If you own a business and you don’t have a website for it yet… what are you waiting for? If you run a quick search on Google for the name of your company, you will probably find multiple results and you probably aren’t responsible for any of it.
People talking about you and your company can be great, but it also can be a two-edge sword. Imagine an angry customer stumbled upon your business the worst day possible, do you want that to be the first thing people hear about your business when Googling it? You should take control of what it’s said about your business.
Your website is just one part of that communication strategy, but, nowadays, it’s an essential part you shouldn’t neglect.
So, if you came to this article because you’re considering building your own website, grab a pen and a notebook: we are going to tell you everything you should keep in mind when creating a website and the different tools you can use depending on your particular needs.
Follow these steps and start building your own corporate website.
How to build a professional website from scratch
First things first: there are a few things you should sort out before starting building your website.
Purchase a domain
Your domain should be as clean as possible and, if it’s possible and there isn’t any other reason telling you otherwise, it should be a .com domain. That would be “www.nameofyourbusiness.com”. Sometimes, this process is not that easy, since we are subject to the availability of that domain.
Don’t despair, we are going to give you more options.
You could, for instance, consider acquiring a geographic domain, such as .es for Spain or .us for the United States. You can even consider a more local geographic domain. That could be a good strategy for companies that operate nationally or locally.
If this is not a good option for you or these options aren’t available either, consider adding something to the domain which is representative of your activity. For example, if you run a communication agency called “Tangerine”, you could try something like “www.tangerinecommunication.com”.
Hire a hosting for your website
Your website has to be somewhere. You need to rent a space on the Internet and that’s exactly what hosting providers offer. There are, usually, different price options depending on how much space you need and how quickly you need your site to load and work.
Don’t take this decision lightly: if your website doesn’t load quickly, there’s a high chance your visitors will abandon it without giving it a chance.
There are several tools at your reach that will make it easy for you to build your own site.
Choose the tool you’re going to use to build your website
There are plenty of options on the market, ranging from free to more or less expensive (most offer both options). Depending on your case and your needs, you should opt for one or another.
No matter your case or your experience, you will sure find an option among the following ones:
WordPress
This is probably the most popular option, but not necessarily the easiest one. WordPress‘ main strength is the amount of templates and plugins available for users. Some of them are for free, whereas some other you’ll have to pay for, but you will surely be able to build an entire functional website without spending a coin.
This is maybe not the best option for inexperienced users, but it’s definitely the most flexible and customizable one.
Weebly
If you want a simple yet professional and attractive website, Weebly is your tool. It’s a very intuitive and easy tool and you definitely don’t need any previous coding, programming or designing knowledge. There’s a free basic option for a very basic website, and different paying options depending on your needs.
Squarespace
Squarespace is a tool for those who want to achieve the most elegant look for their website. Its strength is, without a doubt, its templates. There aren’t many options, but the ones they offer look gorgeous. They also focus on different designs depending on the activity and type of business. There’s no free option in this case. You can try it for free for a limited period of time, and then you can choose whereas you want to pay monthly or yearly.
AccessWebapps
If you need a powerful tool to create functional web apps with Access and aimed to satisfy a particular need, then AccessWebapps is what you need. You will be able to create any type of project, such as a website where users can book appointments based on updated calendars or a page for your clients to download invoices, place orders…
Find the appropriate design for your business’ activity
The look of your website should be in line with your brand’s image and your activity. Go past the first impression and analyze each template and aspect of your website to determine if it really fits and goes with the image and values you want to transmit.
You should also take a look at your competitors and other corporate websites from companies that you admire or look up to.
You want to transmit your own identity and values, but, whether you like it or not, your potential customers are probably going to visit your competitors’ websites too. You’ll have to find a way to stand out and make clear what is it that makes you different or better than them.
Choose an appropriate theme and look for your website.
Fill your website with content and information about you
Once you’ve purchased your domain, hired your hosting and chosen the best tool, the only thing left to do is to fill your page with your information.
Our advice: be clear. Clearly state who you are, what can you offer, why are you different from your competitors and how can people contact you.
We hope this guide has been helpful for you and you can start building a professional website from scratch. Leave your comments below if there’s anything we can help with!
