How to Get a Professional Website
In today’s society, so much business is done online, that you have to have a website to be competitive. A smart-looking site, with lots of good content and good SEO, can be a major boost to your business.
But what if you’re not very technical? The last thing you’re going to want to do is to build a website.
So what are the options when it comes to getting your business online successfully?
Use a Professional Company
The easiest way to get your website built and online is to hire a web design company. After all, it’s what they do. It can take the stress away from you. Do your homework and look around for a good company.
Price shouldn’t be your only consideration. Take a good look at some sites they’ve designed before.
If you are planning to update the website yourself once it’s built, make sure that the initial build also includes some basic training for you or whoever is going to be updating it.
Build it Yourself
There are many web platforms out there that target people with relatively few technical skills. Platforms such as Wix and Squarespace both have their fans and can produce some very professional looking sites. They do have their limitations but they are perfect for a beginner.
Use a Template
There’s no excuse for a website not looking good. There are many marketplaces that sell fully loaded website WordPress templates that look extremely professional. All you have to do is install and replace the content with your own.
There are a few marketplaces that do this, including Themeforest and Etsy. The investment is low too, with templates costing anywhere between $20 – $150.
Once you’ve narrowed down your template shortlist, check to see what it looks like on all screen sizes including mobile.
Learn the Basics of SEO
Running a business leaves little time to become an expert in something else. But you really do need to know what SEO is and why it’s important. That way you can learn how to optimize your website to get better search engine rankings.
Or, you might realize that it’s too important to be left to you, only to get around to it when you have the time. In this case, it might be worth hiring a freelancer or agency to keep on top of your SEO.
Update the Back End of Your Site Regularly
Whichever platform your use to build your website, you’re going to need to do some regular maintenance to keep it secure and running. Make sure that you log in regularly and carry out any recommended software, plugin, and security updates.
Not only will this keep your site more secure, but it will also avoid the entire thing just stopping working one day because there’s an issue that could have been fixed with an update.
Make sure that your backups are working too, you don’t want all of that hard work to go to waste if your site is suddenly lost.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
