Small Business Startup: How to Build Your Website for Free
So you decide to start your new online business. This is a smart move with the lowest start-up costs. Also, an e-commerce business offers very high potential returns on investment, high-profit margins, and the ability to live and work anywhere in the world.
Many stats shows that e-commerce spending reached $2 trillion in 2019 worldwide, representing about 8.7 percent of total retail spending.
1. First step. If you want to start an online business, you need a website.
This will be where you market your business and products on the internet. How you communicate with your prospects. How you convince them to become customers. It’s the basis for all your online marketing efforts, no matter if you use email marketing, paid advertising, social media marketing, video marketing, etc.
Your new website is your online storefront where you can offer physical products or information products for sale.
When people in your niche search Google or another search engine for products like those you sell, you need a website to ensure that they come across your business in the search results.
2. How to Build Your Website for Free
The great thing is you can set up a website that does everything you need without having to hire a web designer. (Save Money). You can create your customized website yourself for free.
You don’t need to be a tech genius, coder, or programmer to do it. There are plenty of programs, called website building software or content management systems, that make it possible for anyone, no matter their background or experience, to create, update, and maintain a website.
A website makes your business legitimate and provides you with a platform to become successful. These free programs allow you to customize the look and feel of your site — you’ll be unique and your business will stand out.
Also, your site will look great on mobile devices too. This is very important because the number of people surfing the web on a smartphone or tablet overcame desktop computers. Around 30–35 percent of e-commerce sales are done from mobile devices now.
3. Find an Effective Website Building Solution
Search and find the free website building program that’s right for you. You have some quality choices. The number one thing to look for is if it will support your business goals.
Fortunately, even free solutions offer e-commerce support.
One of the best free and very popular web design tools is WordPress, which is open-source software, created by a nonprofit company. You can download it for free.
WordPress is a very versatile tool that is very effective and useful for your online business. Also, there are some similar resources you can take advantage of to create your free website.
These solutions also offer free hosting, which is what allows your site to “live” online. You do have to register and set up an account.
Important Tip! Your business should have a paid-hosting account! It’s more professional and more effective than free hosting.
4. You Need a Domain
Now, it’s time to set up your web address. This is how people will find you online, so this is not something you should not take lightly.
The name should be attention-grabbing, memorable, and related to your business. It also shouldn’t be too long. You want to make sure it’s easily shareable by word of mouth offline and online, through social media. And it should be easy to type in a web browser.
Once you’ve settled on the name, or better yet, a group of names, you try to register it. You should have alternatives in mind.
With these free programs, you’ll usually have their name included in your web address. You can later register a paid domain if you’d like to change this in the future and have only the “.com” or suffix attached.
5. Create Your Web Pages
There are many templates you can use to improve the look of your site and make it unique. It’s important to keep things simple. You want your website to be easy to navigate and use. A great way to test this is to have a friend or relative visit your site and give you feedback.
There are some necessary elements to create a website that catches your potential customer’s eye and keeps them on the page. You don’t want them to click away because your site isn’t visually appealing.
Photos related to your business are a must. Videos are a great way to engage your prospects. You should also have a marketing copy on your site that clearly outlines the benefits your business and your products can offer. Be authentic, not “salesy.”
A great and very effective tip is to include a headline at the top of your site, something that quickly tells the prospect what you’re all about. This could even be more prominent than your business name.
You need to make sure that the search engines like Google notice your site, and place it higher in the search rankings, you should also regularly add content, including written content like blog posts and videos.
You want to become known as a trusted authority in your niche. This also lets the prospect get to know you. Of course, the design should be appropriate to your business.
If you’re stuck for ideas, you can always “borrow” design elements from the websites of your competitors or search for new design trends.
Also, you need to create an effective marketing plan for your business. Without a successful marketing plan, you can not grow your business and make money.
