How to Build a Website for Your Business
Having a web presence is becoming essential to an increasing range of businesses – those that sell goods nationally and internationally, and those that want to advertise their services to a wider audience. If you’re new to business or just starting out, here is the step-by-step guide to creating a website for your company.
You need to think of your company website as an online shop window. It’s an important communication channel between you and existing and potential customers. The first thing you need is a name. You need to register your internet name (or domain name) and to make sure that it is not already in use by someone else.
If you’re a UK-based business, it makes sense to use your existing company name with a .co.uk ending, if it is available. You’re trying to make yourself as easy as possible to find. The Nominet website, http://www.nic.uk, registers any addresses ending in .co.uk. The Internic website, http://www.internic.net, deals with addresses ending in .com, .net, .org. There’s a fee of up to £50 a year to register a domain name.
The simplest websites should have a clear and simple description of what your business does, your products, including pictures of relevant products, your contact details and information on any regional branches or offices.
You need to decide whether further features are relevant to the type of business you run, for example online order forms, the ability to be emailed by clients and customers, the ability to create and send newsletters to your clients, and the ability to purchase goods online securely. If you do include any of these features, it’s important to ensure that your website is updated regularly and that you have processes in place to respond to the enquiries and orders that are generated in this way.
When you commission a more advanced website, include in the budget the cost of updates and maintenance.
You can build a website yourself, but many people get a web designer or web developer to do it for them. After all, you want the finished product to look as professional and attractive as possible.
Employing a website builder is like hiring any other tradesman – it pays to have a clear idea of what you are buying. Ask around for recommendations. These are the essential questions to ask to get the type of website that is suitable for your business:
Have they produced websites with the type of features that you want?
Do they talk to you and explain things in plain English? Don’t be afraid to say you don’t understand, and don’t be bamboozled by technical jargon.
Can they build the website as well as design it?
Do they organise hosting (having your pages on the internet) and what are the charges?
Can you see or use websites that they have designed?
Will you have copyright over the website?
Can your website be updated by you, thus reducing your costs? Think about how often you may need to make small changes to contact details or product descriptions.
What will they do to improve your ranking with search engines? A well-programmed site will not require you to pay to be included in search engine listings.
When your website has been designed, make sure you can test it and that it loads quickly, is easy to understand and well laid out, and that there are no broken links or missing pages. Get friends and colleagues to test the website and act on their feedback.
Check in advance how you will be billed – a flat fee for the project or a day rate?
Websites cost between £400 and £1,000 to build and £200 to £500 a year to maintain. Hosting costs around £500 a year.
