10 Important Stages for Starting a New Business Website

There are many important stages when creating a new website. We have got together 10 important stages for starting a new business website. Not only will they save you and your company time, but also money. And they apply whether you're building a website in-house or hiring an external web design company.

1. Choosing the right Domain:

One of the first step when setting up a new website is choosing the right domain (website address) that matches your services. Having a keyword mentioned in the domain such as ‘roofing’ or ‘printing’, will aid in improving your search engine positioning.

If your brand name contains a relevant keyword, that makes your choice easy. But if not, you can still use a more relevant domain and direct any address with your brand to that address. And you also need to consider that your domain name may have to fit onto your business cards, advertising and other stationary. So it's best to keep it fairly short (And avoid trying to fit in every possible keyword as that can lead to search engines penalising you instead). But your domain name has a big impact, which is why picking the right one is the first of our 10 important stages for starting a new business website.

2. Pay Attention to Industry Style:

Before starting on the design or your site, or working with an external web agency, you need to think about the style and usage of your website. From a standard site where clients can get information on your services to an e-commerce site where customers are able to add products to a basket and pay for it online; all of this needs to be decided upon before developing the site.

It's good to look at your competitors and other examples in related industries. There are certain conventions to website design which users will be familiar with. If the typical customer expects to see your navigation or contact details in a certain location from looking at competitor websites, you don't want to confuse them by putting your navigation somewhere else unless you have a very good reason for it!

3. Using the Best Design:

With a good design, you can get an increase in traffic and sales, but also it will bring your branding to life. Having a good design that contrasts your branding will ensure that it grabs the attention of any visitors to the site, but will also make sure that people can identify your business from the rest of your competitors.

This is a very important stage when creating your new website. It creates a certain look for your business and this ensures that viewers can identify what the services or products are that you provide and if a good design is used; it will grab customers attentions and will allow them to easily navigate through the site.

4. Combine your Branding Colours with your Website

Using the right colours is what allows clients to identify your brand from your competitors and will make you stand out from a crowd. It will also grab the attention of potential customers and this can lead to, in coordination with a good design, an increase in sales and traffic. The colour scheme has to be decided upon as it should match the colours of your branding.

Whatever the main colours are, there are a multitude of designs and methods in creating an outstanding website around your brand. Utilising a good design and the right colours is what will grab visitors attention and will aid in publicising your brand while also getting your site recognition.

5. Creating Reliable and Relevant Text:

There are two options for this stage. Either you create the text content yourself or hire a copywriter to write the content for you. The website design is not the only important stage; having relevant text content on the site is also very important. This text will ensure that any visitors to the site will understand what it is that you provide and it will even improve the keyword density which will aid in improving your search engine positioning. Having relevant text content will also make sure that any visitors are getting the information they are looking for which can tempt them into sending through an enquiry.

You also have to be very careful with the amount of text used. Most customers would not want to read through an essay to find out what they want. The relevant information has to be easy to see and make sure all the relevant points are put across without filling up your website with text. Some businesses make the mistake of putting too much text onto their site with low relevance and this is why we have included this in our list of 10 important stages for starting a new business website.

6. Careful of Duplication and Repetition:

In regards to the text content, duplication and repetition are two things that any business should be careful of. Having the same text content copied and pasted across multiple pages or having the same phrases used multiple times in close proximity is a quick way for your site to be seen as spam. This will then give your domain a bad reputation which is very hard to remove.

Often domains that have been tainted with a bad reputation cause the website attached to it to suffer. Have unique text content that is created by you or a professional copywriter and this will aid in improving search engine results, but will also make sure you stand out from your competitors.

7. Get a Responsive and Mobile Friendly Website:

With a gradual increase in searches being completed on mobile devices, there is a growing market for businesses to utilise in order to get more potential clients; increasing traffic and sales. Making your site responsive and mobile friendly would aid in improving your search results on mobile devices and will also make your site a lot easier to read and use for customers.

This way, whenever a potential customer visits your site, they will be more likely to stay on the site and browse through the pages; possibly leading to an enquiry. Google has prioritised responsive sites and have been dropping non-responsive sites since the start of May so it is good to get ahead of this change straight away.

8. Place Pictures Across the Website and Utilise Gallery Pages:

‘Pictures speak a thousand words’ is a common term used in business and in most cases, that is the truth. Pictures show all visitors that come to your site what you provide and this can even be of any previously completed work as this will show potential customers the kind of work they should expect. Including a range of images as well that are placed across the site will mean that whoever is on the site and whatever it is they are looking for, they will be able to find information on it and be able to see pictures alongside it.

A gallery page is always another route many business websites have undertaken. It is a great way of having a collection of your work in one place that anyone is able to see when they access the site. This can often be the selling point as well for some customers when they are able to see what kind of work you have previously done or are able to see the products you sell.

9. Utilise Testimonials and Case Studies:

Testimonials and case studies are a great way of showing potential customers other people’s points of view on the work you have done. These are just like pictures in the fact that they can be a selling point for some potential customers, but they have a better value.

Both of theses, if they can be added to the site, will improve search engine positioning as they add relevant text to the site and will also aid in getting in increase in traffic. This could lead to a further increase in sales or enquiries as more people will be inclined to send through an enquiry if they believe your previous work is exactly what they want for themselves and the recommendations/ ratings are at a reasonable standard..

10. Choose a Reliable Host:

Finally, choosing a reliable host for your website is very important as this is what allows your website to be seen. There are some hosting and web design companies out there that will take more money than they quoted and will often cause issues to form with your site. This can eventually cause you to lose clients or potential customers and will minimise the visibility of your website. Choosing a reliable hosting company will ensure that your site stays live for as long as possible, for the right price.

Following these 10 important stages for starting a new business website will certainly help you publicise your busine