Regardless of what it’s selling or the focal point of its services, every small business will need an easy to navigate and attractive website. Few things can exist anymore without having a digital footprint of some kind, which is why building a website is a worthwhile endeavor. Unfortunately, there are plenty of websites out there purporting to advertise the wares of a well-regarded small business, but the digital storefront leaves a lot to be desired. The pages seem amateurish and don’t offer a lot of services for the general onlooker to peruse. If you want to make sure that you are able to build a website that works for your business, then be sure to follow the notes below.
Get a Solid Domain Name
The website address, also known as the domain name, is the gateway to your site. Therefore, it’s important that it is easy to remember, accessible, and professional sounding. This will all feed into the function of search engine optimization, or SEO. If your domain name isn’t easy to search for, then the chances of it being found by the layman, or for someone to remember the URL, are pretty slim. A good website begins – and sometimes ends – with an excellent domain name. An added plus? If the domain name ends with a .com, as opposed to .net or something that sounds just as old-fashioned.
Choose a Good Website Host
Web hosting providers are a dime a dozen, and it may seem hard to pinpoint the best one for you. In general, keep your eye out for a web host with a good track record, to begin with. Search their portfolio for sites they carry and evaluate how things look. Just a quick glance will tell you everything you need to know about the host, and how efficient they are. The job of building a website may seem like an easy task, however, the knowledgeable web developers at Pixel Portal review tons of new sites, only to find them slow loading with broken forms, checkouts that don’t work, threadbare content, broken internal linking, among many others. Part of your research should be about avoiding all the usual red flags when it comes to poorly designed sites and finding a host that can offer different options tailored for you.
Find Efficient E-Commerce Services
If the plan is to sell goods or services through your website, you will need to make sure that you find an excellent e-commerce service to add to your site. There are plenty of efficient e-commerce tools for you to navigate, and some may be more suitable for your platform than others. In general, look out for helpful plugins that provide more flexibility, with some pre-built themes for you to expand upon. Some e-commerce platforms are cloud-based, and they can help you create a super customizable experience for your customers while also allowing you to manage inventory, the shipping process, in addition to payments.
Creating a website for your business, no matter how simple it may be, is not easy. It takes extensive research and grunt work to make it happen. However, if you approach the process slowly and give yourself a chance to work things out, your patience will pay you back in dividends later, when more happy customers are knocking on your door.