Small business owners should consider building an online presence, including a business website. A survey found that 73% of small businesses had a website in 2022, and 86% of those without a website said they planned to build one. A strong website gives a small business more visibility, credibility, and customer engagement—all of which can increase sales.

Below, we’ll explain why websites are important and how to plan, design, and build a small business website that will attract customers.

What’s in this article?

• Why websites are important for small businesses
  
• How to create a small business website
  

Why websites are important for small businesses

Small businesses with websites can more easily engage with customers, make online sales, and collect data on current and potential customers. Let’s take a closer look at the various reasons websites are important for small businesses.

Online visibility and accessibility

• 24/7 presence: A website is consistently available, enabling customers to find and engage with a business whenever they want. Customers expect immediate, round-the-clock access to information and services.

• Reach beyond local boundaries: A website allows a small business to reach a wider audience beyond its geographic location.

Credibility and professionalism

• Trust and legitimacy: A professional website is often the first indicator of a business’s legitimacy that customers see. Potential customers might question the business’s credibility if they can’t find a business website.

• Security: For ecommerce businesses in particular, a professional website reassures customers that it’s safe to enter their payment details.

Marketing and branding

• Controlled narrative: A website allows a business to control its narrative and brand image. It’s a platform to explain the value the business delivers, share customer testimonials, and showcase products or services effectively. Along with allowing customers to make online purchases, showcasing products and services is the main reason companies create websites.

• SEO and online discovery: Websites are necessary for search engine optimization (SEO). A well-optimized website increases the likelihood of appearing in search engine results, attracting organic traffic and potential customers.

Customer engagement and support

• Information hub: A website serves as a central hub for information about products, services, contact details, and hours of operation—making it easier for customers to get the information they need.

• Customer support: Websites can provide various forms of customer support—including live chat, FAQs, or a contact form—to improve overall customer experience and satisfaction.

Sales and revenue growth

• Ecommerce capability: Businesses selling products can add an online store to their website. This generates ecommerce opportunities and expands the business’s sales channels for revenue growth.

• Reduced overhead: Compared to a physical storefront, a website can be a more cost-effective way to reach customers—especially for businesses that don’t require a physical presence.

Data collection and customer insights

• Analytics: Website analytics tools can collect valuable data on visitor behavior, preferences, and demographics.

• Targeted marketing: The insights gained from website analytics allow small businesses to create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.

Competitive advantage

• Staying competitive: In many industries, a website is necessary for small businesses to stay competitive.

• Innovative opportunities: A website provides a platform with innovative marketing strategies for implementation such as content marketing, online advertising, and social media integration.

How to create a small business website

Small businesses that are considering whether to create a website should start by thinking about their goals for a website and what types of customers they want to attract. Then they need to choose the right platform, domain name, and web host. Here’s an overview of how to create a small business website.

Planning your website strategy

Creating a website for a small business begins with crafting a strategic plan that builds the foundation for a successful online presence. There are several important steps to create this plan:

• Define your website’s objectives: Start by defining what you want your website to achieve. Are you trying to sell products, generate leads, provide information, or improve customer support? Your objectives will guide every other decision in the website creation process.

• Understand your target audience: Know who your website is for. What are their needs, preferences, and online behaviors? This knowledge will inform the design, content, and functionality of your website to ensure it resonates with your audience.

• Analyze competitor websites: Look at what your competitors are doing with their websites. Identify what works well and what doesn’t. This research can inspire your own website design and functionality, helping you to stand out in the market.

• Decide on branding elements: Your website should reflect your business’s branding, including logos, color schemes, and tone of voice. Consistent branding across all channels builds recognition and trust with customers.

• Plan the website structure: Outline a basic structure for your website. This includes determining the number of pages you’ll need and their purpose (e.g., Home, About Us, Services/Products, Contact). A logical structure will improve the user experience.

• Set a budget: Determine how much you are willing to invest in your website. Costs can include web design, hosting, domain registration, maintenance, and content creation.

• Consider future scalability: Think about how your website might need to evolve. Choose solutions that are scalable and adaptable, enabling future changes to the website size, functionality, or content.

• Establish a timeline: Set a realistic timeline to develop and launch your website. This will help you manage the project effectively and commit to a go-live date.

• Decide on DIY vs. professional help: Depending on your skills and budget, decide whether you’ll build the website yourself or hire professionals. Each option has its advantages and drawbacks; for example, hiring professionals is often more expensive, but it can result in a more professional final product.

Choosing the right platform for your website

The platform you choose for your small business website will affect its usability, scalability, and overall functionality. Here are the different types of platforms, as well as key considerations for assessing them:

Types of platforms

• Content management systems
  Content management systems (CMSs) such as WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal are popular choices. They provide flexibility, a range of features, and customizable options. These can be ideal for those who want control over their website without needing extensive coding knowledge.

