Even if you don’t think you need one because of the type of work you do, having a website is useful for many reasons – particularly for catching the eye of new customers. Below you can find our top five tips to help you set one up.
A domain name is what you call your website. It’s the central part of your website address (also known as a URL), which sits between www. and whatever your URL ends in, such as .com or .org. For example, www.hayleystulips.com (if your business name is Hayley’s Tulips).
It would be ideal to match this with the name of your business, as above. However, if that’s already taken or isn’t in your budget (some popular names are more expensive than others), get creative and add one or two extra words – such as the industry you work in or the service you provide. For example, www.hayleystulips-florist.com.
To get started, explore Domain.com to search for, reserve and buy your very own domain name.
Creating a website doesn’t have to cost a lot. Of course, there are expensive options out there but there are also plenty of free or low cost tools to help you build your own, which are also very easy to use. For example, HubSpot, Wix and WordPress.
Many web builders also offer hosting services within packages – often creating bundles. This means that you can use the web builder to create your website, then use the same company's hosting services to launch your website on the internet.
However, it's important to note that not all web builders offer hosting options, and not all hosting services are created equal. So, if you’re looking for this added option, check whether the web builder you’re interested in offers full hosting, limited hosting or requires you to purchase this separately from another business.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is when you make your website as visible as it can be on a search engine’s results page (like Google).
Results pages are what come up when you type what you’re looking for into a search engine. Ideally, you want your website to be easy to find so customers are less likely to be pulled in by one of your competitors. The best result is if you are on the first page of suggested websites!
Want to learn more about this? Read our article on SEO for beginners.
When it comes to creating a website, we recommend adding content and photos that make it easy for visitors to know exactly what you do. The less guesswork, the better.
Other things to consider:
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