5 Steps to Make a Small Business Website: Stay Connected with Your Small Business

Over the years, the demand for small business websites has increased significantly. People are finding them a convenient way to stay in touch with their coworkers.

Although social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram are there to help you stay connected with your friends and small business. It is challenging for small business members of all ages to set up user accounts and navigate ever-changing privacy policies.

This post helps you learn how to make a small business website in 5 easy steps. So, walk through this post, and create a convenient connecting point for your small business and friends.

Step: 1 Get A Domain Name & Web Hosting Service

The very first thing you have to do to create a small business website is to get yourself domain name. This is the name you want to give to your website. Choose a name that better defines your small business. However, at the same time, it should be easy to type and memorable.

Try to keep it short and avoid using number and hyphens so that it is easy to type. There are plenty of domain registrars in the marketplace from where you can buy a domain name. GoDaddy, Namecheap, Gandi are a few popular ones. A top level domain name should cost you between $10 to $15/ per annum.

Note: You can buy a domain name and web hosting together. Some hosting providers offer a free domain name for the 1^st year.

Once you have finalized your domain, your next step should be choosing the right hosting plan. In a small business website, you will be posting your personal images and information, you should look for a hosting service offering safe and secure hosting environment. However,  finding a reliable web host can be a time-taking process.

Because from pricing to features, to uptime to customer support, there are a lot of things that you have to consider. To save your time, you should look for a review guide that compares the services of top hosting providers like one is. It is advisable to choose a hosting provider that is capable of fulfilling the growing needs of your website.

Step 2: Pick Your Platform

After finalizing your domain name and web host, you will need to select a website building platform. There are numerous website building platforms out there that you can choose from.

However, if you don’t want to get too technical, WordPress should be an ideal option for you.

Using WordPress, you can create almost any kind of website as it comes with a lot of versatility and flexibility. According to WordPress, they are powering more than 32% of the web. Moreover, in comparison to most platforms, WordPress better supports multimedia. Adding content like text, images, videos, and audios are easier in it.

As in small business website, you will be sharing the latest news, pictures and video clips, WordPress should be a good option for you. Another option that you may consider is website builders like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace.

Step 3: Choose a Theme and Plugins

If you are choosing a WordPress platform, you will find plenty of free and premium themes that you can use to customize the look and structure of your small business site. Moreover, you can also find plugins to expand the functionality.

To make a feature-rich small business website, you may consider adding features like photo galleries, comment section, automatic backup, etc. You can use the following plugins to add these features.

Disqus (for comments)

Envira Gallery (For photo gallery)

BackupBuddy (For backup)

If you choose a platform other than WordPress that doesn’t support plugins, you will have features available to you within the structure.

Step 4: Important Privacy Measures

To create a secure small business website, it is important that you prioritize security and privacy. There are some platforms that let you adjust your settings and manage authors. Using privacy setting, you can specify who can read content available on your website.

In the WordPress platform, privacy and security features can be brought using plugins. For example, two popular plugins are My Private site and Password Protection.

In addition to this, you can also discourage search engines from indexing your personal website. It will prevent your small business website from showing up in search engine results. You can do this if you don’t want any non-relative to stumble upon your website.

To do it in WordPress, you will have to access your admin area, go to “Settings” and then choose “Reading.” Here you will see an option .ie. Search Engine Visibility. You have to check the box saying “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.”

Step 5: Share Your Site with Members and Start Posting

Once you’re done with choosing themes, important plugins and establishing privacy, send your site’s URL to your small business members and friends.

If you want to allow posting to your small business members, add users to your website. In WordPress, you can do so by adding a new user from your dashboard.

Final Words

Needless to say, a small business is one of the most important aspects of our lives. Probably, this is why, over the years, the demand for small business related web projects has increased. Hopefully, this guide will help you make a good small business website to stay connected to your friends and small business no matter where they live.