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HOW TO BUILD A WEBSITE: A STEP-BY-STEP BEGINNER’S GUIDE

HOW TO BUILD A WEBSITE: A STEP-BY-STEP BEGINNER’S GUIDE

                                 How to build website

A business website is essential whether you own or manage a small company or limited liability company (LLC) or are planning to do so. TRUiC holds that businesses of every size and in any field would benefit from having a website.

The question then becomes, “How do you create a website?” Fortunately, advances in technology have recently met the huge need for tools that streamline the website-building process. It’s simpler than ever to make your own website without knowing how to code.

Whether you’re just starting out or have years of experience under your belt, this article will provide you a bird’s eye view of the process of creating a website for your company. In addition, we will supply you with supplementary materials to speed up the launch of your company’s website and achieve your objectives.

If you’re ready to launch your business online, check out our Best Website Builder Review to learn more about the various options available to you.

SKIP AHEAD

  • To What Extent Do You Require a Website?
  • Pick a Website Platform or Builder.
  • Select an Existing Design That Suits Your Company.
  • Make the Documents Your Company Requires.
  • Edit and release.
  • Upkeep, Upgrades, and Performance Tuning.

What Kind of Website Do You Need?

First, you should figure out what kind of website you need.

What kind of website you need will be determined by the nature of your business. While there are commonalities shared by all websites, your company’s site will also need specific elements.

For instance, if you run a restaurant, your website might benefit from featuring a menu. However, a CPA will likely value a simple contact form more highly.

In the sections that follow, we’ll examine several types of businesses and provide recommendations for the website creation tools that make the most sense for each.

Local Business

It’s not hard to think of a wide variety of local companies, such as restaurants, accountants, plumbers, real estate agents, florists, and tanning salons. A good example of a niche business that requires a customised website is a little shop or market off of a main street.

These companies typically don’t need elaborate or extensive websites, but the information provided on those sites still needs to help clients.

Some small businesses only require a single-page website with their contact details and open hours listed. Others will want more advanced features for their websites, such as shopping carts, live chat support, or even IDX connections. Your website requirements will ultimately be determined by the kind of your firm.

Keep in mind that it’s not enough to just have a Google Business Profile, a Yelp page, or a Facebook page for your company. While they will certainly help spread the word about your company, having your own website is the first true step toward becoming a respectable corporation.

Large Business

The term “big business” is often used to refer to well-known corporations or brands. All the businesses that stock your supermarket with products, for instance, require a company website.

Websites designed by these people are typically surprisingly straightforward. Many of their sites are essentially massively expanded blogs. While corporate websites can have thousands of pages, the technology behind them isn’t much different from that used to develop a basic blog.

WordPress is by far the most well-liked CMS for such websites. It’s likely that any sizable company will have at least a couple of techies or web developers on staff. This proves that you have the in-house expertise to create and maintain a fully functional WordPress site.

Online Service Business

Software as a service (SaaS) enterprises, subscription sites, social media businesses, and online forums are all instances of this business model. The website of an internet service business is its most important marketing tool, just like that of a firm that needs a blog or portfolio site. The key distinction is that these companies necessitate highly functional, technically integrated websites.

A website with the adaptability and scalability your online service business requires is beyond the skill set of the average user, so you will likely need to employ or contract with technical expertise.

Ecommerce

An ecommerce website is a must-have if you plan on selling things directly to customers on the internet.

The e-commerce industry has grown rapidly in recent years. Those who fall within this category include both direct sellers and dropshippers, regardless of the type of product being sold. The advent of cutting-edge software that streamlined the entire online selling process and made it more affordable for start-ups and solopreneurs to compete was a major factor in this meteoric expansion.

With the help of specialised software, even e-commerce websites, which are more involved than your average blog or portfolio site, are easy to create and manage.

Content Creators

Websites like blogs and portfolios are ideal for individuals seeking to establish a digital identity or for creatives in need of an online exhibition space.

A blog’s website is the business itself, rather than just another component of the larger enterprise. This fact will determine the website development tools you employ. Since you’ll be “living” in that programme on a regular basis, it’s important that it has all the modern conveniences you require.

