Gone are the days when building a website for your business meant hiring an experienced and, therefore, expensive web designer and then having to fumble your way around a custom-built content management system (CMS), thankfully. These days it is possible to build a website with a couple of mouse clicks or even a few taps of your smartphone’s screen.
Although building a website is a relatively simple task, creating a good website takes a little more planning. There are dozens of factors to consider, including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), whether you will use WordPress, Drupal, or a service like SquareSpace for your CMS, and many more. However, you can get the ball rolling with a trio of crucial foundations to begin the construction of your website or online blog.
Your Domain Name Is Everything
Names are significant because they, at the very least, allow us to identify someone or something. Choosing a good domain name for your website is the most important aspect of the entire process. Your domain name should reflect the product or services you offer and be memorable and concise. There is no point registering the umbrellas dot com domain if you are an affiliate for online California betting sites. Likewise, why have a domain about dog toys when you sell cat scratching posts? Those seem like silly examples, but you would be surprised at how many people choose a domain name that has nothing to do with their business just because they think it is funny or cool.
Make your domain name easy to spell while keeping it as short as possible. You must remember that potential clients and customers will type your domain into their browser, making mistakes possible. With that in mind, avoid hyphens and numbers, especially replacing letters with numbers, to avoid any potential errors.
In addition, ensure your domain name gives you room to grow your business. You may be in construction recruitment and find what you think is the perfect domain for that field. But what if you have plans to move into management recruitment, too? Do you want to spend time and resources building another website if and when you expand?
Never Scrimp On Web Hosting
Your next step is to find a web hosting company where your website will live. There are dozens of such companies offering their services from the price of a cup of takeaway coffee to hundreds of pounds per month. Never scrimp on web hosting services because it will cost you in the long run.
Speed is of the essence when it comes to websites. A recent study showed that 47% of a website’s visitors expect it to load within two seconds. Incredibly, 40% of visitors abandon the website if it takes more than three seconds to load. Is losing 40% of your traffic outweighed by the savings on cheap web hosting? We think not.
Opt for a dedicated server over a shared server. They are more expensive, but the positives far outweigh the financial outlay, especially if your website starts receiving many hits.
Keep Your Design Simple and Mobile Friendly
The best websites are clean, simple, and easy to navigate. They have all the relevant information in easy reach, such as contact information and links to any subscription services. Take Bloomberg as a shining example. It loads lightning fast (that will be the dedicated hosting server), and as soon as it loads, you have company information, customer support details, and the option to subscribe at eye level. Visitors need not trawl through the website to find this important information.
Keeping with Bloomberg as an example, have you noticed the layout is clean and crisp, and it is easy to find the various articles? Try resizing the screen or visiting the site on your mobile phone. Notice how everything displays correctly? This is because it is a responsive website; yours should be too.
More than half of internet traffic is attributed to mobile devices and smartphones. Fail to cater for mobile customers, and you are leaving money on the table. Imagine having a slow-loading website that is not mobile-friendly; you may as well not bother.