5 Things to Consider When Making a Website for your Business

Setting up a website for your business is a great way for customers to find you, showcase your products/services and build your reputation.

1. What kind of website should you choose? 

Depending on what your business does, you’ll need to decide which kind of website is best for you. We’ve listed out the below the basic functions of different businesses, depending which one you fall under will directly effect what your customers will want to see on your website.
Services – information about what you can provide your customers with, where they can find you, how they can contact you and some background information/testimonials or reviews. An enquiry form or simple booking service may come in useful as well.
Products – customers will want to see all of the above but you may consider adding a shopping feature to your website.
Community organisation – information about your current projects and past projects, how people can get involved, contact details and background information about the organisations mission or vision. A blog my be a great way of keeping people up to date and informing them about current events.
Freelancer – this is a great way to showcase your work if you are an artist, creative or any other kind of freelancer. You can add portfolios, examples of your work, projects you’ve worked on, contact details and even a blog to share updates with potential clients or collaborators.

2. Should I use a template to build my website? 

If you are looking for an informative or ecommerce website there are some amazing platforms out there which have easy to use templates. If your business offers something more complex you may consider engaging a web developer to help you build your site from scratch. If you want your site to be constantly updated, you will need a CSM (content management service) these template websites will have this built in and developers will be able to code this into your website too. Some template platforms out there include:
NBR – National Business Register offer a website and email service. This can be paid for yearly or is free when you take out Business Name Registration protection.
Squarespace – this enables you to build a professional looking website quickly. It is intuitive and even has marketing tools to help you maximise your online presence.
Wix – similar to Squarespace it has customisable templates and tools to help you build your site.
Shopify – if you are a product based business this is an amazing way to get your online shop up and running. It has integrated analytics tools, a dashboard and lots of add-on apps available to help you market and grow your business.
Etsy/depop/eBay – you can set up a shop within these sites. Benefits of this include having a well-known name attached to your business however it may look a little less professional to some as you won’t have your business name as the URL. Also there are thousands of users already on these market places so coming high in the search results will require real effort and may take some time. However, if you’re starting small these are a great place to start.

3. Should I have social media accounts for my business? 

Yes! Social media is a great place for people to discover your business, build social proof and showcase your talents. If you’re not keen on social media you can keep it very low key but regular posting and interacting with people will help build your account and reach. Do some research to see which platforms your competition uses, what channels your customers use most and what type of content works best for your offering. Also consider which platform you are personally most familiar with.
You can set up a business account for free and will have basic analytical tools to help you track your progress. We’ve listed out a few below with some advantages to help you decide.
Facebook – having a Facebook page will help people find you and allow you to post photo’s and information about your business. Facebook tends to have a slightly older audience and works well local community and product based businesses.
Instagram – has lots of different ways to present your content. This platform is best if you have a product which is particularly visual.
Twitter – this is prodomitely a text based channel however there are options to add visuals, but not to the same extent as with Facebook and Instagram. Twitter is a great place to re-post articles, share ideas/thoughts and get industry news. FYI Twitter is the only social platform used more by men than women (70% vs 30%).
LinkedIn – this is a great way to build professional connections within your industry. Some people do share personal news through this channel but it is usually connected to business or industry in some way. It’s great for posting news about your business, sharing industry articles, networking and posting job vacancies.
YouTube – ideal if you like producing video content. It’s particularly useful for explaining products/services. Create ‘how to’ video’s for your products or services to maximise this channel.
TikTok – speaks to a younger audience and has yet to be monetised in the same way as the above channels.
This is not an exhaustive list so doing research into which channels your customers use most is essential.

4. What should I put on my website? 

Content is king! Setting up the foundational content for your website is the place to begin. Keep it really simple and clear, outline the basic information you think a potential customer would like to know and make yourself contactable.
Your business name & logo.
Details of your offering.
Full contact details.
Visuals of your offering – this can be photos of products or you can use graphics/stock photos if you provide services.
After this you can start to have some fun! Think about the content your customers enjoy consuming, content that answers questions your customers may Google and types of content that would work for your business. Keeping your website up to date, relevant and engaging is paramount so depending on how much time you have to devote to this, you may want to ask a professional for help. You can draft in agencies, have part-time or fill-time marketing assistants/managers or you can put time aside in your schedule to keep on top of things. Remember you don’t have to reinvent the wheel for your social media, take content & copy from your website and reuse it on the different platforms.