Check out our no-cost blogging course if you’re thinking about creating your own blog. As such, it will serve as a comprehensive guide that will help you launch your blog with ease.

Having a website that can store your in-depth information and link to all the other platforms for viewers to engage with it is essential for all content providers, including video essayists and podcasters. However, not all website builders have this feature or make it simple to use. It is crucial to locate the ideal companion.

More emphasis on design freedom may be warranted if your goal is to build a portfolio website in which to display your creative work. Website creation tools typically include a large library of premade designs to work from, simplifying the design process.

Choose a Website Builder or Platform

You might be starting to wonder why we recommend certain tools over others after reading through everything we’ve suggested so far. In order to make an informed choice about web hosting and building platforms, some background information is provided below.

We’ll start with WordPress because it’s the easiest to use and understand. WordPress is more accurately described as a content management system (CMS) with website-building capabilities. We know this is going to be challenging, but we hope you’ll bear with us.

Next, we’ll go over the basics of traditional website builders, such as who they are, what they offer, and how to choose the best one for your needs.

We’ll talk about some of the essential qualifications and assets that will play a major role in your choice. When deciding on a website builder or platform, the most important considerations are:

  • Competency Requirements: What is your level of expertise in website development?
  • How much time, money, and endurance can you commit to this endeavour?
  • Adaptability – How intricate are your website’s requirements?
  • Does the complexity of your website scale up with the needs of your expanding company?

WordPress

WordPress is a free and open-source software that can be used to create a wide variety of websites. Since its initial release in 2003, WordPress has undergone numerous iterations of development and expansion. The fact that it has a huge plugin marketplace with more than 50,000 add-on applications makes WordPress a highly flexible system. More than 40% of all websites are run by WordPress.

As a result, I can’t fathom why anyone wouldn’t use WordPress.

The reason being that there is a great deal of complexity associated with such versatility. In order to kick off the development of your website with WordPress, you will need to:

You should sign up with a domain registrar to get a website address (domain name).
Your website’s data needs to be stored and served by a web hosting provider, so look for one that fits your needs.
Select a WordPress theme that satisfies your company’s aesthetic and functional requirements.
Understanding that building a WordPress site is a modular process is important, as these steps aren’t particularly challenging but are necessary nonetheless. To extend the capabilities of your site beyond what is provided by WordPress itself, you will need to either use a third-party plugin or have a solution developed specifically for your site. Sometimes it takes as many as three separate purchases from different companies just to get started.

The complexity of WordPress may seem daunting at first, but as more web hosts add WordPress-compatible website-building tools, the learning curve decreases. For this reason, we suggest using a hosting service such as GoDaddy, Bluehost, or Kinsta. When you use a service like this, you can quickly get up and running, construct your website, and never again worry about installing and updating plugins and themes.

WordPress Summary

  • Moderate Skill Level Required. Building a WordPress site requires some familiarity with the web.
  • Medium-Level of Available Resources If you want to build it yourself, you’ll need a lot of time and patience, while hiring a professional will cost a lot of money.
  • Extremely adaptable. WordPress is a flexible platform that allows you to create nearly anything.
  • Excellent long-term viability. Your WordPress site can grow infinitely if it is built correctly.

Website Builders

Similarly, website creation tools have been around for a long time. Wix and Squarespace, two examples of modern builders, have seen increased popularity in recent years thanks to their high-quality designs and user-friendly interfaces.

When compared to WordPress, which can feel overwhelming, these website builders provide everything you need to create a professional website. A website builder will typically have you start by choosing a domain name that is available on the platform, and then asking you a series of questions about your business. A website’s skeleton can be created after answering those questions, and the whole process can take anywhere from five to thirty minutes.

However, this drastic simplification comes at the cost of a great deal of flexibility. However, this is relevant only if you need advanced functionality on your website. Getting your site up and running can be slowed by adding more customization options, but 90% of small businesses won’t miss them.

Website Builder Summary

  • Low Level of Skill Necessary You don’t need to have any experience with web development beforehand, but you should be comfortable using a computer.
    Few Resources are Needed. Building a website with one of these services costs next to nothing per month. And since you won’t have to pay a developer, the main expense will be your own time.
    Adaptability Level: About Average. Your website’s functionality requirements can be met by the features made available by the platform you choose. However, not every wild aspect will have a straightforward explanation.
    Excellent long-term viability. Almost all websites created with a given website builder will be supported indefinitely. If it doesn’t work out, you can always move your site to another host.

