Tips For Making A Great Small Business Website In 2022
A great website is essential for the success of any small business, whether you are a freelance photographer, own a hardware store, or run another type of small business. EverRanks knows what it takes to create great and engaging business websites as a search agency that has worked on building or marketing for over 7 years.
If you want to build a new startup website or improve the effectiveness of your current site, here are some pointers to get you started and help your small business website effectively compete in the online marketplace.
A wonderful website is critical to the success of any small business (Source: Internet)
Tips for creating a small business website
1. Get a good domain name.
Your domain name, also known as your website address, is frequently the point of entry to your website. It is critical that it makes a good first impression for both usability and search engine optimization (SEO).
Here are some suggestions for creating an ideal domain name:
Make it simple to spell.
Make it as brief as possible.
Make use of the appropriate domain extension.
Numbers and hyphens should be avoided.
Make the address as broad as possible to allow for future growth.
Make it unforgettable.
Look into the domain name.
Check to see if the price is reasonable.
Avoid names that are illogical.
Make an SEO-friendly URL.
2. Purchase a dependable, scalable website hosting service with excellent technical support.
A website host (also known as a website hosting provider) is a company that offers the technology and services needed to view a website on the internet. When users visit your website address, they are directed to the website that you host.
Hosting services can range from $2 to $100+ per month, depending on the technology and support you choose. If you purchase a yearly plan rather than a monthly plan, you will usually receive a discount.
3. A clear description of your company should be prominently displayed.
It is critical to let people know who you are and what you do right away so that they are not perplexed when visiting your small business website. Make sure your main homepage banner (also known as a "hero image") and subsequent banners are visual representations of your services, and near the top of the page, you have a text blurb that describes who you are and what you do.
Additionally, make sure that "About Us" page links are easily accessible in both your main and footer navigation menus so that people can click them and learn more about your company.
4. Use the most effective content management system available.
A content management system (CMS) is software that enables the creation and management of digital content. A good CMS will assist you in site maintenance and requires little technical knowledge to use. You should choose a CMS that is tailored to your specific needs; different systems are used for a variety of reasons, including user-friendliness, extensibility, and cost.
5. Select a reliable e-commerce platform.
If you intend to sell goods and/or services via your website, you will require the necessary technology. (If you do not currently sell anything, you should consider doing so because e-commerce has the potential to increase your profits.) If you decide to allow users to make financial transactions with you online, you must select the appropriate platform for your business model.
6. Create an interesting, unforgettable, and engaging website user interface.
Make sure the interface of your small business website creates a positive impression that leads to results. You can accomplish this by implementing the following recommendations:
Make use of eye-catching graphics and easy-to-read fonts.
Make certain that your graphics are compressed and optimized for quick loading. Search engines, such as Google, will penalize your ranking if your website is slow.
Investigate your competitors' websites to see how they have designed and optimized them; implement similar components that will work for your small business website.
Investigate your target audience to find out what they want from your website and make it easy for them to get it.
Maintain brand consistency throughout your website design.
Create standard small business website pages such as Home, About us, Products/Services (with descriptions and visually appealing images), Sitemap (for SEO purposes), Contact us, Privacy policy, and any other pages that are relevant to your specific small business.
7. Optimize your small business website for search engines.
SEO is a set of practices you implement on your website to ensure search engines properly index and rank your website and then display it to search engine users. When search engines "crawl" your website, it competes with websites that have similar content. The higher your site ranks on search engine result pages, the better its design and content. SEO is a continuous process that can mean the difference between appearing on the first page of search engine results pages or page 300.
8. Create and distribute high-quality content on a regular basis
Both content quantity and freshness are important to search engines, so make a plan to publish quality articles and/or blog posts on your site and on external sites that link to your site. If you want to rank high in search engine results and encourage people to return to your site, you must update it as frequently as possible with new and relevant content.
Make certain that your content is written in an appropriate, on-brand tone that people will enjoy reading.
9. Set up webmaster tools
Install Google Analytics, Google Search Console (preferably via Google Tag Manager), and Bing Webmaster Tools to help you analyze traffic and site performance. These tools can be used to keep track of the following types of data:
The number of daily, weekly, and monthly visitors to your website
Views on each page of your website
"Bounce rate"—the percentage of visitors who arrive at your site and leave after only viewing one page.
Visitors' average time spent on the site
Your website has crawl errors (errors that the search engines found on your site in crawling its content)
The website contains broken links.
