The importance of having a website for any business, including small businesses, can’t be over-emphasised.
If you run a business and want to grow your revenue, you definitely need a website. In other words, website development is not optional, it’s mandatory.
If you’re still not sure why you should get a website for your business, here are but few of the major reasons.
Why Do You Need A Website
A. Your website can help you to extend your visibility.
Unlike a traditional business, you can grow your online business not only nationally, but internationally too, with the help of your website.
B. A website can talk about your company, products and services.
A website can be served as a tool to showcase the features & benefits of your products or services.
Imagine if you were to talk about your company and products to hundreds of people, how much time and effort will it require. But if you have a website, you can put all the necessary information there for your potential customers to view and contact you.
C. A website can also act as your CRM.
All the details of your potential customers can be saved in your website, that they fill out through a web form integrated with your website.
If you choose WordPress for your website development, then this job becomes even more easier because there are several great WordPress plugins available to incorporate a CRM on your website and integrate it with a web form.
D. You can use your website as your salesman.
Your website is not just a collection of few webpages, but it can also be used as a sales arm of your organization.
By marketing & advertising your website through major platforms like Facebook & Google, you can reach out your potential customers and increase your business revenue.
Now since we have understood the importance of a website for every business, let’s see what all you need to do in order to get a website.
What You Should Do When You Need A Website
#1 Decide Your Web Design Budget
How much you are willing to spend on your website development?
This is the question that you need to answer before You search for and hire any web developer. Depending upon your budget you can decide whether you want to hire a web developer or a web development company.
Hiring a web developer vs web development company could be an affordable way to develop your website.
If you’re wondering the cost to develop a website, you may like to read one of my previous blog posts, wherein I have explained about different types of websites and their respective development costs.
#2 Search For A Web Developer
Once you have decided upon your budget to develop your website, it’s time to look out for a web developer who can help you to build a website for you at a reasonable cost.
Do not get overwhelmed by the abundance of web developers available in the market.
Just define few important criteria to hire a web developer and testify your shortlisted web developers on each of those parameters.
Here are but few of the important parameters that your web developer or web designer must be testified on:
A. How much technical knowledge does your web developer have?
B. Has he or she got any nice portfolio to share with you?
C. Has he got a list of happy clients’ testimonials?
D. Is he willing to offer you his advice to choose a domain name, web hosting and most importantly, an appropriate web development platform?
Here are few more questions that you must ask before hiring your web developer.
A. Which platform you will use for the website development?
B. How much time will it take to complete the website development?
C. Are there any hidden charges?
D. Does the website development proposal includes web hosting and domain registration?
E. Will the source codes be provided after the website development is finished?
F. Will a short training be provided once the website development is done?
G. What would be the service warranty like? How many months the free support will be provided?
H. What would be the cost of website maintenance, should there any need be?
I. Will the website have responsive design?
Once you’ve found your desired web developer, you can seek a website proposal from him/her and discuss each of your website features in detail.
#3 Choose Domain, Web Hosting & CMS
Once you have finalized your web developer, you can arrange a meeting with him or her to choose a domain name, web hosting package and platform to develop your website.
A web hosting plays Ann important role in the success of any website, especially e-commerce stores. Therefore, you must take an advantage of your web developer’s experience in choosing a reliable yet affordable web hosting plan.
Choosing an appropriate platform for your website development is as important as building your website in the very first place.
If you want to develop an affordable website for your small business or startup, you may choose WordPress for your web development. Also, if you are planning to develop an e-commerce website to sell your products online, WordPress is again a right choice for you.
#4 Test, Test & Test
This is perhaps the most important step in any website development. No matter how good a website looks, but if it has errors and bugs, your users will be disappointed.
Therefore, before you launch your website for public, its always advised to test it thoroughly so that there is no room for errors.
Testing becomes even more important in case of e-commerce website development where you expect your potential customers to pay you online. If an e-commerce website is not built properly and has several issues, it will not only spoil the reputation of your business but it will also bring financial disaster to your organisation.
#5 Web Maintenance
Website development, like any other good thing, is not a one time job. It’s an ongoing process.
Here are but few of the major reasons why your website needs regular maintenance:
A. Web maintenance helps to upgrade a website regularly.
B. Web maintenance ensures that your website has no issues because whenever any issue is being reported, your web developer can fix it immediately under the website maintenance contract.
C. You get to redesign your website’s various elements like banners, images and buttons. In other words, when you opt for website maintenance, your website always look vibrant and professional.
D. You don’t need to put your precious time on updating the content on your website. A web maintenance subscription helps you to focus on the core areas of your business rather than struggling with the technical aspects of your website. As a result, your website is always being handled by web professionals.
E. A website that’s not maintained regularly is always prone to all kinds of vulnerabilities due to which the security of your website can be affected. Therefore, if you want your website to be secured, updated and vibrant, hiring a web developer to maintain your website is essential.