Choose a Template or Theme That Suits Your Business

After settling on the software platform you’ll use to construct your website, you’ll want to select a template or theme to give your site the look and feel it needs to be effective for your enterprise.

Themes are what WordPress uses to let you customise your site’s appearance. Third-party developers provide the most innovative and practical templates. In many cases, these themes will also manage the functionality of the back end of your site. To find out more, read our piece on the Top WordPress Themes.

It is the templates used by website builders that determine the overall look and feel of your site. No changes will be made to the structure or functionality of your site’s back end regardless of which template you select.

Depending on the nature of your business and your own personal tastes, you’ll want to use a different theme or template. Make use of the following features as criteria for your theme or template selection.

Functionality and Simplicity

User-friendliness and ease of use are the most valued qualities in a theme or template.

A website is a liability rather than an asset if visitors can’t find their way around it or the information they need.

Over the past few years, we’ve all been “trained” to recognise the qualities that make a website easy to use and enjoyable to navigate. For instance, commonplace elements like menus and buttons should be precisely where you’d expect them to be so that site visitors don’t have to waste time searching in vain. Additionally, professionally designed websites don’t use crazy colour combinations that make the text hard to read across a range of screen sizes.

You should have no trouble finding a theme or template that fulfils all of these requirements, as most don’t deviate too far from the mean.

Brand and Visuals

Once you’ve determined that your target audience can navigate your chosen theme with ease, you should search for a solution that harmonises with the visual components of your company’s branding. In fact, the websites of many up-and-coming companies serve as the inspiration for their brand logos.

Use the company logo as a guide when trying to establish the company’s identity. Check out our no-cost logo generator if you still need one.

If you haven’t even thought of a name for your company yet, you can get a head start by using our business name generator or business ideas generator.

Create the Pages Your Business Needs

Web pages are compiled and organised with great care to form a website. It’s important that each page serves a purpose and is necessary to the whole. Without getting too technical, every website requires a few mandatory pages, while it should also feature additional content that is unique to the company.

Pages Every Site Needs

There are five essential sections to any website, and they are as follows:

The homepage of your website should provide a brief overview of your company’s mission and contact information. Additional details that you think your customers need to know can be included.
Your company’s history, its people, its vision or mission statement, and any other identifying information you want to share with customers can all be found on the “About” page.
The purpose of the “Contact” page is to provide information on how clients can get in touch with you. There are plenty of contact forms on the web, but you should also provide other methods for customers to get in touch with you. In addition, this page can serve as a place to list your company’s address and hours of operation.
The Privacy Policy Page may not get many pageviews from customers, but it should be present if you collect any personal data from them.
Like a privacy policy page, a terms and conditions page lays out the ground rules for doing business with your company and/or on your website.
Building the homepage, about page, and contact page of your website on your own should be a breeze. Look at these stunning GoDaddy-created websites to get ideas.

There’s still some work to be done on the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy pages. Consult your company’s lawyer for assistance in writing the appropriate language for these sections. You can use Rocket Lawyer if you don’t have an attorney or don’t want to spend a lot of money on legal representation. For a fraction of the price of a lawyer, you can get access to a wide range of forms, including page templates for just such a website.

For more information on how to reduce your personal liability and safeguard your company, read our comprehensive guide on How to Form an LLC in any State.

Pages Specific To Your Business

In addition to the standard fare of informational and operational pages, your website may benefit from the inclusion of a number of specialised sections.

