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Setting up a website is crucial when operating a business. Your customers expect to find your website up and running on the internet for certain reasons: they want to find your location and contact details, they need to know some information about your business, or they want to know what products/services your selling. Ultimately, if your business doesn’t have an existing website, then consider your business non-existent at all. In this article, we’ll show you five basic steps on how to set up a website for your business.

Register your domain name

Your domain name is the address that your customers should type in the search bar to find your website (i.e. www.yourbusinessname.com). To get your domain name registered, you will need a domain search tool such as EZtransition or BlueHost to check if your business’ name is available. If your domain isn’t available, you may adjust the name a little bit by using a .net or .org (instead of .com). Usually, customers expect your domain name similar to your business name. But if your domain is already taken, you may use a catchphrase, slogan or keyword.  

Get a web hosting provider

Once your domain name is registered, you need to get it visible on the internet. In order to do that, you need to find a web hosting company. There are many web hosting companies with different web hosting plans that require you to pay a fee. You need to find the one that suits your business depending on how large your website is and how many visitors you get. EZtransition has webhosting plans that fit any business size

Plan your website’s content

Before you start building your website, you need to plan out what your customers will see on your website. Think about what sections or pages you want to add. Essentially, your website must have a homepage, products/services page, about us, a blog page, and contact us page. Consider the information your customers will expect to find on your website. 

Build your website

Generally, there are three options for building your website.

The most expensive option is to hire a full-service brick and mortar local agency. You are typically guaranteed to get a good result from such an agency and communication works by walking into their swanky downtown office. Of course, the major downside here is the expense. Be prepared to pay upwards of $10, 000 for such a solution.

The second option is to hire a freelance designer. There are some very talented individuals both local and abroad that you can outsource this work to. Costs typically run between $500 to $5000 and results are typically mixed. Communication can be spotty and some cases the freelancer may disappear without warning.

Another option is to just do it all yourself. This is by far the cheapest option of the three and you never have to worry about communication issues. The downside, of course, is that you are taking valuable time away from running your business, and web development may not be your strong point. 

EZtransition offers a unique alternative that encompasses all three solutions and starts at a price of $49 a month. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation to learn more.

Design It

Designing a website begins by choosing a font, color palette, and a theme. Go for something that will represent your business. Decide what images, graphics, and other elements to include. Envision how you want your website to be laid out for your customers. Here’s a tip: your site visitors will form their first impression on your website as quickly as 0.05 seconds so you need to make a great first impression by coming up with great content that’s compelling and easy to read in seconds.

There’s a growing number of people who would rather access the internet through their mobile devices. Your design must be responsive. That means it is flexible so that it changes to fit any device screen, from a smartphone to a laptop to a 60-inch tv!

Conclusion

Not everyone knows how to set up a website, it’s a long process and it usually takes more time and planning than you’d expect. It’s not just something you’re supposed to do once and forget. Just like running a business, it requires regular maintenance and certain upgrades from time to time. Unprofessional and outdated business websites turn off potential customers. If you need help in building and designing a website, our team at EZtransition provides a unique solution. Contact us today and we’ll build a beautiful and fully-functioning website that is well-designed and suited for your business.