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How to build a website for your small business

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  • clapcreativeclapcreative subscriber Posts: 36 Bronze Level Member
    Before we dive into the details on this topic, we suggest you check out ClapCreative, our #1 rated small business website builder. You can build a professional looking 4-5 page ClapCreative website in under an hour. Visit ClapCreative to learn more.

    Step 1: Choose and Register Your Small Business Website’s Domain Name

    Here are the 4 primary things to keep in mind when choosing a domain name for your small business website:
    • Whenever possible your domain should contain your company name. For more on choosing a great name for your company, see our guide on the topic here.
    • Domain names are important for search engines, like Google. When possible they should include words that people are likely to use when searching for your business and/or the products and services you sell.
    • Domain names should be easy to pronounce and remember. Keep your name as short as possible and avoid punctuation like dashes.
    • Domain names should be unique. You want to minimize the chance of someone trying to reach your business ending up at a different site.
    • You always want to choose the .COM version of a domain.

    Step 2: Outline the content and pages that you want on your site.

    You should have your content outlined before you start designing your small business website. Design is secondary to content and should facilitate client’s easily finding the content they are looking for. Every website should have 5 pages to start:
    • Homepage: On the homepage, you should include the name of your business, where you’re located or area you serve, plus give one or 2 reasons to do business with your company.
    • Products and Services: a page with details about the products you sell or services your provide. On the page which you detail products or services, spend one to five sentences describing each type you offer and give the pricing.
    • Testimonials: Lend credibility, trustworthiness, and show your experience.
    • About Us: Provide your background, include testimonials, and list organization memberships like being part of the Better Business Bureau.
    • Contact Us: Your address, email, phone number, the hours you are open for business, and links to any social media accounts such as Twitter and Facebook. You should also Embed a google map of your location and include different ways of getting there (ie subway, train, car etc) if applicable.

    Step 3: Decide on a Logo

    The colors and type of logo that you have will determine the colors and other design elements of your entire site, so start the design process with your logo. If you already have a logo that you are using in the offline world, then you want to be consistent and use a digital copy of this for your small business website as well. If you do not already have a logo then there are 3 different ways you can create one:
    Use ClapCreative.com: At Clap Creative, we believe that every business is unique. That philosophy is ingrained into everything we do for our clients. We ask many questions before we get started to get a clear direction. Before submitting the final design, we ensure that the logo is unique and has passed our stringent design guidelines.

    Step 4: Design Your Small Business Website Site

    Use Clap Creative, we believe that every great website has an equally great design that supports the entire eco-system.

    Web Designing is an Art Perfected by Few

    We at Clap Creative know that a professional web design Los Angeles is crucial in creating a perfect web presence. It helps in everything right from the SEO down to the marketing and conversion. We offer full-range web design services that combine online marketing, SEO, logo designing, banners creation, content optimization and more. Our web design professionals can create any type of web design ranging from big advanced custom stores to small theme based website designs.

    Clap Creative Advantage
    • Clarity in Design
    • Well Organized Elements
    • Simplicity of Use
    • Uncluttered &Effortless Design
    • Original Design – No Plagiarism
    • Consistency – Standardized Layout
    • Responsive Design –All Scree Sizes
    • Proper call to action
    • Custom Theme Development services
    • Highly Affordable Website Design Services

    Get in touch with our web designers in Los Angeles to get started with your ideas.
  • Ankita1234Ankita1234 subscriber Posts: 49 Bronze Level Member
    A dynamic web design is an issue during the web design. The whole website is good but not responsive then the user will drop your website in time and increase bounce rate.
  • maxqsoftmaxqsoft subscriber Posts: 1
    Here are some steps you need to take before building your website. The aim of this tutorial is to skip all the details and take point where you are ready to build your website.

    TO CREATE A WEBSITE YOU WILL NEED TWO THINGS:

    HOSTING COMPANY – provides space on a computer (server) for your website so it is accessible to the internet.
    DOMAIN NAME – You website address or naming convention use to locate website in the internet.(www.about.com).
    HOSTING COMPANY
    Finding the right hosting company is a bit like finding the perfect pair of shoes. It takes a lot of looking for the right one. But I have done the research to determine the best hosting company to fit your needs. It does not matter whether your website is for personal or business use the solution is the same? Unless you have a business that can drive extraordinarily high traffic a SHARED HOSTING PLAN will meet your needs.

    The two best web hosting company links are below choose on.
    Purchase a Hosting account from one of these BlueHost or HostGator

    It is best to get a plan with unlimited domain name, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited space.
    They provide the backup service, technical support, 99% uptime & the ability to upgrade plan as required.

    BlueHost: Get the PLUS plan or Business plan
    HostGator: Get the Baby Plan or Business plan

    Cost range from $100 to $150 per year. If cost is not a factor for you get the Business Plan.

    CHOOSING A DOMAIN NAME
    It is best to purchase your domain name from the Hosting Company you will be using. Many host offer free domain name with new Hosting Plans. Also it will save you having to change the DNS server the Domain Name points to.

