To Create A Website Is Not Easy. So Here’s Your Guide To Make It Simple
The Essential Steps To Create A Website That Will Help You Grow Your Business
Photo by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash
Every Small Business owner is told they need to create a website. And the internet is bursting with offers of free websites, cheap websites and (apparently) everything-you-could-possibly-want-built-in-just-five-minutes websites. But what does it take and what do you actually need to get started? What are the basics and how do you make sense of all the hype and jargon?
In this guide I’ll try to break it down and explain the essential elements. So whether you’re aiming for a DIY website or you’re going to hire someone to do it for you, this will give you a good baseline to make sure you’re on track when you’re ready to create your website.
This is what we’ll be covering, so you can wrap your head around it. Click the links to jump directly to any section that particularly interests you.
1. Set a Business Objective For Your Website
Why Do You Want To Create A Website?
Before you start, pause a moment to get clear on what you need the website to do for you. It’s not hard to slap a few pages together. But even the most beautiful website design in the world will not help your business if you don’t start with a clear objective.
Most likely your goal will fit into one of two categories:
- Sell directly to visitors
- Turn visitors into leads
Create a Website That Sells Directly to Visitors
If you’re selling a thing, like t-shirts or soap or tents, then every visitor is potentially a click away from giving you money. So you need a plan to turn visitors into sales. And you’ll need to choose a platform that can handle ecommerce.
Don’t get too carried away here. You probably don’t need every visitor to buy. Figure out how many sales you need per day or per week to break even and how many visitors you can get for that period. Then work from there. 100 sales is 10% of 1000 visitors or 20% of 500 visitors or just 1% of 10,000 visitors. Set a goal, aim to hit it, then work to improve it.
Create a Website That Turns Visitors Into Leads
If you’re an accountant or a plumber or even a junior soccer club, website visitors are not much use to you unless some of them take action beyond the website. This is true for many businesses that don’t sell their product or service directly online. That’s okay, it means your goal is probably to get leads. So you need to try really hard to get them to contact you or find a way to get their details so you can contact them.
Simple Advice About Goal Setting For Your Website
“Awareness” and “Getting our name out there” are not good enough goals. You can pin your business card to a tree in the middle of the forest, but if no one ever calls, what’s the point? Whether you’re working for direct sales or new leads, your website must cause action.
2. Choose a Good Domain Name
What Should You Call Your Website?
Choosing a domain name can be stressful. By now, just about every short, useful word you can think of with less than seven characters has gone. But don’t despair. There are many options to help you find a domain name that is meaningful for your business. My Good Domain Name Guide can help you find a domain name that will work for you. Below are a few pointers to keep in mind.
There’s No Penalty For a Long Domain Name
People often seem tempted to be too short or too clever. But what’s the point? Chances are people will click a link or google your name rather than type it out. So don’t abbreviate or make a weird short version of your name. Be long and memorable rather than short and obscure.
TimJonesBathroomRenovations.com.au is long, but it beats tjbr.com and TjonesbathReno.com and Jonesreno.com any day of the week.
Avoid Odd Characters and Unique Spelling
Imagine telling customers your website everyday. Now imagine every time you tell them, you have to spell it out too. Tedious!
- Don’t invent a new spelling. “BlueCheeze.com. That’s b-l-u-e-c-h-double-e-Z-e .com”
- Don’t use ambiguous words or names. “Stephensmith.com. With a ph!” “GrateCheese.com. g-r-A-T-E-cheese.com”
- Don’t use numbers. “Is it 2shoes.com? Or twoshoes.com? (Or tooshoes.com?)
- Don’t use hyphens. WeGotBlueShoes.com beats blue-shoes.com (“blue hyphen shoes.com”!
- Don’t use a weird acronym. DaveSimpsonFineFurniture.com beats dsff.com.
Simple Advice About Domain Names
- Make it clear and simple, but it doesn’t really have to be short
- Before you buy a domain, say it out loud and make sure it’s easy for anyone to spell
- If you’re Australian, let them know. Use .com.au in Australia because it matters. Locals prefer it.
- Get other domains if you can to protect your name Eg .com .net.au and redirect them to your main domain. This stops sneaky competitors stealing your good name in the future.