The following is not an all-inclusive list of page types that could be useful for your company website:

  • One type of web page you can have is a Product Page, which provides information about the goods you’re selling. Whether you’re an online merchant or have a brick-and-mortar location, a product page will give your customers more information about the item they’re interested in and, hopefully, encourage them to buy it.
  • Common among service providers, a pricing page details the various tiers of service available at a given company and the prices associated with each. A link to pricing information is usually located in the main menu.
  • If you own a cafe or diner, you should definitely make a menu page. When searching for your menu online, you don’t want customers to find only blurry images of your physical menu.
    If your company provides more than one type of service, you can list all of them in detail on a dedicated page called “Services.”
  • Every company, no matter how small, can benefit from having a blog. Starting a business blog is a common practise for improving a site’s visibility in search engines (SEO).
  • Whether or not you need these sections of your site to function will be determined by the nature of your business. You’re free to use your imagination and mix and match these various page types in any way you see fit. Keep in mind that internet users have come to expect certain patterns, and deviating too much from the norm could backfire.

Calls To Action

Though they aren’t technically a page type, calls to action are crucial to the success of any website.

A “call to action” (CTA) is anything on your site that prompts visitors to take some sort of further action. Various forms of calls to action exist, including “Buy Now!” buttons, “Fill out this form” headings, and “Click here for more details” links.

If you’re worried that this practise could give the impression that your website is trying to trick its visitors, rest assured that it is an essential part of providing a good UX. By providing these options, you’re guiding site visitors in the right direction. Consider it more like providing a service than placing an ad.

Sites lacking compelling calls to action may also drive visitors in search of their desired products elsewhere.

How To Create a CTA

What you want customers to do is the most important factor in crafting effective calls to action. Different situations call for different tactics, but, in general, effective CTAs take the form of a button or link that moves a customer further down the purchasing funnel. Instances of this are as follows:

  • Customers who view your product pages will appreciate a bold button that reads “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart.”
  • The phrase “How to Reach Us” in combination with a phone number or contact form can serve as an effective call to action for visitors to your contact page.
  • Visitors to your services page who are ready to make an appointment can be prompted to take action by clicking a “Schedule an Appointment” button.

Developing effective CTAs isn’t rocket science, as evidenced by the preceding examples. An effective call to action (CTA) should be present on the majority of your website’s pages. Try imagining life as one of your customers for a moment to get a sense of what would make them happy and then plan accordingly.

                                  Review and Publish

It’s time to launch your website after you’ve planned and created the pages it requires.

When releasing your website for the first time, there are only two rules you need to follow:

Attempt Everything. Check out all the site pages you made. Get through all the text, click all the buttons, and fill out all the forms. For optimal performance when your first users access the site, this quality assurance check is essential.
Don’t Hover Over the Attempt button The availability of your website is the single most crucial aspect of it. Putting together a website for the first time is an educational experience. The chances are high that you will dislike some aspect of your website. For instance, you might want a button to be shifted six pixels to the left, but you don’t know how to do that. In addition, you may discover broken links that you previously thought were fixed. However, since perfection does not exist, there is no point in delaying publication after the first round of testing has been completed.

               Maintenance, Updates, and Optimizatio

Even if you’ve just launched your company’s website, you still have work to do. You should always be on the lookout for new ways to enhance your website. Keeping the site up-to-date is essential, even if major changes are not in the cards.

The amount of time spent maintaining your website manually will change depending on the programme you used to create it. WordPress’s modular architecture will typically necessitate more constant input than that of a website builder platform.

No matter which platform you use to build your website, you will still need to carry out various types of optimization.

If you’re planning your website’s future, be sure to think about the points we’ve covered below.

Search Engine Optimization

Improve your website’s visibility in search engine results through search engine optimization. Boosting your company’s Google page rank and online profile could have a huge effect on its success, depending on other marketing strategies.

Plugins and Updates

If you’re going to use WordPress to create a website, you need to keep the core software, as well as the theme and plugins you use, updated. In most cases, all it takes is a few mouse clicks and a login to accomplish this manually.

Since WordPress plugins are independent from one another, their update cycles will vary. You should periodically update all of them, though some may have more updates and patches available. These updates not only add new features and functionality, but also fix bugs and prevent security issues.

For the most part, using a website builder to create your company’s website means you won’t have to stress about keeping it up-to-date.

Because of these tools’ integrated nature, site updates can be made in the background with minimal involvement from you. Using a website builder like this has many benefits.

                        Start Your Business Website

This is the simplest time ever to create a website for a company. Having access to high-quality, user-friendly tools should make your work much simpler.

If you follow our advice, you should have a good idea of which software platform is best for your company.

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