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Creating your business’s website is one of the most important things you will do as an entrepreneur. A well-designed, easy-to-navigate site that adds value for your customers can help generate new revenue streams and improve your online presence.
It’s not too difficult or expensive to create yours — even if you have no experience designing websites. There are many free tools available that can get you started quickly.
In this article, we'll go over some simple ways to design and publish a basic webpage using Google Chrome's free web developer toolbox. We'll also take a look at some smart strategies to optimize it for success.
Site optimization tips: how to make your site faster
If you're looking to increase traffic to and engagement with your site, here are our top five recommendations.
1. Improve page load time
A fast mobile device requires less than 1 second to download any given webpage so if your site takes longer than that, people won't wait around for it!
That could cost you in lost sales. Or worse, they'll find something more responsive and appropriate and never return due to poor performance.
There are several reasons why your site might be taking a while to load, including:
* Too much JavaScript (the software programs used to add interactive features and functionality to pages) - Try to keep the amount down to only what's needed.
A business website with just an about us page and a store is the most common type of site you will find online. They are usually very boring, uninteresting pages that do not add anything valuable to your business.
Most people use websites for three main purposes: finding out more information about a product or service, reading comments and feedback from others and buying products or services.
A lot of sites fail to give enough detail about their services or they only have limited options available, making it difficult to choose. This can be annoying for customers who want to purchase something but don’t know much about the company.
There is always some kind of marketing spiel coming from the seller, but never a clear picture of what the product does or how it works.
Starting from the design, you will want to pick an easy theme that anyone can use or create their own look. There are many free themes available online and in app stores like Google Play or the Apple Store!
Most people start off using one of the popular pre-made templates because they feel too professional looking. But you do not need to avoid these professionally designed sites if you cannot afford or do not want to invest in creating your own site.
Any beginner can pick up some basic HTML (the language used to make websites) and CSS (the way to customize the look and style of a webpage) and create his or her own beautiful business website! You can even test out this knowledge by yourself first before starting to develop yours.
Choosing a business website style is like choosing your favorite color or clothing brand. There are many styles you can choose from, but just because something else of theirs looks cool does not mean it is the best option for you!
As with any colors, there is an ideal match for every person’s skin tone and style. It is the same thing with web designs. Some are classic, others have shades unique to them, and then there are those that seem flashy and over-the top. All are lovely to look at though, so which one is right for you?
The hardest part will be deciding this! Thankfully, you don’t need us to tell you what kind of websites we love, nor do you require our expertise in designing beautiful sites. What you need to do is go through some examples of different themes and see which ones appeal to you.
Once you find one that makes you feel relaxed and comfortable, you can either use their design as a basis for yours or take inspiration from the specific features they used to create their own style.
As mentioned earlier, creating an online business doesn’t mean designing funky websites or posting flashy advertisements on social media. It means understanding who your audience is and what they want from you.
Your site should tell people what you offer and connect them to products and services that are related to it. You can do this by doing research and studying marketing strategies and techniques, as well as running your own business.
By being familiar with the field, you will know how to run your own business more efficiently and effectively.
Don’t worry about being perfect at marketing for now though! All of us start out feeling overwhelmed and nervous when we first venture into the world of business, but you must learn to take one step forward before two steps back.
Start small by offering your service/product to some of your friends and family members.
Content is one of the most important things to have on your website, if you want it to do well. You should know that not all content is equal!
Content can be anything from an article or statement about your business or site, to a link to another page or site with helpful information.
Your business’s home page should contain some type of content to tell people who you are, what you offer, and maybe even a call-to-action (like buy now!). After that, you could choose to have more detailed pages with articles and statements that grow into longer stories.
The best way to create engaging, interesting content for your business website is by staying on topic and mixing it up. An easy way to do this is to pick a niche area of your business and focus on only topics related to that field.
Finding a steady stream of unique content can be tricky at first, but don’t worry – creating quality content isn’t a lightning fast process. It takes time to develop writing skills, research new ideas, and organize everything into something cohesive.
But before you start trying to brainstorm, write, edit and revamp your own material, take a look at some of the other stuff out there. There are plenty of free resources available via social media, blogs, and forums. Read yours very carefully to see if they provide enough value to contribute towards your goal.
Now that you have done some of the hard work by designing and developing your site, it is time to link it to all of the platforms so people can access it!
Most good web hosting sites will offer you their own free accounts which are very convenient as you do not need to pay for anything extra.
These accounts typically give you an email address and password and enough space to create websites. Some even let you add domain names with their account!
By linking your new business website to this account, people will be able to easily access it via the internet.
Now that you have decided what kind of business you want to run, your next step should be to create or update your site’s mission statement or purpose.
Your site will serve as a place for people to visit, learn more about you and your products, and connect with you. It can also become a platform to spread your message to other people. Your site must tell someone clearly what your goals are so they do not have to try and figure it out.
You would never go into a restaurant without knowing why you wanted to eat there, so don’t start your online presence with your audience missing this important piece!
Make sure your visitors know how to get help from you, what you offer, and where they could find your services or those of another company like yours.
Even if you don’t have a lot of money for an expensive website, there are many free tools available that can help your business look more professional and put up a better face online.
Tools like Google My Business or Yelp will give your business a nice web presence with basic content and photos, but it won’t do anything else like connect you with other resources or improve your SEO (search engine optimization). That takes some additional investment.
There are several ways to achieve this, such as creating accounts on sites like Google and YouTube, optimizing your social media profiles, and investing in SEO-rich content to attract search engines.
