Whether you are running a salon, a hardware store, or a retail shop, having a great online presence is important. A professional website is the face of the business and helps to promote the products that you sell to a wider audience beyond geographical boundaries.
Obtain an Easy Domain Name
Your domain name or the website name is the visitor’s entry point into your business. Making a good impression is important to keep your customers coming back. Similar to the design (which we will discuss in the upcoming sections), your domain name plays a vital role.
Make sure that the domain name you select is easy to pronounce and spell. The shorter the domain name is, the simpler it is to remember and type it. Use a proper domain extension, which is .com. Avoid the likes of .net, org., and .edu because they are meant for other types of sites.
Do not use numbers and hyphens as they make the domain name unnecessarily complex and difficult to type. Spend some time researching the relevant domain name and try to keep it as close as your business name.
Purchase Secure Website Hosting With Support
Your website hosting provider is the organization that offers the tools, technology, and services required to run a website. Connect your website’s domain name to the hosting provider so that visitors can search for the website using the domain name.
Depending on the technology and support you select for your website, the hosting price can vary anywhere between $2 to $100 and beyond. Buying a yearly plan is a budget option as you save significantly on the overall package.
You can select among the shared server, dedicated server, or virtual private server hosting packages. While choosing a hosting provider, do not forget to ask for complimentary tech support because you should know whom to contact in the event of a slowdown or if you encounter 504 gateway timeout error or different errors on your site and cannot solve them yourself.
Describe Your Business Clearly and Prominently
Your visitors should have clear and concise information about your business. A blurb should tell customers about what you do and what you sell. This will help the visitors to get a quick glimpse of your business without scrolling your website back and forth to understand your product.
Make sure that your website has an About Us page and a Mission and Vision statement to inculcate a sense of trust and accountability. People can click and visit these pages to get a detailed insight into your business.
The main homepage banner and all subsequent banners should be visually appealing and tell your website about special deals and offers. This will help your website in attracting more customers as they will get the opportunity to buy something unique at a lesser price.
Implement a Reliable Content Management System
A CMS is a software program used to create and manage digital content effectively and efficiently in a comprehensive platform. Your CMS will help you to maintain the website even if you do not have the technical expertise to handle it.
You should select a responsive content management system that is designed for your specific business needs. Keep in mind the usability, user-friendliness, budget, and extensibility before finalizing your CMS.
Some of the popular content management systems include WordPress, Drupal, Squarespace, Joomla, and Wix. You can visit the official websites of these CMS to analyze the features they offer and how they can benefit your online business.
Choose a Responsive eCommerce Platform
If you are planning to sell a product or service through your blog, ensure that you have the right technology and tools in place. Selling a product online includes multiple steps, so your website must incorporate every single tool for smoother processing, from order placement to final payments.
Apart from a reliable website hosting plan, your website must also incorporate a secure payment gateway if you are accepting online payment transactions. This is important to build trust and gain your customer’s loyalty so that they buy again from your brand.
Examples of reliable eCommerce platforms are WooCommerce, Shopify, Shopify Plus, Business Squarespace, GoDaddy Online Store, Wix. You can pick a cloud-based eCommerce platform for better manageability and control.
Keep the Website UI Interactive & Engaging
Your website’s interface should leave a positive impression on the visitors. Make your website engaging and interactive by adding graphics, icons, and easy-to-read fonts. Compress the graphics to optimize them for faster loading as slow performance can cost you your most important asset – customers.
You can take ideas from your competitor’s website and design your website accordingly. Research your competition thoroughly to ensure that your website is up to the mark as it helps you lead the competition.
Keep the navigation smooth and consistent throughout the website. Perform thorough research about your target audience to understand what they expect from your websites and incorporate elements offering an optimal experience for site visitors.
