February 08th 2017

How to Setup a Business Website [The No-Nonsense Way]

Let’s speak frankly, being a business owner in Lichfield is hard enough without suddenly being expected to understand the workings of the internet, am I right?

Which is why, when the need arises for a business website, you shouldn’t be wasting time trying to figure out where to start or even how to setup a business website, and neither should you be stressing about the cost.

So, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of the easiest way to setup a business website without the need to do heaps of research, waste time or spend money on an inadequate site.

The Basics of How to Setup a Business Website

The basics of how to setup a business website are quite straightforward when you choose the no-nonsense approach. Simply speaking, you need to:

  1. Choose your domain name and go lease it

This is basically your website address, i.e. www.mybusinessname.co.uk.  Not too difficult if you follow the steps on popular domain sites like 123 Reg. And definitely not expensive, but keep in mind that domain names are leased rather than owned, so you will need to renew it each year. We recommend that you register for it yourself to keep full control of this important company asset.

  1. Decide what you want your website to do

What does a successful website look like to you? Is it one where people purchase your items at a checkout? Is it one that convinces other businesses that your service is the one for them, motivating them to contact you?  Is it there to inspire people to visit a location or event?

When you know the goal of your website, and how it will motivate your customers – then you have a vision for your business website which provides a good foundation to start.

  1. Leave the technical parts to the professionals

Yes, we could cover topics on where your website will live in cyberspace, (also known as hosting) and yes we could talk about website styles, responsiveness and search engine optimisation – but we’re doing things the no-nonsense way, so if you leave the website creation to a web designer, then you are sure to get a professional website with minimum effort.

But is choosing a web designer in Lichfield for your business website the best option for your budget and business goals? Let’s look at the alternatives.

How to Create a Website for a Business [in Local Lichfield]

Deciding how to setup a business website includes the very important decision of who will create your website. Your options include:

  • You or a staff member – by creating your own website for free

As appealing as this sounds, creating your own website is never completely free.

Even if you use a drag-and-drop website building site, you still need to pay a yearly fee to use your custom domain name, otherwise you’re left with an unprofessional addition to your website address like, www.mybusinessname.wordpress.com.

You also have to factor in a large amount of time (which is money, people) to write, arrange and purchase copyright images for the site.

And let’s not forget that if you don’t do enough research or get it wrong, you’ll hinder the chances of your site showing up on Google searches, being found by customers, meeting legal requirements or it can end up just looking plain unprofessional.

So, is it worth risking potential business in favour of a free template?

Of course, we understand that limited budgets may leave you feeling that you have no option but to go solo. However, as a Lichfield business you can access loans or choose a web developer that will help you spread the costs; after all, a website is an investment that will provide long term returns and therefore needs to be right from the very beginning.

  • Large Corporate Web Design Businesses

So, after making the sound business decision that a professional website should come from a skilled web designer, you may do a search for business website designers and be drawn to the ‘low cost’ option provided by many of the larger web design businesses.

This option may seem helpful, however be aware of some potential pitfalls with large web design businesses:

  • Dominating the market is one thing, but large web design businesses have hundreds of customers. Which means your site may become just another number in the list of sites to be churned out by a deadline and will fail to get the attention or customisation required.
  • Cheap sites mean limited sites with simple standard templates, so your website may not cope with functions like video, online payments, additional product pages or customised updates.
  • You may not own the finished assembled work (website code or content) after the work is completed, and having your site controlled by another business isn’t ideal to say the least.
  • Customer service and communication becomes a headache with high waiting times for responses, projects passed between designers and no option to meet to discuss your concerns.
  • A local Lichfield web designer

Searching within your local community in Lichfield is a good idea when choosing a web designer to create and setup your business website.

Not only will you have local access for meetings and advice, but your website will receive a lot more attention and will be owned by you – (usually…always check their terms and conditions).

This means that you may pay more than the cheap template websites, but you will be provided with a business website that is optimised to meet your goals and help you achieve your return on investment very quickly.

A good, reputable Lichfield web designer will include:

  • Dedicated meetings and a personalised approach for your website vision
  • Research into your customer base to identify their preferences to incorporate into the final design
  • Multiple options of styles, layouts, designs and functions to get your site just the way you want it
  • Domain name purchase support
  • Logo creation and licensed images for use in your site
  • Expert content writing
  • Handover of all finished assembled work to you
  • The option to provide hosting or support to ensure you are in control of your own hosting
  • Facilitating website updates
  • Additional work to optimise the site for Google searches and social media sharing
  • Analytic data that shows visitor numbers and successes
  • Immediate customer support and advice
  • Options to spread payments

Here at Cocoonfxmedia, we know this is what it takes to make great websites that bring in business, which is why we offer all of the above for our Lichfield business website service. However, it is still important when choosing a local web designer to do a bit of research, check reviews and read their case studies to make sure you leave the setup of your business website in the right hands.

Want a Website for Your Business in Lichfield?

By taking our no-nonsense approach to help setup a business website, or you will initially need to do is:

  1. Purchase your domain name
  2. Know what success looks like for your website
  3. Choose a reputable local web designer in Lichfield

Once you’ve spoken with a professional web designer, they can guide you to achieve the next steps, whether that’s; deciding how many pages to include in the site; what content you need in it; how to update the site or how to promote the site in Lichfield and beyond.

This way, you can leave the technical aspects and the mind-numbing research to those that have already been there, and done that – leaving you all the time you need to do what you do best, run your business.

So, if you like to conduct no-nonsense business, you’ll need the no-nonsense approach for the most reliable way to get a professional business website.

 

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