What to consider when building a website?
Websites
Your website is at the centre of your online presence. It provides a window into your business and plays a critical role in the process of achieving sales.
With the move online having gained speed in light of Covid 19, a business cannot afford to ignore or neglect its online presence. It is not just about having an online presence; it is also about maintaining it and ensuring you maximise the effectiveness of it! Often with a plethora of options online, people will quickly judge your website and if they don’t like what they see, they will move on to other options.
Your website needs to capture people’s attention and encourage them to spend time and then hopefully, money! How do you do this? Great visuals, video, great content, easy to use, fast loading, up to date information and great offers.
Too often people create websites and then forget about them for the next 3-5 years. As the focus on sales moves more online, people either not having, or neglecting their online presence will be punished financially.
As a small business you don’t have a bottomless bucket of money, nor can you be expected to become an expert in website creation. So, what are your options to create a great website?
DIY Options
If you are intent on doing it yourself to save money, then we recommend the following two options. There are other good options, but the more that you have to choose from, the more confusing it gets. The following are two very solid options, which have e-commerce capability:
BE AWARE:
- I strongly recommend that you do not go for any free versions that might be offered. You get what you pay for. In other words, you will not get much! I have seen the heartache too many times when people go for free options and then find the site ineffective, with money being wasted with any paid advertising. Free options will most likely cost you more money in the long run!
- These websites involve compromises, which can become an issue when you are doing specific promotions.
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Built For You!
The platform of choice for a website that is built for you, but you can still learn to do basic updating, is WordPress. For me, this is the best option.
Business owners should focus on making money in their business, not becoming website gurus. A WordPress website can be created to do exactly what you want. You don’t face the compromises that you get with the DIY websites, but you can still learn easily enough to upload photos and make basic changes, so you are not totally dependent on your web developer.
How much does a WordPress website cost? That depends on what you need. They are more expensive than the DIY sites, but you have the flexibility to get exactly what you want and ensure you maximise the effectiveness of the site. In my opinion, they will pay for themselves in the long run, so better not to cut corners and get a WordPress website.
BE AWARE:
- Don’t choose a web developer until you know what platform they use for building websites.
- Do your own homework to ensure that the platform they will use is a popular one used by plenty of other web developers in your area. Don’t just take their word for it!
If your website is not built on a common platform such as WordPress, then you run the risk of having to have your website entirely rebuilt if you leave your web developer, or feeling trapped to stay with them! No matter how great the web developer may appear, play it safe and stick to a popular platform for your website!
Want to take your website to the next level?
Make sure to add Google Analytics and Tag Manager to your website so that you get a full overview of how your website is performing which will enable you to identify any required changes to maximise performance. If you have any paid advertising, then you will also be able to monitor its performance.
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