10 steps for launching a successful business website

Introduction

Having a successful website is important to any business. The pandemic showed everyone how important it is to move your business in the online space. A website is a very good tool for that. But if you had nothing to do with building a website until now, it might be a bit intimidating. With the right plan in place and a progress map, you should be able to achieve it without any problems.

We have created a list of actions you can take, to build a successful website for your business.

1. Create a strategy

Before starting to work on your future website, I think it is important to think about what do you want to accomplish with it. What should its main purpose be?

Of course, the goal of most websites is to generate sales or obtain new customers. For an online shop, the strategy is simple – create an online shop and sell the products – but for a business selling services, it’s a bit more complicated.

You may want to offer a free consultation, so people can decide if they want to work with you. Or you may want to add a form, through which people can get a quote. Or maybe you want to offer something free, in exchange for their name and e-mail address. As you can see, there are various ways you can do this and I think it is important to think about the strategy first.

2. Choose the best domain name that fits your brand

In order to have a website, you will need to purchase a domain name. This is an important step so take your time and search for a good domain name. It should inspire trust, rather than send visitors away, it can be used to create brand recognition and it can also be used to improve SEO (if you will use keywords).

There are plenty of extensions available. If you are not sure which one to use, going with .com is a safe bet (.net or .org are also good options if .com is not available). Going with a brandable name, rather than a domain name filled with keywords, might be a good idea. It will be unique and, if there is big competition in your niche, you will stand out from the crowd.

Your new domain name should be short and easy to type because it will be easier to remember. Before committing to a domain name, check all social media platforms, to see if the name is used by someone else (to do it faster, you can use Knowem).

You can also try a domain name generator if you have trouble with coming up with a good one.

Once the domain name has been chosen and its availability checked, you can buy it from websites like name.com, namecheap.com, or another similar site. Another option would be to buy it from the same place where you will buy your hosting package. More about the hosting in the next step.

3. Buy a good web hosting package

Besides the domain name, you will also need a hosting package. This is where all your website files will stay. There are plenty of options available, some better than others. One thing to keep in mind is that a good host will have a positive impact on the website performance, while a bad one will have the opposite.

It is also important to consider where will the majority of the traffic come from. If it will be local, then maybe a local company with servers in your country would work great. If the traffic is international, then one with servers across the globe would be a better idea.

There are a lot of polls online, where people share their opinion on what is the best hosting company. We didn’t try them all, but we had a very good experience with Siteground (affiliate link).

4. Choose the best website builder software

When it comes to building a website, there is a wide variety of options. Some web design agencies build websites from scratch, others use a CMS (like WordPress, Drupal, PrestaShop, etc), and others do both. There are also website builders, like Wix and Squarespace, for which you don’t need to purchase hosting, but you will pay a monthly subscription.

I would suggest doing a little research and find the best approach that fits you. WordPress is a very popular option (37% of all websites are powered by it) and we also use it to build websites for our clients, at M&M Web Design. Here are some pros and cons of choosing WordPress to build your website.

5. Find a website designer or build the website yourself

Once you have decided on the website creation approach, you can start building it. You can either try to build it yourself and save some money in the process, or you can find a web design agency that can do it for you.

I will not say that one is better than the other because many small businesses don’t have a budget to spend on a new website. If this is the case, maybe a good approach would be to start with building the website in-house, and, after the business grows, try a re-design with a freelancer or an agency.

Another thing to consider is that even if most website builders are advertised as being very easy to use, there is a learning curve involved and some features you may need are available only for a monthly fee. Using a CMS, like WordPress, will also require some time investment, for you to understand how to use it and to build the website.

If you are convinced that you want to build the website yourself, YouTube is a good place to find tutorials on how to get started. However, if you have some money to spend and you don’t have time for this, then maybe working with a web design agency is the best option.

6. Set in place a backup and maintenance plan for your website

Once the website is up and running, you will need to keep it in good shape and have some periodical back-ups in place, in case something bad happens.

If your website is powered by WordPress, it is highly advised that you keep it up to date. That means that you should update the core, theme, and plugins periodically. If the website was built by a web design agency, you were probably informed about this need.

Same as with the building process, you can decide if you want to maintain the website yourself or collaborate with an agency.

7. Build social media profiles and link them to your new business website

Your business should be easy to find so having social media accounts would be beneficial. I also think it adds a bit of trust because it shows your availability on different platforms.

You should add links to all your social media accounts in the footer and, of course, add links to your website on all social platforms. I don’t think you should add all kinds of widgets, like those Instagram feeds, because you want to drive people to your website, not away from it. Your business website should be the central hub, where people come from all different sources and buy your product or service.

Of course, just creating social media accounts will not be enough. You will need to add content if you want people to find you there.

8. Develop a content marketing strategy

First, let’s see what content marketing is and why it is important. As you can assume, it is a type of marketing and it involves creating and sharing content. The content can be of various sorts, like blog posts, videos, audio, charts, etc.

It is important because it helps your audience understand things better, it educates, builds trust and it can help you improve conversions and generate more leads. It will also help you increase your following on social media.

Before starting to create content, you will need to set your mission and goals, establish some KPIs and understand what is your audience. For more information on developing a content marketing strategy, you check out this article from OptinMonster.

9. Choose an email marketing tool and start creating an e-mail list

Once your content marketing strategy has been put in place, a good idea would be to start an e-mail list. If the content you have added to your site has value, people might want to know when you publish new things and they will want to sign up for your newsletter.

Another well-known practice is to offer some freebies in exchange for the e-mail address. This can be a guide, a list, a study, or anything else of great value, that you will offer for free. We offer a free guide on how to improve your online presence.

When your email list will start to be populated, you can start sending e-mails. What you don’t want to do is bombard them with offer after offer for your products or services. The promotional content should be rare, in between useful information. A popular service that can help you with the e-mail list is Mailchimp.

10. Automate the sales funnel and let your website work for your business

You may already have an idea of how the automation will work. Having a content marketing strategy and maybe a content calendar means that, regularly, new content is added to your website or social media platforms. This content and maybe a freebie will drive people to sign up to your e-mail list. Then, with the help of a tool like Mailchimp, you can automate a list of e-mails that will be sent to any new subscriber. Every time you write a new e-mail, it can be added to the end of the list. From time to time you can remind people of your products and services and some people may become your customers.

Following these steps, your business website will transform from a simple online brochure to a useful tool, that will help you grow your business.