Keywords that direct visitors to your website
Backlinks to your site
download time for a website
Additional details that can improve your SEO
10. Set up a website maintenance schedule.
You shouldn't build a website and then leave it to become outdated. You must make sure your website is properly maintained if you want to have a successful one that performs well in search engine results and isn't hacked.
How to build a small business website in 7 steps
Choose a web building platform
You may quickly create and manage a company website using a website design platform without knowing any code. Although there are other CMS options available, for the majority of small businesses, popular all-in-one website builders like Squarespace, Wix, GoDaddy, or Weebly are preferable to more complex alternatives like WordPress.
These website builders are perfect for those who are new to web design or for small organizations who need a website up and running quickly. Additionally, using one of these site builders to create a small business website is simple and inexpensive.
Choose domain name
Choosing the ideal company domain name is crucial for developing your online presence. Most small businesses choose to utilize a top level domain (TLD) extension like.com and incorporate their brand name. With so many.com domains already registered, it can be challenging to get the exact domain name you desire.
Thankfully, you may also utilize TLDs like.net,.edu,.org, and.store, as well as country-specific TLDs like.us and.ca and professional-designations like.pro or.me.
Find a hosting provider
Make an account with your preferred provider based on the CMS you intend to use. The process is simple with website builders like Squarespace and Wix, and plans include hosting, domain, and SSL certificates for data security. However, you must first sign up for web hosting and purchase a domain, and an SSL certificate if you want to use WordPress.
Bluehost is an official WordPress-recommended web hosting solution if you've chosen to use WordPress to create a business website.
Choose a theme or template
You must select a template or theme for your small business website whether you use WordPress or a website builder. Site builders like Squarespace, Wix and Weebly categorize templates and offer designs that come with many of the tools and functionality your site will probably want.
But keep in mind that these free themes don't come with page-building tools and allow very little customization. To achieve the style you want for your small company website, you probably need a premium theme with a page builder unless you have prior knowledge of web development.
Content
There must be content added while customizing a website. The following content is usually required for websites:
Homepage: Most website visitors start on this page. A broad call to action that appeals to your target audience should be included, as well as simple navigation options for site visitors to get the content they desire.
About us page: Having an about us page is another technique to convert website visitors, albeit it is not fully necessary. You have the chance to build relationships by using your brand's purpose and vision, tagline, values, and other elements.
Contact page: You should make a specific contact page with additional means to get in touch, such as a contact form, in addition to having contact information in your header and footer. Think about including a live chat function on your website.
Blog: Make a landing page for your blog if you want to use content marketing to increase traffic to your website. Design this page with a variety of parts (such a set of featured posts, topic-specific posts, and recent posts) catered to your customer profiles and personas because this is another chance to reach members of your target audience.
Website Optimization
Making your small business website search engine friendly is crucial if you want to get seen in online searches. Although search engine optimization, or SEO, has a technical tone, many SEO techniques that help your site rank higher on Google are easy to use.
Use your chosen keyword in the page title, one subheading, and a few other places on the page to optimize it for search engines. It's also a good idea to put it in the page slug, which is the portion of the URL that follows after the domain name and extension, like in the URL for this page, which is /small-business-websites/.
Similarly, include a meta description on the page that contains the term. When your material is displayed on online search engine results pages, often known as SERPs, it will be bolded.
Publish your website
Go over your website before releasing. Check out how it appears and behaves on a desktop and a mobile device. Look over your writing for errors and broken links.
Don't overlook site loading speed either, as 40% of visitors will leave a site that loads slowly, and it can also hurt your search rankings. If your website takes too slow to load, try compressing or lowering the resolution of your photographs to reduce their size. Once everything is ready, press "Publish" to make your site live.
21 best inspirational small business website templates
1. Children’s Products: Millk
Australian apparel company Millk specializes in infant and toddler clothing. The website uses muted colors that are similar to those in the clothing of the brand. There are also several photographs showcasing the design and materials of the products. Anywhere on the website may easily access the menu since it is simple and uncomplicated. Additionally, this example of a small business website features a mobile-responsive layout.
2. Sportswear: Rhone
For men who lead active lifestyles, Rhone manufactures cutting-edge, high-tech sportswear and apparel. The website emphasizes the products by using bold typography and neutral colors. It has numerous, high-quality calls to action (such as "Shop Now" and "Select a Size") as well as graphics.
