websites give me insight into what it takes to create an engaging and effective business website.

These 10 steps will help you get started and help your website compete effectively online, whether you are building a new startup site or improving your existing one.

#1. Choose a good domain name

A domain name, also known as your website address, is often the first thing that people see when visiting your site. It is important that it makes a good impression for both usability reasons and SEO.

• Ensure the words are easy to spell. Avoid using slang, new words, or extremely esoteric terms.
• Keeping it short will make it easier to remember and type correctly.
• When possible, use the correct domain extension, such as .com (rather than .net, .co, etc.) unless another extension, such as .gov, .edu, or .org, is more appropriate.
• Do not use numbers or hyphens in your domain name. They are hard to remember, less elegant, and less memorable, and might be misunderstood when spoken.
• To facilitate growth, consider broadening your website address. For instance, Amazon.com is much broader than BooksOnline.com, allowing Amazon to sell just about any consumer good, rather than just books.
• Make your website name memorable. With so many websites on the internet, it's essential that people are able to remember how to access your website.
• Google the domain name to see if it is already taken. You can also use USPTO.gov to verify it does not contain a registered trademark.
• Decide if your desired website address is available at a reasonable price since most good domain names are already taken and must be purchased from their current owner.
• Use a name that is meaningful so users will know what your business is immediately. Yahoo and Google are catchy names, but they were very expensive to brand, and your small business may not have the same budget.
• Create a URL that is SEO-friendly. Whenever possible, choose a website address that includes keywords and a geolocation, such as "www.thelogitech.in".

A business that uses chatbots also cuts its customer service staff, which reduces its operating costs. As more businesses consider chatbots for their website development, they should expect more to include them in their plans. A chatbot has 24/7 availability, which is one of the main reasons businesses should consider it.

#2. Choose the best hosting server

Despite the fact that you can get "shared server" hosting plans for as low as $2 per month, I would not recommend them. Shared hosting means you are sharing a server and its resources with other users, which can impact performance.

Hosting on a "dedicated server" is the most expensive option (cost can range from $100 to $2,000 per month), but your website would perform the best.

With a dedicated server plan, all the resources on the physical machine are yours; therefore, it is more secure than a shared hosting plan, if the technology is optimal.

Nevertheless, it is more expensive than what most small businesses can usually afford. If you have a very high-performing site, it may be what you need, but for most early-stage and small businesses, it is overkill.

Generally, I recommend a "virtual private server" (VPS) hosting plan, which offers the best of both worlds. The cost ranges from $20 to $50 per month, which is very reasonable for the services you will receive.

A virtual private server (VPS) is a single machine that can act as multiple machines, giving it similar security and performance potential to a dedicated server hosting plan.

Your hosting company should have phone and/or chat support, because email support can often take too long and be frustrating when a problem needs to be solved quickly. Phone support is best, but chatting works, too.

If you are not able to hire a professional server administrator, you should have an easily accessible server interface, such as cPanel. If you want to view or modify your server contents, you should not have to use terminal commands.

Make sure that the server you are considering has server security in place. You should be able to access your server through Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). Daily backups of your server contents should also be performed.

Some popular website hosting companies include:

• GoDaddy
• DreamHost
• Bluehost
• SiteGround

#3. Clearly describe your business in a prominent place

Make sure your main homepage banner and subsequent banners are visual representations of what you do so visitors won't feel confused.

#4. The best content management system should be implemented

You can use a content management system (CMS) to create and manage content on your website. A good CMS helps you maintain your site, and it doesn't require much technical knowledge.

WordPress: There are many plugins that can be used to extend the functionality of your site with WordPress, the world's most popular CMS. It has an active support community and a vast library of plugins.

Drupal: Another popular CMS is Drupal. It has many of the same benefits as WordPress, including flexibility, ease of use, and a large support community. It is also more secure than WordPress (less prone to malicious attacks);

Joomla: Joomla is another popular CMS. Out of the box, it has better SEO, security, and multilingual capabilities than WordPress; however, with the help of a few plugins, WordPress can surpass Joomla!

Wix: In regards to Squarespace, Wix is similar, but a bit more user-friendly. It offers a monthly subscription, but not an annual one, and includes similar features. Wix has a drag-and-drop builder as well—you can drag and drop elements anywhere on the page;

#5. Ensure that the user interface on your website is memorable, engaging, and interesting

You can do this by implementing the following suggestions to ensure that your small business website interface leaves a positive impression.

• If your website is slow, search engines like Google will penalize your ranking. Make sure images are compressed and optimized for fast loading.
• Consider making similar adjustments to your small business website based on the design and optimization of your competitors' websites.
• Develop a navigation system that makes it easy for users to quickly find what they are looking for.

#6. Publication of quality content on a regular basis

The freshness and quantity of your content are key factors for search engines, so you should create a plan to publish quality articles on your site and on external sites that link to it.

You must update your website with new and relevant content as frequently as possible if you want to rank highly in the search engine results and encourage visitors to return to your site.

#7. Create a maintenance plan for your website

The key to having a successful website that ranks well in search engines and doesn't get hacked is to make sure it is properly maintained.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you can see that creating a great small business website may not be as easy as you first thought. However, by following the steps outlined in this article, you can put your small business on the path to success.