    The first step in creating your website is getting your Domain Name. Your domain name is your Internet address. The .COMs are disappearing rapidly which is making it increasingly difficult to register that one “perfect” domain for your web site. But don’t be disheartened, there are many .com names still available. However if you cannot find a .com domain you can Click Here to find hundreds of new domain extension alternatives.

    I suggest you ignore the hundreds of new extensions and focus on find a .com or a .Net domain name first. Finding the right Domain Name is a brainstorming exercise so don’t dismiss any possibility, write down all the domain names you can think of. Use www.register.com as a online resource to determine which domains are available but do not purchase your domain here. If you cannot find a .com or .net that is pleasing then try one of the many extension alternatives available by Clicking Here.

    TIP: During the brainstorming process use www.register.com to search for your perfect domain name but do not purchase you domain name there.

    PRINCIPLES FOR CHOOSING A GOOD NAME
    Consider selecting a name that reflects the content on your site instead of your company name. For example scentedcandles.com instead of johnswaxshop.com. Although a domain name can be up to 63 characters long shorter is better. Avoid Hyphens (-) & Numbers – People may forget to type in the hyphen and numbers are confusing. Is that a 4, FOUR or FOR?

    Now that you have your hosting account and a domain name you can follow the steps to design a website. On my website I provide a step by step from start to finish no steps missed guide to building a website and a successful web business.
  • CaseyOCaseyO subscriber Posts: 34 Bronze Level Member
    As for me, I like making eCommerce websites using Magento templates from http://www.templatemonster.com/blog/pal ... er-review/. It is very easy to create a website this way, and I can get really great results for my business. Do you guys like using Magento too?
  • The Mind StudiosThe Mind Studios subscriber Posts: 8 Member
    When building a website the most crucial factor that comes into play is the purpose you need it for. If it is just an advertising or business card forum - than yeah, for sure WordPress would do. However, if you're looking for a wide recognition for your startup - or introducing a whole new concept, having a nicely done website/app/ landing page at least would appear ten times more handy.
  • anushkachhakrabartianushkachhakrabarti subscriber Posts: 219 Silver Level Member
    follow some simple steps to build a website for your small business.
    1.Create a Website.
    2.Log in to your website.
    3.Select Your Template.
    4.Add text, images, and more.
    5.Pages and navigation menu.
    6.Customize your website's design.
    7.Connect your domain.
    8. Registering a new domain.
  • DarissaDarissa subscriber Posts: 23
    I’ve recently found this firm that helps me with my online business http://www.digitalrescue.com.au. I wanted to start my own online shop for quite a while, but I just didn’t know where to start. Besides, I was really worried about large competition. I needed a very good, user-friendly, functional website. I make handmade products, my customers are mostly elderly women and it was important to me to attract this target audience – and these guys did help me!
  • anngrantfanngrantf subscriber Posts: 7
    edited November 2016
    When it came to building a website for my small business, I cooperated with the web developers from http://kruschecompany.com/devops company. These web developers are more than strategic thinkers with the ability to solve complex problems to make their clients happy.
  • ashsummerashsummer subscriber Posts: 33 Bronze Level Member
    If you can drag things around your screen with your mouse, you can build websites :D Sounds funny, but it's true. Let me share a great stuff with you here - http://www.beautifullife.info/web-design/15-best-free-website-builders/ . Use any of those web builders and you won’t have to mess around with hosting or server stuff. Good luck!
  • marthamartha subscriber Posts: 2
    I think the best way for small business is to use website templates.

    Depending on which specialization is your business, you can create a site on different platforms, which will perfectly reflect the spirit of your work ;) Blog, eCommerce website, portfolio and etc.

    There are many resources where you can pick the perfect theme.

    I like :arrow: http://www.templatemonster.com/ - their templates are with clean code; they affix detailed documentation (about install /admin) and they have 24/7 techsupport.
  • jessshpekjessshpek subscriber Posts: 3 Member
  • salenadamsalenadam subscriber Posts: 99 Silver Level Member
    Steps to build a website for your small business:
    1. Decide the Purpose for Your Website
    2. Choose Your Web Content Management Software
    3. Choose a Web Host
  • Upendra PatelUpendra Patel subscriber Posts: 1 Member
    Step 1: Choose and Register Your Small Business Website’s Domain Name. you can use free domain if you have a small budget. (www.weebly.com and www.wix.com)

    Step 2 if you are not using free domain then Choose Which Platform & Host are Right for You.

    Step 3: Make a creative company logo that suits your business and you can hire a logo designer from fiver.com ($5). 

    Step 4: Outline Your Website Content like homepage, Services/product page, about us, Contact US.

    Step 5: Hiring a Professional to Build Your Small Business Website. You can Hire Web development company on Upwork.




  • FrankLeeFrankLee subscriber Posts: 32 Bronze Level Member
    I have used wordpress and weebly and I`m quite satisfied
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