As a small business owner website design, search engine optimization, advertising and analytics can be confusing. Should I use wordpress, or another website builder for my online presence? Should I hire a web design firm? What template should I use and is it good for SEO? Choosing the right small business website management tools or website management services are a key aspect of your ability to create and manage your business online footprint. In the following article, we will explore your options and make some recommendations to help your business.
How do you plan to Promote Your Business Online?
Many small business owners make the mistake of believing that a new business needs a new website and that the best website simple looks good. The reality is that the kind of website that you need is largely based on the function of your business.
Do you simply want to collect clients for email marketing?
In some cases, you may want to entice visitors to opt in to an email distribution list to learn about your products. This could be as simple as a landing page with some information about your company and a plugin to collect the information and save it. This is one of the simpler use cases, but rarely stays that way. You are going to need a marketing tool for the email newsletters and a popular web domain. These marketing strategies will be key and this is where you will spend your time and money.
Do you want to sell online products or services?
When selling online productsyour small business might want to venture into the world of website management. If you manage yourself, you should be familiar with social media platforms and you will have to manage multiple social media accounts for your product advertising. These social media tools can be expensive. If you are selling a lot of products (hundreds or thousands) there are platforms like Shopify that can provide the services that you need. Keep in mind that we are talking about a major website like Amazon looking to sell online. These platforms will have the ecommerce tools to help in this specific arena.
Do you want the best website where clients can find you and contact you to buy your services?
This is where over 90% of small business’ problems begin as they believe that free tools or a free squarespace website are good for helping a small business grow. Others choose a content management system like wordpress to meet their website needs. These popular content management systems have a place in the market…just not to help small business owners. Read our article about why you should not use a free seo website builder for google ranking. With these services, you can certainly build a stunning website and achieve website creation fast. Unfortunately, these services are just not designed help a business really grow online.
DIY with a content management system like wordpress
WordPress is the most popular platform in the market today. It’s tools allow amateurs to create a website without a lot of experience. In most cases, we see the business owners want a website for free and they choose a wordpress website. Unfortunately, we see them try this without a website manager and without the tools for small business owners to properly manage your website. Understand that WordPress is not free if you want a viable business website. Every business should want to improve your website into one of the best in the industry to attract customers. Running a website takes specific tools that are expensive. Web development is the least of your costs and hassles. The management process for a wordpress website almost always requires a full time website manager.
If you want to learn and perform the changes and maintenance yourself, consider a website consultant. This is someone that can advise you as to what you need to do and allow you to do the tasks. A consultant may also have the software tools to make your life a lot easier. Managing a small business takes time. If you do not have the time or the tools you need for administrating your own web services, consider a website manager or website consultant so you can focus on your business.
Consider a Turn Key Website Management System So You Can Focus on Your Business
The costs of a website designer, website development, SEO tools, management tools for small business, web hosting, domain management and business email hosting can be daunting. Especially when you just want to build a website to identify that your business is worth calling. When you really think about it, do you really have time to do keyword research, learn best practices, invest in web management tools, learn the latest AI tools, manage a website as well as the website hosting? The fact is that those aspects can be done for you. Let Treasure Valley Website Design build your website today. Whether an online store or a full ecommerce website, we will build one that best represents your brand and turns visitors into clients.