By now, you have already envisioned what you would like to put on a website for your business. So, what’s next? If you’re running a small business, you likely have limited funds. Fortunately, you’re not out of options. The following small business website design tips can help you optimize your digital marketing strategy and create a website that encourages customer conversions.
Small Business Website Examples
Creating a startup website on a budget for your business won’t necessarily put your company at a disadvantage. In fact, you’ll find several advantages to working with these minimal, but essential features. This includes cost effectiveness and ease of use.
These small company website examples can give you an idea of what to expect when creating an attractive website on a budget:
- MADSEN Cycles: https://www.madsencycles.com/
- Modern Market: https://modernmarket.co/
- Vortic Watches: https://vorticwatches.com/
- Native Union: https://www.nativeunion.com/
Consider these Small Business Website Design Tips
Before getting started with your company website, you must first decide which elements are essential and which are not. The website tips listed below outline what you should include in a small business website, as well as strategies for keeping your startup costs low.
1. Define Your Company’s Web Marketing Goals
This is one of the most critical small business web design tips and one you should consider before constructing your website. The overall functionality, look, feel, and user experience of your website must meet your business’s web marketing goals.
Think about what you hope to accomplish. For example, you likely seek to:
- attract new customers and grow your company’s revenue.
- create a website to add credibility to your business.
- promote your company’s brand and new products.
- interact with existing customers and clientele.
2. Establish a Budget
You know that you need a customer-generating website for your business, but you may not be fully aware of the costs. No matter how much funding you have, scaling the costs associated with building and maintaining a website is vital to your company’s marketing success.
Reflect on the following factors when deciding the best website builder for your small business:
- The number of pages.
- Overall complexity of your site’s functionality and design.
- The domain name and hosting server.
- Costs of hiring a web developer and designer.
- Additional costs associated with themes and plugins.
- Whether your website is templated or custom-made.
Take some time to create a list of the features you must have and the features your site can do without. Always make sure you have more funds in your budget than the estimated cost of building your website. If you already know how to make a website for a small business for free, you have several tools available to you. Consider using WordPress, Weebly, Joomla, and other similar tools for creating a free website for your business.
3. Utilize SEO to Rank in SERPs
Have you ever wondered why some businesses rank on the first page of Google while others don’t? Search engine optimization (SEO) is a marketing strategy designed to boost the quantity and quality of traffic to your website. Google and other search engines use algorithms and spiders to crawl websites. Sites with optimal SEO perform better in search engine page results (SERPs) than those without it.
So, how do you maximize your site’s SEO to generate a desired customer base? If you want to rank on the first page of SERPs, make sure to include the following SEO elements on your website:
- Research keywords – including longtail keywords – relevant to your brand and customer needs.
- Create high quality, informative, and dense content on your web pages and blogs.
- Include your target keyword in title tags, image alt text, headings, and sparingly throughout other areas of your site’s content.
- Optimize your site for fast page load speed.
- Build simple, easy-to-read links.
- Focus on local SEO by including terms such as “near me” or “close by.”
- Create a sitemap and submit it to Google.
4. Build Simple Navigation for Better Customer Engagement
Why is simple navigation so critical for your website’s success? Customers who visit sites with overly-complicated, poor navigation often exit as quickly as they enter. Your customers should be able to quickly and easily find the information they’re looking for. Not only will simple navigation reduce your site’s bounce rate, customers will be more likely to take action, potentially leading to increased revenue for your business.
Here are some effective ways to build an efficient navigation system for your website:
- Create a simple and categorized navigation bar and include subcategories.
- Make all links clickable, accurate, and easy-to-read.
- Divide all content and items into easy-to-find categories.
- Keep navigation elements consistent across your website.
- Include ALT text on every clickable image.
- Ensure that your site’s search features produce accurate results.
5. Utilizing templates
You likely have several reasons for utilizing templates rather than opting for a custom design. For example, templates can save you time and the cost of hiring a coder. Whether or not you should use them depends on the purpose and functionality you’re aiming for. Consider weighing the benefits and the drawbacks before building your website.
The benefits of templates include:
- Easy to set up.
- Built-in widgets, functionality, and other features.
- Templates can be modified to suit your needs.
- Plenty of themes and templates available to choose from.
The drawback of templates include:
- Limited modifications.
- Some templates are outdated.
- Lack of support from theme developers.
- Available templates may not be compatible with your brand.
6. Exclude Unnecessary Features
Website features such as plugins and widgets offer some functionality benefits, as well as a better user experience, and greater customer interaction. However, unnecessary features can be harmful to your website in the following ways:
- Reduced page load speed.
- Poor website performance.
- Increased risk of crashes and security breaches.
- Compromised site navigation.
- Too many elements on user interface.
Remember, building an attractive website should not necessarily focus on what you think your site needs. Instead, it’s should focus on your customers’ needs and their experience when they visit your website. A minimalist approach may improve your website’s performance and navigation.
"I understand how to create a customer-friendly website at a minimal cost."
Put These Small Business Website Design Tips to Work
Are you ready to get your small business website off the ground? Consider using the help of a professional who understands how to create a customer-friendly website at a minimal cost. I can ensure that you get what you need, not what you think you need.
Contact me to explore your small business web design options.
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