December 18, 2024
A website is an interesting thing. In the age of social media, you would have assumed that their relevance will have subsided, but no, companies are investing more in their customised online branding than ever. A website, after all, serves as a pretty fantastic hub for everything your business has to offer, and many companies still find their own platform to be something worth investing in.
Moreover, with the advent of template tools and even AI assistants, small businesses and individuals alike can put together a beautiful-looking website with little difficulty.
However, a website can still be an intimidating thing for most people. After all, it takes a careful site plan, the means to brand the website effectively, and a clear-cut understanding of your website’s purpose before you can make good on your options here. It’s completely understandable why someone may feel hesitant to begin. The launch of a website, of course, also signifies your business is an official entity and perhaps ready for business.
With that in mind, please consider the following:
Template websites are everywhere still, with quite a few options to pick from. Some are more expensive than others, and of course each one has its own unique selling point that might draw you in. Places like Wix make a big deal about being easy to use, but the more popular Squarespace tends to focus more on looking nice right out of the box. WordPress is still around too, though it can feel a bit more complicated if you're just starting out, as it requires familiarity with their plugin system. It’s not hard to learn, but could take more time.
The good thing is that most of these places let you try them out first. You can usually build something basic without paying anything, which helps you figure out if it actually works for what you need. Some people get hung up on picking the perfect platform, but really, they all do pretty much the same basic measures these days. However, later we’ll discuss why one might be better than some others.
This probably sounds more complicated than it needs to be. A sitemap is really just working out what pages you want and how they connect to each other. As a priority, you mostly need everything to flow nicely and make sense to people visiting for the first time.
Common sense and past experience using websites helps a fair amount here, so for instance you need a homepage, an about page, something that shows what they do, and a way for people to get in touch. Landing pages for services in certain areas can be essential if you hope to push SEO to certain services.
It's worth thinking about what else might be useful and relevant to your brand. Maybe you need a blog section or a portfolio of your work. Getting this sorted early makes everything else easier later as you expand and refine your business output.
Most website builders these days come with their own app stores or marketplaces where you can add extra features. Some of these are free, but many cost a little each month. Note that some might come with a performance hit depending on what you’re aiming to achieve, so be sure to feel fully justified in their pursuit.
Think about what your website needs to do more than anything else. If you're running a restaurant, for instance, you might want a booking system or a menu that can be loaded on the page in the form of a PDF.
Alternatively, and for a small shop, you'll probably need something to handle payments. Some people get excited about adding chat widgets and pop-ups, but sometimes these just annoy visitors more than they help. Start simple and add things as you need them.
Getting your website to look right matters, because all visitors tend to make quick judgments about businesses based on how their website looks, even if that's not entirely fair. But you don't need to spend a fortune on custom everything right away.
Many businesses start with a nice logo and a few good photos. Places like Canva or even working with a freelance designer can sort you out with the basics, just make sure everything matches, including your colours, fonts, and the overall feel of your site should work together. You can always update things later as your business grows.
Shopify has become quite popular for selling items online, and for good reason. It handles all the complicated elements of running an online store which generally includes taking payments, managing inventory, and sorting out shipping. You can either use it as your whole website or just add it to your existing one. You don’t have to stick it forever, but often becoming professionals are somewhat worried about outfitting a secure online storefront, and this can help you secure that function as you continue.
The monthly cost might seem a bit much at first, but it's usually worth it if you're selling things regularly. They keep everything secure and up to date, which saves you having to worry about it, and most people are familiar with how Shopify works, so customers tend to trust it.
Running a website isn't usually expensive, but the costs can add up if you're not careful, especially if you go for the premium plan which gives you many staff logins or access to the best support. Of course, you'll need to pay for your domain name every year, plus whatever your website builder charges. Then there are any extra tools or apps you've added, and possibly someone to help with updates now and then.
It's worth sitting down and adding it all up, including things you might need later. Some people forget about costs like backing up their site or paying for extra storage as they grow, but it’s better to know what you're in for right from the start.
Security might sound boring, but it's pretty important as cyber-security has become a hot-button issue for everyone around the world. Think about how vital functions like the British Library have had trouble. Even small websites can be targets for hackers unfortunately, sometimes more so because they expect you to have less of a team ready to respond, and so fixing problems after they happen is much harder than preventing them in the first place.
Most website builders handle the basic security stuff for you, but you still need to do your bit. Use strong passwords, keep everything updated, and make regular backups of your site so you can come back if anything happens. Moreover, if you're taking payments or collecting email addresses, you'll need SSL security too - though most platforms include this now. It might feel like extra work, but it's better than having to explain to customers why your site got hacked.
So, you’ve put all that work into your website, now it’s time to get it seen. You can use branding to point to this of course, but it’s als quite healthy to encourage organic traffic.
This is where professionals such as Squarespace experts can be so important, as they offer a fantastic service allowing you to curate the best SEO, helping you format your pages in kind, but won’t define your creative direction or limit your unique selling point.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily take that worried fear out of launching your website, giving you more and better options for your online pursuits in the future.
