A website is a way to increase your credibility, your opportunity to make a great first impression to your target audience.
If you are running any type of business, your might be thinking of starting your online presence. But which is better a social media account at Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or have a website?
The answer will depend on who and where your target audience is. But also the answer can be all of the above if you can manage, create content, and keep the social media accounts and your website updated.
Even though social media has become for many young consumers the way to search instead of using Bing, Yahoo or Google, data on audience insights from Google Search and Maps show and confirm that for almost 40% of the younger audience, TikTok or Instagram is the go-to search engine, have a website for a business or personal brand is still relevant.
A website works like a hub to provide more information about a topic. A rock band can be in all social platforms: TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. But to connect all the links in a place, provide the band’s history, a photo gallery, book a concert, discography, contact information, and also provide links to social media networks, a website is the right platform to connect everything in one place and without opening a social media account, just opening to the general public 24/7.
From a business perspective, a website is a way to increase your credibility, raise your brand awareness, your opportunity to make a great first impression to your target audience. Imagine you are a plumber offering your service in South Florida. You can have a website that looks like a multi-million dollar company and be one business owner. suppose you use some very simple search engine optimization techniques. In that case, you can rank in a very good position at Google, increase your visibility and, consequently, get more people interested in your service and more clients.
Also, a website is a way to keep in contact with the general public, announce new services or products you are offering, get paid, and receive feedback from your clients. 72% of consumers that did a local search visited a store within five miles. (Source: HubSpot Marketing Statistics). And this search means an inquiry made on a search engine, not in a social media network.
Twenty First Century, and you don’t have a website; how do I get started?
When you are thinking about developing a website for your business, the first thing you need to do is plan your objective; what is the purpose of your website? to inform or sell products or services? what type of information will you publish on your website? Is this information static, or are you planning to produce content regularly?
After you decide on the purpose of your website, create a wireframe; in other words, map out the main features and navigation structure your website will have. It gives an idea of the site’s functionality before considering visual design elements, like content and color schemes.
Also need to create a User Experience interface (UX)
how do your website visitors will interact with your content? what colors or scheme colors are you planning to use? navigation bars? credibility logos? sections? titles, sub-titles, etc.?
Webdesignerdepot.com proposes 7 UX Principles for creating websites:
- Design Should Concentrate on User Experience.
- Websites Are Scanned, Not Read.
- Users Want Clarity and Simplicity.
- Common Design Elements Versus Creativity.
- Know the Audience.
- Visual Hierarchy.
- User Experience Qualities.
- Conclusion.
Next Steps to develop a website
- Pick a good domain name. Keep it short but try to refer to your business; keeping with the plumber example can be something like: BrianPlumbingServices.com or SFPlumbingServices.com UncloggedPlumbing.com. You need to use a domain registration service. You can use godaddy.com or domains.google.
- You need a server connected 24/7 to the Internet to host your page or website. There are a thousand hosting companies, so you don’t need to keep your computer running 24/7 or deal with bandwidth or any other complex related to a web server. Just search on Google and find a good one. Some good ones are wpengine.com and Godaddy.com. Usually, a web hosting company offers you domain name registration services.
- You need a platform to develop a website. Web language is HTML, but you don’t need to learn HTML to have a website; you can create one using a CMS or Content Management System. Nowadays, WordPress is a standard platform for developing websites, but there are other platforms and services like Wix. It’s really important your website can render on multiple devices, mobile, desktop, and tablets, without any problem.
- Also. you might need an SSL or Secure Socket Layer or digital certificate that gives some security level of your website to your visitors. An SSL tells visitors that you are who you are saying you are. Usually, the hosting or domain registration company can provide you with an SSL.
- If you are planning to sell products and services and want to get paid online, you might need a way to receive money, and you can easily integrate paypal.com or stripe.com into your website.
Maybe all these steps are too complex for you, there are not, but if you still think are too difficult, you can hire a specialist. Before hiring a web designer or web design company, check if they have a website, check for their reviews, ask for a quote in writing, and never pay upfront more than 50% of the project. Also, make sure the domain name is under your name, and ensure you have full administrative access to the website CMS or Content Management System and the web hosting company.
A website is an asset to your business; as I mentioned is the first impression a person can have from your company, so you must pay attention to all the details.
