Building a business website is an exciting process. Whether your business has been around for a while, or whether it is brand new, if you have decided that a website is the best way to proceed then this guide can help you get started. Before you can start drafting up website content, you need to get to the heart of the matter – the intent of your website, the design that the intent requires, and your plan for driving traffic to your new site.
The Purpose Of Your Site And The Intent Of Your Visitors
The content of your website will depend entirely on the intent of your website’s visitors. There are two types of websites in the business world: informational websites and sales websites. Unless you are selling products directly from your website, you definitely need to focus on the information. Plan your content strategy carefully.
Will people be coming to your website to find your business phone number? Will they be coming to your site to learn more about your product before calling? Will they be coming to your site to learn more about your industry?
Designing Your Site According To Intent
Keep your website content plan simple. Address only the needs that your customers or clients need to fill. If your customers are always calling to find your location, make sure that information is prominent. If your clients are always sending emails looking for an explanation of your services, make sure to have a few pages dedicated to the services you offer. If your stockholders would benefit from industry news, add an industry news page.
Do not go overboard. Include only what you need. If you want potential customers or clients to call you or sign up for a mailing list to get more information, you might want to limit the answers your website provides. Keep the interface simple – customers and clients are always more interested in finding the information they need, and though an attractive interface is a bonus, the true value of your website comes from functionality.
Making Sure Your Site Is A Success
If you’re serious about starting a website for your business, then you probably already know that the process involves a lot of time and effort. A business website is not a “set and forget” venture. It takes some time to optimize your site for success, to make sure the target audience can actually find your site and act on the information they find.
We suggest looking at a few SEO services for small business to get your site started right. SEO involves optimizing your website for the web’s major search engines. Setting up your website so that search engines can find it is important because this is likely how many of your visitors will try to find your site in the first place.
Building a small business website may seem confusing at first but the only way to get a feel for the process is to get started. Once you chat with your consultant or web designer, you will feel even better. Why wait? Your competition already has a website – it’s time to catch up.
Author Bio
Noah Z. is an Internet Writer that has authored several e-books and published hundreds of articles on various websites and information hubs. With more than 5 years of content writing experience, he specializes in real estate, insurance and technology topics.