Are you looking to build a website for your business but don’t know where to start? This guide will walk you through the different options for building a website and help you choose the right business web package for your business. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced web developer, we’ve got you covered. So let’s get started!
What is a website?
A website is a collection of web pages, images and other digital assets on the internet which you can access via your internet browser. A page consists of various elements such as text, graphics, videos or other multimedia content that work together to deliver information about a specific topic and convince visitors to take action. Different types of pages on a website include:
Homepages
A homepage is the first page that visitors see when they visit your website. It’s usually designed to convey a message and convince visitors to stick around and explore more. Some examples of homepage design might be an e-commerce shop, affiliate website, magazine or news portal. The main purpose of achieving goals such as building trust, increasing brand awareness and driving sales.
Landing pages
A landing page is a single web page where visitors “land” from external links or advertisements. When people click on links from social networks or Google Adwords ads, it takes them straight to this page which has one specific goal in mind such as collecting email signups for a new product or getting credit card payments.
The point of this page is to make the visitor take one specific action (such as filling out a form, signing up for an email newsletter or making a purchase), whether it’s intentional or not.
Login pages
Most online services require users to create an account before they can use them. To do this, most websites let you register by using your email address and creating a password of your choice.
Orders/checkout pages
When people visit e-commerce shops on websites such as Amazon or eBay they land on what looks like an ordinary web page but in fact is specifically designed with conversion optimization in mind. The purpose of this page is to convince visitors that they are at the right place, give them all the information they need in order to make a quick purchase and only then ask for their credit card details in exchange for goods or services. Other pages might include product listings page, user reviews, comparisons, Q&A etc.
Who Needs a Website?
Now that you have an idea of what a website looks like let’s see who could benefit from having one. The answer is pretty much everyone! Even though some businesses are fine with just using social media to promote their products and services there are still significant benefits of adding an online presence to your business strategy which can help you take it to the next level. Here are some examples:
Small businesses
Having an online presence can definitely help small businesses to grow. E-commerce shops allow small business owners to sell their products without a middleman and reach a large audience effortlessly. Furthermore, you can share your products with the whole world rather than just a local area which might not have enough interested people in order to make a sale. Finally, thanks to having an online presence it takes much less time for potential customers who are looking for your product or service on search engines such as Google to find you compared to traditional marketing strategies such as advertisements or word of mouth.
Freelancers or consultants
Having a website is important if you do anything from writing articles, designing logos, selling digital goods such as eBooks to offering services such as accounting & bookkeeping for example. If you offer services online there is no need for you to spend time on managing your own portfolio or be active on social media all day which can eat up a lot of your time.
Web designers, web developers & programmers
Having website available publicly (such as GitHub pages, personal blog etc) is great if you want to increase the number of people that can see your work and give you feedback in order for you to grow in the future. If you don’t have an easy way for people to find out about what code snippets you share, who knows how many times someone might use them if they couldn’t find them when needed?
What are website packages?
A website package is a single, flat rate for all the services and features you need to run your web presence. Typically this will include things such as: Domain name hosting Email accounts Search engine optimization (SEO) Web design and development Customer support Blog platform RSS feeds Mobile site and compatibility MailChimp integration Social network integrations Payment gateways shopping cart and other services that come with the package.