- You don’t really own a domain name. You just sort of rent it for a few years. It will cost you money every year or two to renew the rights to use it.
And One Really Important BONUS tip!
If you find the domain name you want is available to buy on GoDaddy or Crazy Domains or somewhere similar, just buy it. Don't wait. There is nothing more frustrating than finding the domain you wanted has been taken (or is suddenly selling for thousands of dollars!) two days after you saw it available for next to nothing.
Better to spend the ten bucks now and just not use it if you decide it’s not right later on. I've personally lost the chance to nab some domains I wanted and it was annoying.
Why does it happen? Some say that domain registrars purchase the inexpensive domains you search for so they can sell them back to you at a much higher price. I’m not sure if that’s true. But in any case, there is a simple solution — if you find the one you want, buy it.
3. Website Hosting Is Where Your Site Lives
Where Do You Put It?
Website Hosting is where things start to get technical and it can feel a bit daunting. But don’t think about it too hard. This is where your site sits, so the rest of the internet can find it.
Probably the main considerations here are speed, security and support.
Website Hosting Speed
When you create a site you need it to be fast so it loads quickly for users. That will help you rank higher on Google too.
Website Hosting Security
Security helps protect your site from hackers and bots and other cheeky monkeys online. You tend to get more security the more you pay. If you see options for SSL, that’s a good thing to have. It’s a certificate to signal that your site is safe. Having one of those is good for users, so Google prefers sites that have one.
Website Hosting Support
Finally, you need someone there in case things go pear-shaped. Most decent website hosting companies guarantee something like 99.9% uptime. In other words, as with any technology, there’s a chance something could go wrong, but more than likely, it won’t.
Simple Advice About Website Hosting
Pick a good host like BlueHost and get on with it. Hosting providers normally have good tech support and they do most of the thinking for you. If you have special needs, find a good technical person to sort it out for you. My advice would be, don’t muck around with servers if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Costs vary depending on how many sites you have and how many visitors you get.
4. Pick a Web Platform
You Can Have Any Platform You Like For Your Website as Long as it’s Wordpress
While your hosting is the place your website lives, the platform is what it’s built on. There are lots of options, including Wordpress, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow and others.
Just to be confusing, there are two options for Wordpress. You want self-hosted. The other one, wordpress.com, let’s you build on the wordpress platform and host the whole thing with them. It’s a bit simpler, but you end up with a funny wordpress domain name, which you don’t want.
What Do You Need For A Website Platform?
Get yourself a hosting company like BlueHost, get your own domain name, then get Wordpress installed. These days it’s usually a one click process that anyone can handle.
Simple Advice About Choosing a Web Platform When You Create a Website
In summary, don’t think too hard here, just use Wordpress. About a third of the entire internet runs on Wordpress. There is a huge ecosystem of technical and creative products and services built around it, so you’ll never have any issues you can’t solve. You can find plenty of free resources as well as plenty of very clever and experienced people to help with any problem. Learn more about it in my Wordpress Overview.
5. Essential Pages And Content You Need When You Create a Website
What Are The Basic Pages And Content Your Website Needs?
Finally we get to the part where you get to write all about yourself and how incredible all your products are. Not quite.
Remember the first point? Where we set a clear business objective for the website?
Remember, whether you’re trying to sell directly or capture new leads, one thing is common to all websites—it’s not for you, it’s for them.
If you start the whole website creation process with a laser focus on who it’s for and what they need, it makes your content creation much simpler. All you need to do is answer their main questions and steer them toward your primary objective.
Now that we’re clear on who this website is for, there is a basic set of pages that you’ll probably need to have. It’s also important to arrange those pages properly, but I won’t be able to cover all that detail here. I’ve explained how to create a clear and easy to follow structure for your website pages in my Basic Website Pages Guide.
The Home Page is About Your Customer
Your Home Page is the front door to your whole business. The easy mistake to make here is to jump straight into talking about everything you do and how great you are. Don’t fall for that one.
Instead, open with a concise statement describing the solution or benefit you provide. Think about the number one problem you solve for your best customer.
For example, if you’re an accountant, you might be tempted to say “We have a range of services to suit any size business”. That may be true, but it’s not very compelling. Perhaps something like “Tax returns completed in less than 24 hours”, which is focused on a clear benefit to the customer, might get more attention.
