Regardless if you’re a small retail store or an international eCommerce business, your website is an essential part of your marketing strategy and it’s vital to have one up at all times. So whatever situation you’re currently in, we’ve put together a basic list of steps to take in order to get your business on the internet so you can start taking advantage of all the different marketing opportunities.
1. Choosing your domain and web host
First, start by picking a domain name and choosing the best web hosting service for your needs. This involves picking a name that is both short and memorable and making it relevant enough to your business that people see the link and can relate you to it. Choosing a domain name can be difficult so it’s worth looking at domain registration websites to see if the names you’re thinking of are available and if they’re available with different domain extensions.
2. Defining your website experience
Next, decide what your website is going to be used for. Some companies aim to offer their products and services online so they need to establish some kind of eCommerce modules to sell products over the internet. Others only want their website to be a list of information and services. Deciding what you want your website to be used for early one will help you adjust your budget and the design of the site to suit your needs.
3. Getting your website on Google
To get your website onto Google, you need to start thinking about search engine optimization. This is a rather complex subject so it’ll take a bit of reading to grasp the subject, but the alternative is to simply hire an SEO specialist to help you optimize your website for Google. The idea is to make your website easy to find by including a variety of keywords that your intended audience might search, and also trying to get other websites to link to yours to let Google know that you’re a trustworthy and reliable source of information.
4. Engaging your online audience
Make sure you’re also establishing a good relationship with your online audience. This typically means adding social media accounts to your website and also monitoring those platforms so that you can speak to your audience. You should also be including some kind of sharing widgets on your site so that people can share the things they find on your business website.
5. Optimizing your website for all viewers
Once your website is finally online and running, you need to start thinking about how you can optimize your website so that it’s suitable for everyone. The biggest concern in this department is making your website work on mobile devices and desktops alike. This means your website needs to be a responsive one that changes depending on what kind of platform is viewing it. By optimizing your website so that it works on a large range of devices, you greatly improve your technical SEO qualities and you attract a wider audience.