3. Footwear: Allbirds
A company that prioritizes sustainability and natural materials are Allbirds. This example of a small business website is clean and simple, and it's crammed with gorgeous product photographs. Navigation is made simple by the comprehensive drop-down menu. Additionally, the product pages highlight the qualities and advantages of each item.
4. Cosmetics: MFMG Cosmetics
Makeup for Melanin Girls is the brand name of MFMG Cosmetics. By creating a line of cosmetic goods for those with darker skin tones, this company is attempting to make the cosmetics industry more inclusive. The website is straightforward and mobile-friendly. It pairs minimalist typography with the colors of its products. Take note of the banner offering a discount code good for 10% off to site visitors who join the mailing list.
5. Lifestyle: LEIF
A lifestyle company called LEIF sells "beautiful things for everyday living." Both the brand's physical store in Brooklyn, New York, and its website are used for sales. On the website, vivid product images contrast with subdued color palettes. The store offers a variety of goods in several categories, and it has made navigating simple by developing a drop-down menu.
6. Designer Products: Studio Neat
Studio Neat creates straightforward, understated products to address everyday issues. This example of a small business website is well-designed and simple to use. It emphasizes the importance of the items. A fantastic feature of the website is the section at the bottom of the home page that highlights the founders and their backgrounds.
7. Boutique: La La Land
Online retailer La La Land sells goods made by a group of artists. The website uses pink and green accents to convey the spirit of the company. It also features a white background, which draws attention to the vivid, striking product designs. The drop-down menu is unambiguous and uses a sans-serif typeface with capitalized terms.
8. Travel Products: Minaal
Travelers can get cutting-edge baggage from Minaal. Like the brand's goods, the website is streamlined and precise. By pointing out prestigious websites that have highlighted its products, Minaal effectively uses social proof. Additionally, users can use other currencies to make purchases on the website. A blog and member's community are also included.
9. Furniture: Brosa
Furniture and housewares are sold by Brosa. The website uses a lot of high-quality pictures and has muted, soft colors. The top bar contains crucial links like "Contact & FAQ," "Call Us," and "Covid-19," and the navigation is extensive.
10. Home Decor: Ivory & Deene
Australia-based Ivory & Deene is a retailer of home furnishings. This sample of a small business website promotes the luxury brand using a sophisticated color scheme and understated animation components. The menu and search filters further simplify navigation.
11. Technology: Ratio Coffee
From its Shopify store, Ratio Coffee offers cutting-edge coffee makers for sale. A black, white, and grey color scheme is frequently chosen by IT companies to highlight balance and precision, thus the brand is aware of color psychology. High-definition videos of the company's products are also available on the website.
12. Food Products: I Love Mole
I Love Mole sells delectable food items that are frequently used in Mexican cooking. The website's clean background serves to attract attention to its vibrant merchandise. With dazzling orange and yellow highlights, it also reflects the vibrancy of its products.
13. Art: Tattly
Tattly is a company that sells temporary tattoos designed by a group of artists. The product images on the website are fantastic. It also employs eye-catching colors to draw visitors' attention to product promotions and calls to action.
14. Nutrition: Press London
Cold-pressed juices, groceries, and detox packages are available at Press London. To assist users in navigating the site, the top bar includes three top-level categories with detailed drop-down menus. The site uses icons for essential links, such as the shopping cart and searches icons, to help maintain its minimal style.
15. Unique Products: Pop Chart
Pop Chart sells one-of-a-kind and creative posters. The navigation menu is unique to most websites and reflects their edgy brand. This small business website example makes excellent use of eye-catching fonts and colors.
16. Pet Products: Zee.Dog
Zee.Dog creates and sells innovative and fashionable cat and dog products. This example of a small business website design features a sleek, futuristic design with bold, colorful product images. It also has excellent copywriting that conveys the brand's voice.
17. Weddings: Silk and Willow
Silk and Willow is a wedding decor boutique that creates environmentally friendly and sustainable products. The website is entirely grey and white, emphasizing the colors and variety of the brand's products. The site also has a rustic feel thanks to the use of serif and typewriter fonts.
18. Men’s Fashion: Velasca
Velasca is a manufacturer of handcrafted Italian leather shoes and accessories. Its website is simple and clean, highlighting the brand's distinct Italian atmosphere. Take note of the carefully selected fonts and high-quality images. The menu also includes hand-drawn illustrations for each link. These images aid in determining what type of shoes or accessories the link leads to.