• Website builders
  Website builders such as Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly are user-friendly, providing drag-and-drop features and predesigned templates. They are suitable for beginners or businesses that need a simple, visually appealing website quickly.

• Ecommerce platforms
  If your primary goal is online sales, consider platforms such as Shopify, Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento), or BigCommerce. These are specifically designed for ecommerce businesses and include features such as shopping carts, payment processing, and inventory management.

Considerations

• Your technical skill level
  Your comfort level with technology should guide your choice. CMS platforms provide more customization, but they require a steeper learning curve. Website builders are more user-friendly, but they might provide less flexibility.

• Customization needs
  Determine how much customization your website will need. If you require specific functionalities or a custom design, a CMS might be a better choice. If a standard website is all you need, perhaps consider a website builder.

• Scalability
  Consider how your website might need to grow in the future. Some platforms are better suited for scalability, higher traffic, and more frequent content updates.

• SEO capabilities
  Make sure the platform supports strong SEO practices. Features such as the ability to edit meta tags, use search-friendly URLs, and integrate with Google Analytics are important.

• Integration options
  If you need your website to integrate with other tools such as CRM systems, email marketing software, or social media platforms, make sure the platform supports these integrations.

• Security features
  Security is especially important for ecommerce websites. Check what security features are offered, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates, regular updates, and backup capabilities.

• Cost implications
  Analyze the cost associated with each platform. Some may have higher up-front costs, while others might charge monthly fees or take a percentage of sales.

• Mobile responsiveness
  Customers are increasingly using smartphones for web browsing. You should check that the platform offers mobile-responsive templates.

• Reviews and testimonials
  Look for reviews or testimonials from other small business owners. These can provide insight into the platform’s reliability and customer service.

• Platform testing
  Many platforms provide free trials. Take advantage of these to explore the features and usability before making a decision.

Registering a domain name

Your website’s domain name should be short, simple, and easy to remember. Here’s what to consider when picking and registering a domain name:

• Choose a memorable, relevant domain name: Your domain name should be easy to remember and spell, and relevant to your business. It should reflect your brand and be intuitive for customers seeking your products or services.

• Research availability: Use domain registration platforms such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Squarespace to check the availability of your desired domain name. Be prepared with alternatives in case your first choice is taken.

• Select the right domain extension: While .com is the most recognized extension, there are many others, such as .net, .biz, .org, or industry-specific ones such as .tech or .fashion. Choose an extension that fits your business type and location.

• Keep it short and simple: A shorter domain is generally preferable as it’s easier to type and less prone to typos.

• Avoid hyphens and numbers: Hyphens and numbers can complicate your domain name and make it harder to communicate verbally.

• Consider long-term branding: Think about how your domain name will fit with your brand in the long run. Changing your domain later can be complicated and harm your brand recognition.

• Check for trademarks: Check that your chosen domain name doesn’t infringe on any existing trademarks to avoid legal issues.

• Register your domain: Once you’ve chosen a domain name, register it through a reliable registrar. Consider registering similar domains to protect your brand.

Selecting a web host

Web hosting services provide the infrastructure required to maintain a website and make it accessible online. Here’s how to evaluate web hosts:

• Determine your hosting needs: Your choice of hosting depends on several factors, such as the size of your website, the volume of traffic you expect, and the level of technical control you need.

• Understand different types of hosting:

  • Shared hosting: Suitable for small- to medium-sized websites. It’s cost-effective, but it shares resources with other websites on the same server.
    
  • VPS (virtual private server) hosting: Allows for more control and dedicated resources. Good for websites that are growing or have moderate traffic.
    
  • Dedicated hosting: Provides an entire server for your website. It’s more expensive, but it gives maximum control and performance.
    
  • Cloud hosting: Provides scalability as your website grows. You pay for the resources you use, and it’s generally reliable.
    

• Look for reliability and uptime: Choose a host with a reputation for reliability and high uptime scores. Your website needs to be accessible at all times.

• Consider speed and performance: Website load time is important for user experience and SEO. Select a host known for fast performance.

• Assess customer support: Check if the hosting provider is able to deliver strong customer support. A 24/7 support system is ideal, especially if you’re not technologically inclined.

• Review security features: Look for hosts that provide strong security features such as regular backups, malware scanning, and firewalls.

• Evaluate scalability: Your host should be able to accommodate your website’s growth and increased traffic over time.

• Compare prices: Compare pricing plans of different hosts. Be wary of hidden costs and know what’s included in each plan.