After you’ve made it clear what you can do for them, give them an obvious button (call to action) that links through to the first step.
The About Page is NOT About you. It’s About Trust.
Sorry to say, but the About page is not about you either. Anyone who visits this page on your website is looking for evidence that you can actually deliver on the promise you stated on the home page or in your advertising.
The two key concepts here are Empathy and Authority. Show that you understand their problem and that you care about helping them. Then show them you’ve got the experience and track record to get it done.
This may seem obvious, and most businesses probably think this is what they’re saying when they talk about their years of industry experience and their many awards. But to a new customer, that just sounds like bragging.
Your customer doesn’t want to feel your biceps, they want to feel understood.
When you show them how much you care, rather than how good you are, you start earning their trust. When you then show a number of happy and successful customers, you don’t need to brag because it becomes obvious that you understand the problem and you have a track record of solving it.
The Contact Page is For Communication
This one is pretty obvious. If anyone wants to call you, visit your showroom or send you a note, they’re going to the Contact Page for the details.
Make it clear and simple, and give all the contact details that are necessary. That word ‘necessary’ is key.
You should give people some way of contacting you, but that doesn't mean every channel on the planet. So if you don't want to accept orders by fax, don't include your fax number. And if you don’t have the resources to monitor customer feedback over Twitter or Facebook, then don’t make them prominent parts of your contact page.
And once again, thinking about your website visitors, don’t forget to add any extra information that might help and show you care. I took my son to a specialist doctor recently in a part of town I was not familiar with. I had the address, but it was a little obscure. Luckily, they told me they were down the lane between the Police station and the Nando’s. Easy.
Your Blog is for Building an Audience
Nobody wants to write a blog. Nobody has anything to say. What’s the point? I’ve written previously about why you should write a blog and surrender your best ideas.
Jamie Oliver is not the best cook in the world. Neither is Gordon Ramsay or Nigella Lawson. But what they all have in common is a long history of publishing regularly in their chosen field. This gives them authority and gathers an audience.
Now, you probably don’t have a book publishing deal or a TV show, but you can start a blog today.
Write about common problems your customers have and how to solve them. Dispel those industry myths, reveal insider secrets, showcase customer success stories, or simply document the journey of building your business. You already have plenty to say and when you start sharing it, you will gather an audience.
Remember, the water doesn’t start flowing until after you turn on the tap.
Simple Advice About The Essential Pages And Content For Your Website
To recap, you will most likely need a few standard pages: Home, About, Contact and Blog. Keep them focused on the needs of your customers and you’ll be off to a great start. Added to that might be a few pages to describe other essential parts of your business such as products and services. There are a few more detailed things to consider, which I’ve covered in my Basic Website Pages Guide.
6. Website Design and Build
How Do You Actually Design And Make Your Website?
The short answer here is, if you’re reading this and you don’t know the answer, it might be better to hire someone. Although there are many options out there like Squarespace, Wix and even Wordpress, that make web design accessible to anyone, it’s never really that easy.
Consider for a moment your dinner table. It’s really not that hard to glue a few bits of timber together and bolt on four legs. But how many novices would ever make their own dinner table? None. Because at the end of the day, you get a nicer table when you hire a professional. Not to mention, while they’re busy making the table for you, you can crack on with your own work and make some money. (End rant. Sorry!)
But I did promise at the beginning of this article that I would explain the essential elements whether you’re aiming for a DIY website or you’re going to hire someone to do it for you.
If you’re using Wordpress, as I suggested earlier, or any other platform, there are plenty of step by step guides and tutorials to walk you through the details of how to put the site together. So I won’t go deep into the weeds here. Instead I’ll focus here on the strategic approach and a few important considerations that will help you plan and build a successful website.
Start With The User Journey
I’ve been banging on about the website visitor a lot already and I’m going to continue that theme here. Don’t think of your website as a set of individual pages, think of them as a series of steps toward a goal—ideally, your goal of selling a product or capturing a new lead.
If you want someone to buy one of your red hats, what steps have to happen?
That’s a lot of clicking and a lot of chances to get lost and/or distracted. What if we featured the red hat right up on the home page?