19. Sunglasses: Shwood Eyewear
Shwood Eyewear is a company that creates and sells wooden sunglasses. This small business website design is intended to highlight the brand's outdoor lifestyle. The website is straightforward, but there are numerous high-quality video clips and images of their products.
20. Women’s Fashion: Newton Supply Co.
Newton Supply Co. creates beautiful waxed totes and bags in the United States. The design of this small business website is simple and straightforward. It also makes extensive use of the company's backstory. Visitors' attention is drawn to the photographs of the unique products, which are captioned in a simple serif font.
21. Outdoor Gear: Madsen
Madsen creates and sells one-of-a-kind "Bucket Bikes" for the entire family. The brand is all about comfort and enjoyment, and the website reflects this. It employs bright, bold colors to convey a sense of playfulness. The website also includes a plethora of instructional videos to assist customers in making the most of their purchases.
Some website builders for small business 2022
1. Ecommerce: Vortic Watches
Vortic Watches does an excellent job of bringing its products to life, even on its homepage. The brand's eye for quality is evident in its use of video to illustrate what it offers, which also happens to indicate what sets it apart, and its creative use of parallax scrolling.
This website was created with Shopify, one of the best e-commerce website builders. Check out the steps on how to build an online store with Shopify to learn more about how to create a store like this one.
2. Architecture Firm: Architecture In Formation
Architecture In Formation, like many other Squarespace websites, has a simple landing page with a slideshow of their work. To achieve the same effect, use the "Forte" template, which is ideal for a visual portfolio.
Aside from having sleek templates, Squarespace is also an excellent choice for a portfolio site because all of its plans include unlimited storage and bandwidth. Indeed, it ranks first on our list of the best portfolio website builders.
3. Hotel & Restaurant: El Pez
El Pez's hotel and restaurant website is a good small business website example, demonstrating how to include a lot of information in a reader-friendly way. It does a good job of providing relevant information to each audience as a business with multiple service offerings and different audiences seeking different things out of the site. Although it makes use of multiple pages, you can also create a one-page website to keep your information more readable.
It also makes use of the Elementor page builder plugin, which makes WordPress more user-friendly and allows it to use animated page elements. You do not, however, have to use WordPress to achieve this look. Try Wix for maximum design freedom which is far easier to use than WordPress.
4. Ecommerce: Native Union
Native Union, an online store, does an excellent job of presenting its many products without making them appear cluttered. The color scheme keeps the audience from feeling overwhelmed, allowing them to focus on the products. It has a search bar on the homepage, which we believe is essential for any e-commerce website, as well as a sliding banner that allows users to easily navigate to different pages.
Go to Shopify and select the "Narrative" theme to easily create an online store that looks like this. Alternatively, Wix and the "Energy Snacks Store" template are a more affordable—and user-friendly—e-commerce option.
5. Educational Services: Play Street Museum
Play Street Museum of Plano, a children's museum, stays true to its brand by incorporating a playful and childlike design into its website. Despite having a lot of different links, it does a good job of maintaining a clean web design that doesn't feel cluttered. The layout is simple and familiar, making it simple to navigate the site and providing a positive user experience. Begin by using the Bryler template to create a Squarespace website similar to this one.
Frequently asked questions about small business websites
1. What is the best way to create a small business website?
The best way to create a small business website is with an all-in-one site builder, such as Squarespace. Unlike WordPress, which can be difficult to use and has a fairly steep learning curve, site builders are designed to make it simple for anyone to create their professional website.
2. Which of the following is the best free website builder for a small business?
There's nothing wrong with using a free website builder to get started. However, to ensure your business looks legit and grows your online brand presence, you’ll want a paid plan on a custom domain. Overall, Wix is the best free website builder for small businesses, while Weebly is the best free e-commerce platform.
3. How can I draw visitors to my website?
To drive website traffic, you can use a variety of website marketing tactics, including paid and organic tactics. To drive organic traffic through an online search, for example, you can implement a content marketing program and follow best practices for SEO. Social media marketing can also be used to drive organic traffic.
Learning how to create a small business website is essential for promoting your company and developing an online brand presence. Using top site builders, you can create a business website in under a day with no prior web design experience. Hopefully, with the information that EverRanks has compiled above, you will have good ways to build your small business website effectively.
Comments
Post a Comment