1.
4 Essential Steps to Developing
an Effective Business Website

2.
• Gone are the days when business owners relied simply on the word-of-mouth
in order for people to learn about their business and get engaged in their
brand. Nowadays, traditional marketing is not nearly enough when raising
awareness about a brand and building a strong reputation.
• Living in the digital era calls for a completely different approach when it comes
to reaching out to customers and prospects for the goal of promoting a
business and securing its high place on the market. In order to showcase the
products or services you offer to a great number of people and make sure you
grow your business, you need to have a website
• However, you cannot, place a few images on it, put some information about
what you do simply develop a website and call it a day. You may have heard
the saying “Build it and they will come”, but it’s definitely not as simple as that.
You need to put a lot of effort into making an effective website that will help
you attract quality leads and convert them into loyal customers

3.
• Your website is like your business card, so it needs to show that you are a
professional and that you care about satisfying the needs of your customers. A
professional presentation speaks volumes about a business and, if you do it
properly, it can help you get instant credibility and prove your reliability.
• What’s absolutely essential about developing a website for your business is to
make sure it differentiates from thousands of others out there, since that will
help you stand out from your competition and get on the right track to success.
• Creating a website is not nearly as difficult as you may think and the following
steps will assure you that it is actually quite simple, so take a look at what those
steps are. Bear in mind that after taking all of these steps, there are a number of
them yet to be taken in order for your website to become truly effective and
help you extend your reach.

4.
Purchase a Domain Name
Purchasing a domain name for your website is an essential first step before you
start building your digital business card. A domain name is your website’s digital
and you must register it so that you can actually use it legally, which is quite similar to
registering the name of your business.
When choosing a domain name for your website, you need to make sure you keep it
short and simple, as well as avoid any hyphens and abbreviations. It needs to be
catchy and pretty easy to remember. It needs to really stand out in order for people to
be able to recognize your brand instantly.
The best domain name to go with is certainly the very name of your business but, if
domain name happens to be unavailable, you should go with something similar to
business name or come up with another catchy name that has something to do with
your business.
Many web hosting providers include a free domain name in their hosting packages,

5.
Find a Good Web Hosting Provider
Finding a web hosting provider is another vital step before actually developing your
website. You need a web host because your website needs to be uploaded on a web
server in order for it to be accessible on the Web. If you merely create a website and
do not get a web hosting package for it, no one will actually be able to see, let alone
access your website.
However, you need to pay attention to a lot of factors when choosing a web hosting
provider, so that you can be sure that the company you choose can provide you with
the best possible services for your business. Some of the crucial factors you need to
look out for include bandwidth, web space, backup services, uptime, access speed,
website security and customer support, just to name a few.
Another important factor to be considered is reliability so, before you choose a
particular web host, make sure you check out the online reviews of their previous
clients to learn about the quality of the services they offer.

6.
Last, but not the least, you should pay attention to the price, but it should definitely
not be of your primary concern, since, after all, you get what you pay for. Nevertheless,
many web hosting providers offer excellent services at a very reasonable price, so
thorough research before making a final decision is definitely vital.
Choose an Approach to Building Your Website
There are two approaches you can take when building your website. Namely, you can
use a content management system (CMS) or a website builder, both of which can have
your website up and running in no time. No matter what approach you choose, you
can create your website quickly and easily and, more importantly, both can help you
maintain your site and upload every type of content you need.

7.
The most popular CMSs are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal, but the dominating
platform for creating websites is, without a question, WordPress, and it is the best
choice for newbies. It is completely free of charge, with the exception of some themes
and plugins, and it offers thousands of themes that can help you make your website
look professional and sophisticated.
When it comes to the most popular website builders, the ones you can choose from
are Wix, Weebly and Squarespace, to name just a few, and they offer very easy-to-use
tools for both building and maintaining a website. If you opt for a website builder,
make sure you choose the one that will best suit your business needs.