That’s a much shorter journey and might help us sell more red hats. But is that the best we can do?
What if they could buy right from the home page? One click—boom!
That’s a pretty simple example, and I’m not here to tell you how to design a shopping cart. The point is, when you start by thinking through the steps to reach the ultimate goal, it helps you design a better website for your visitors and helps you reach your goals.
Try it for yourself. Even if you just want a person to read an article or visit a particular page, what are the steps to get there and can you make it even easier?
Make Your Website Work Really, Really Well On A Mobile Phone
What you’re looking for here is called Responsive Layouts. If you’re choosing a Wordpress theme, make sure it has them. If you’re hiring someone to help you, make sure they include them.
Mobile is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s mandatory. Depending whose stats you read, mobile may account for up to half of all internet traffic. Think about your own phone usage. Whether you're at a cafe, or waiting in a queue somewhere or even sitting at your desk in front of your laptop, it’s just so easy to whip out your phone and search. So make sure your website works well—really well.
Your website users will most likely switch to your competitor rather than put up with a difficult mobile website so don’t let anyone tell you it’s okay to have a few things missing or broken on the mobile site. Make sure it’s great.
Check Your Stats With Google Analytics
You couldn’t drive your car safely without regularly glancing at the dashboard, and you cannot grow your website without regularly glancing at your stats.
It’s so easy (and it’s free) to add Google Analytics to your website, so there is nothing stopping you. The only problem is they possibly give you too much data and it can get a little overwhelming.
But even if you just start out by watching basic metrics like number of visitors, bounce rate and most visited pages, you’ll be hooked.
Don’t get too worried about any particular statistic on it’s own. And definitely don’t compare your site to others. What’s more valuable is to look at the trends over time. As you add to your site and make changes over time, you’ll see what works and what doesn’t. Keep evolving and keep learning. The only way to do that is by watching the stats and Google Analytics is probably the best way to do it.
There are other tools like Hotjar and CrazyEgg that show you additional details like heatmaps and scroll depth analysis. These are both great and worth trying if you’re interested in more detail. Think of them as optional extras, after you get Google Analytics.
Your Website is Never Finished
The day you launch after you create a website is just the beginning. You need to treat your website like your garden to keep it looking fresh and growing strong.
That’s not to say you need to re-invent your site every six months. But you should make an effort to keep it fresh. Keep adding to it, give it a prune once in a while and make sure you feed it regularly, with new traffic. If it helps, you could treat your website as a never ending live experiment. This works for two reasons.
Firstly, it means that every change, whether it’s a new piece of content or a minor edit should be measured scientifically. Start with a hypothesis or goal before you make any changes, then implement the change, measure the results and learn from it. In his book, The Lean Startup, Eric Ries offers a very simple method he calls Build>Measure>Learn. It’s a constant cycle of improvement that you could adopt to help improve and grow your website too.
The second reason to treat your website as an ongoing experiment is that it might reduce your anxiety about making changes and publishing content. The idea is, you’re not publishing because you “know” it’s gold, you’re doing it to see if it works. If it gets a good response and you hit your goals then great, but if it doesn’t at least you learned something, which is also a win. Then you can adjust and try again, or move on to the next experiment.
Conclusion: To create a website takes some thinking and planning, but in the end it’s not too hard.
There’s a lot to think about if you want to create a website, but with some careful planning and a level head you’ll be well on your way. Make sure to start with a clear objective, that will help your visitors, whether you’re after direct sales or capturing leads.
Find a clear and relevant domain name and find somewhere reliable to host your site, then unless you’ve got a reason, choose Wordpress for your platform.
For your content, start with the basics and make sure you’re solving your users’ needs, not bragging about yourself.
Finally, when it comes to designing and building your site, make sure you think through the overall user journey and treat the site like an ongoing experiment, with constant improvement and learning.
It’s not an easy process and this wasn’t a short article, but hopefully with these ideas, you have a good starting point to create a website that will help you grow your business. All the best!
And now that you’ve got your website sorted, you might like to think about your marketing. Is your marketing like the pretty pink icing on a dry old cupcake? Or is it baked right through? Read on to find out. Do you want to try a delicious cupcake?