5. Should I use digital marketing? 

As you build your business you want to maximise your digital presence as being online can multiple your reach experientially. We will go into more detail about digital marketing in a separate article as it is an entire industry within itself however these are the 7 main areas you may want to look at.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
Social Media Marketing
Content Marketing
Email marketing
Mobile Marketing
Marketing Analytics
You will find experts in each of these areas along with some people that have strengths that cross-over. If you are an established business it is worth either engaging an agency or employing a individual specialist through a digital recruiter to ensure you are getting exactly the help you are looking for.

Marketing For Small Business

You have a fantastic product or service, now you need to let people know about! We’ll run through the key points to consider when setting up marketing for your company.

Do Your Research 

Before going public it is worth taking some time to investigate two broad categories that will affect your business – customer and competitor. You can send surveys out, employ friends and family as guinea pigs, experiment with elements of your product/service, ask potential future competitors direct questions; the sky is the limit but always keep an open mind and listen. You have to maintain a strong vision, this will see you through the late nights and curve balls on your journey but ensure this vision is founded in a deep understanding our your industry and audience.
1. Customer Research
Imagine your ideal customer – the one that will be the easiest to get on board and will become fanatical about your business. Once you identify this person it will be easier to find more of these people. Traditionally marketing professionals looked at demographic, geographic and psychographic factors. However, with websites and social media opening up potentially a global customer base to all business owners, the emphasis has become more focused upon the psychographic traits of your audience. Creating customer profiles is a great reference to have and will help you in every area of your business from inventing new products/services to creating engaging social media content. Really spend some time getting into the mind set and problem solving for your customer; where are the pain points, listen to friends and families opinions and push for negative feedback – it will only help you improve. You don’t have to be perfect right out of the gate but keeping your customers needs at the forefront will keep you on track.
2. Competitor research
Chances are, you are not the only company providing your chosen product or service and although you want to keep an eye on your industry peers, don’t get distracted by them. If it is feasible to go through the customer journey with them, do so. If not or there are too many of them, pick the ones that stand out to you and jot down a quick pros and cons list. What looks great about them and what do you think potentially lets them down. Without being inside that business owners mind it may be difficult to discern their actions, strategies and plans so don’t put all your eggs in the ‘let’s beat them at their own game’ basket. It’s easier to be different than to be better, so identify what makes you unique and focus on that.

Marketing Channels 

Where are your customers? Identifying this will help you decide which channels will be most effective to market through. Ensuring you have the right message, in the right place, directed at the right people is the jackpot and may take some time to get right. We have listed a few avenues below to consider when advertising, putting campaigns together, copywriting and creating content.
Email marketing – an engaged mailing list is a invaluable asset to your business. With digital privacy becoming more important to people it is also vital that you own your customers data. Many email platforms will also help you segment your customers, this will enable you to target people more accurately, tailor your content and up your conversion rate.
Adverts – an oldy but still a goody! Depending on your nature of business these may still be as effective as ever. Consider trying a mix of print and digital, and always track return.
Improve you website – along with the obvious of making your site as user friendly as possible, add branding and features you would want to see if you were a customer to give them an enjoyable experience without you even being there!
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) – you can teach yourself the basics or outsource to an agency. Pushing yourself up those Google search results is a must. Search your company name or service using an incognito tab to see where you’re coming up for customers that haven’t engaged with you before.
A/B testing – if something is not working in your digital marketing, compare it with something else. Keep track, be guided by the result but always keep perspective and be true to your brand.
Social media – creating storytelling content for your brand will help bring sales in. You can get extra help by engaging in paid advertising on social platforms but, be warned, it can be a money pit. Work with an agency you trust, set a budget (stick to it!) and take expert advice.

Figure Out Your Brand 

We went through the basics of setting up your brand here. Much of this will inform how you market your product, the content you create and your business strategy as a whole. Depending on the nature of your business and your personal opinion of branding it may play a smaller role in your company, it’s still good to have the basics down though.