Starting a small business website is the ideal option for anyone who wants to grow their company.
Whether you are an artist or own your own store, you definitely need a website for your business.
By reading our tips, you are sure to get off to the best start on your website journey…
Gary Evans | Quillations Affordable Website Design
Email | info@quillationswebsitedesign.co.uk
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Starting Your Small Business Website
So you want to know how to start a small business website?
Well, you have come to the right place!
This blog post assumes that you have your business plan, business name and budget sorted before you start.
If not, then this is vitally important to get sorted BEFORE you start spending money on your website.
Why?
Because if you have failed to prepare your business correctly, you will struggle in the future.
Make sure you know exactly what you want to achieve when it comes to your business website.
How would you like it to grow?
What do you want your customers to do on your site?
How many pages would you need to start out with?
Without information like this, you will be going in blind.
And going in blind may cost you more in the future.
Step 1: Know Your Budget, And Stick To It
Your budget does not have to be huge, but always think about both Monthly AND Yearly costs.
This will help you know what you can afford upfront, and what you can afford spread across 12 months.
For Example:
You can afford to spend £200 per Month, every Month.
You can ALSO afford to spend £600 “today” as well.
This is important as you may have to pay a cost upfront, and then payments each Month.
But don’t get caught in the net by changing your budget at the last minute, and spend more than you can afford.
It is very easy to be upsold items by some companies, which will not be of benefit to you.
I know of someone who got tied in to an upsell they didn’t require, which cost an extra £50 on their budget each Month.
When they realised that they were not even using what they were paying for, they could not cancel.
What did they do?
They stopped paying, and lost their entire website!
So make 100% sure what your budget is, and stick to it rigidly!
Step 2: Know How You Want Your Online Business To Grow
This is a very important tip.
When it comes to starting to build a small business website, you want to start out small.
This is because a website does not get found straight away!
On average, it can take around 6 months for a brand new website to start ranking on Google.
You may be lucky and be found right away – but it isn’t a risk worth taking.
By starting small, you can save money, as the cost of a smaller website will be less.
You don’t want to go and build the biggest website going, spending thousands on it right for the start.
It will just sit there for 6 months doing nothing!
What you really want to do, is start with the basics.
Wait until your website is indexed and found by the search engines.
By adding different elements every few months, it also shows the search engines that you are active.
This will help give you more authority for the keywords you wish to be known for.
So by knowing how you want your website to grow, it will help you plan each new page.
A good website designer should also advise any new website owners that a maximum of 4 pages should suffice to start with.
Step 3: Choose Your Website Domain Name
Your domain name is what your customers will see first.
Also know as your website address, it is what your customers will type in to the browser to land on your website.
Usually, your domain name will be your company name.
However, you should never rush in to choosing your domain name.
When it comes to starting a small business website, every detail is important.
Our tips on choosing the perfect domain name for your website, should help you decide,
Step 4: Choose Your Website Hosting Company
When it comes to choosing a website host, it is best to try and get recommendations from someone who already has a website.
Some companies may offer you cheap hosting, but this may come at a bigger cost: Website Speed.
Speed is everything when it comes to your small business website.
If you have a slow website, you will be punished by the Search Engines, and pushed to the bottom of the pile.
And a cheap website host may not be the best option for you – unless they have been recommended.
Quillations’ website is hosted on IONOS, and is a very reasonable price.
The best thing about them?
I can pay Monthly, spreading my costs throughout the Year.
Other companies include:
All of these companies are good, and provide you with a fast website connection.
However, I will always stick to IONOS due to personal preferences!
Step 5: Choose Your Small Business Website Designer
Now you may be tempted to build your website yourself, which is great.
But remember: Time costs money!
Put it this way: You spend all of your time on the road doing plumbing.
You get home and sort out your quotations and invoices.
You then need to build your website, maintain your website, check your keywords are working etc.
Now this isn’t a quick job.
It takes time.
As a plumber, your hourly rate may be £20.
Working on this assumption, you will work on your website every evening for 4 hours.
That is the equivalent of £80 per day for 5 days minimum.
Your total costing for this would be £400.
And that doesn’t include maintenance and keyword research!
By choosing a website designer like Quillations, you could have a website for just £280!
A saving of £120!
Due to this, I will always recommend using a website designer on your small business website.
Find out how to choose your website designer, but remember: Always include Quillations in your calculations!
Step 6: Add Your Results And Costings Together
That is it!
You now have everything you require to start a small business website!
- Business Plan
- Business Name
- Budget
- Website Growth Plan
- Website Host
- Domain Name
- Website Designer
To give you a rough idea on the cost of all this, I have included some costings for you:
First Year Cost
Website Host and Domain Name With IONOS | Website Designed by Quillations
- Single Page Website – £200.00
- Hosting – £26.40
- Domain Name – £0.00
Total Cost for Year 1
£226.40
Second Year Cost Onwards
Website Host and Domain Name With IONOS | Website Designed by Quillations
- Hosting – £52.80 per Year (£4.40/Month)
- Domain Name – £15.00 Max per Year
- Quillations Maintenance Package (Optional) – £240.00
Ongoing Total
£67.80 <OR> £307.80
Conclusion
It is very simple to start a small business website, as long as you do things the correct way.
Don’t just go for deals which are too good to be true: They usually are!
Make sure you are clued up on your Yearly Budget.
Try and stick to the main website and domain hosting companies.
Hire a website designer, as your time costs more.
Please note:
Quillations is in no way affiliated with IONOS or any of their products.
We simply find that their deals suit our customers requirements more than other companies.
Contact Quillations Today!
Do you want to receive a quotation on your website design from an Award Winning company with great costs?!
Then drop us a message today!
See what Quillations can do for you.
FAQs
If this is your very first website, then the best option is to get a professional website designer to help you out.
They will know the best course of action for you, and what should work to get you online.
There are many designers out there – including us at Quillations.
But in order to find who is suitable, we have written a guide on how to find the best website designer for you.
All we ask, is that you include us in your list!
At Quillations, we personally don’t believe in free website builders.
They are slow, not very good for SEO, and may actually cost you more in the long run!
If you are looking to do this on your own, then I would recommend you do your homework.
Sites like Wix.com will charge you to use your own domain name, and to add an E-Commerce solution.
You will also be stuck if you ever want to go down the professional route – as you cannot bring your website away from them!
Costs can range from anywhere between £200 to £2000!
It all depends on which website designer you use, and which hosting package you have.
Quillations have some of the most affordable website packages available online to give you an idea.
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About Gary Evans
Coming from a customer service background, and managing a large magazine account in London, Gary knows how to treat customers right.
Designing website is a huge passion for him, and he is always checking his customers websites to ensure they are all working correctly.
Gary always goes out of his way to help his customers, and always goes above and beyond.
Are you in need of a Website Designer?
Hi, my name is Gary Evans and I love nothing more than making websites look and function as they should.
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