Designing your website

Your website design will ultimately determine how customers view your website and your company. Here are best practices for the design phase:

• Establish a user-friendly layout:

  • Navigation: Design your website with intuitive navigation. Menus should be easy for visitors to find and understand, guiding them to the information they need.
    
  • Hierarchy: Use a visual hierarchy to direct attention toward important elements. This includes using headings, bullet points, and spacing.
    

• Emphasize responsive design: Make sure your website design is responsive, meaning it easily adjusts to different screen sizes and devices. This is a necessity for reaching a broader audience.

• Choose an appropriate color scheme and typography: Select colors and fonts that reflect your brand’s identity. The color scheme should be pleasing and accessible, and the typography should be readable.

• Incorporate high-quality images and graphics: Use high-quality, relevant images and graphics to improve your website’s appeal. Visual elements can convey information quickly and effectively, but be mindful of load times and optimize images for web use.

• Focus on user experience (UX): Design with the user in mind. The user experience should be smooth and engaging, encouraging visitors to stay longer and explore your website. This includes intuitive navigation, an uncluttered layout, fast load times, and clear calls to action (CTAs).

• Implement branding elements: Consistently use your brand’s logo, color palette, and style throughout the website. This consistency strengthens your brand identity and aids in brand recall.

• Optimize for accessibility: Verify your website is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This includes using alt text for images, allowing for navigation with screen readers, and using high-contrast color schemes where necessary.

• Integrate social proof and trust signals: Include elements such as customer testimonials, certifications, and awards. Social proof can greatly increase credibility and trust with your audience.

• Prioritize loading speed: Regularly test and optimize your website’s loading speed. This includes optimizing images, leveraging browser caching, and minimizing the use of heavy scripts. Loading speed is an important factor in user experience and SEO.

• Plan for scalability: Design your website with future growth in mind. It should be flexible enough to accommodate new content, features, or functionality.

• Seek professional feedback or hire a designer: If web design isn’t in your skill set, consider hiring a professional web designer. They can bring expertise that will substantially improve the effectiveness of your website.

• Check consistency across pages: Each page on your website should have consistent design elements. This uniformity creates a cohesive look.

• Involve stakeholders: Seek feedback from various stakeholders, including team members and potential customers, to verify the design meets the needs and expectations of a wider audience.

Creating strong content

Interesting content will draw potential customers to your website, enticing them to buy your products or services. Here’s how to create strong content:

• Create content with your brand voice: Develop a consistent brand voice and tone that resonates with your target audience. Whether it’s professional, friendly, informative, or casual, infuse this voice into all of your content.

• Focus on your audience’s needs and interests: Write content that addresses your audience’s questions, needs, and pain points. They are more likely to perceive this type of content to be valuable and engaging.

• Prioritize quality and relevance: All content should be well-written, accurate, and relevant to your audience. High-quality content engages readers and establishes your business as a credible and authoritative source in your industry.

• Create content hierarchy: Structure your content to guide users through your website. Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to make information easy to scan and digest.

• Use varied content formats: Diversify your content with different formats such as blogs, videos, infographics, podcasts, or case studies. Different formats can cater to diverse audience preferences and can help explain complex topics more effectively.

• Include calls-to-action (CTAs): Guide your visitors toward desired actions with a CTA. Whether it’s signing up for a newsletter, downloading a guide, or making a purchase, CTAs should be clear and persuasive.

• Keep content fresh and updated: Regularly update your website with fresh content. This could mean adding new blog posts, updating product information, or revising key pages to keep them current.

• Tell your brand’s story: Use your content to tell your brand’s story. Share your origins, mission, and values. Storytelling can create a deeper emotional connection with your audience.

• Incorporate customer testimonials and reviews: Customer testimonials and reviews can boost credibility. Include these elements where relevant to provide social proof of the value of your products or services.

• Make content shareable: Add social sharing buttons and encourage visitors to share your content. This can increase your reach and bring more traffic to your website.

• Engage with visual and interactive elements: Break up text with relevant images, videos, or interactive elements. These can improve user engagement and make complex information easier to digest.

• Implement storytelling techniques: Use storytelling techniques to make your content more compelling and memorable. This includes using real-life examples, creating relatable scenarios, or weaving narratives that illustrate your points.

• Incorporate professional editing and proofreading: Get your content professionally edited and proofread to avoid errors that can undermine your website’s credibility.

Integrating key features and functionalities

Integrating the right features and functionalities into your small business website can significantly improve user experience, efficiency, and overall effectiveness. Here’s an overview of what you should consider:

• Contact information
  Prominently display your contact information, including phone numbers, email addresses, and physical location if applicable. Consider adding a contact form for easy communication.

• Social media integration
  Include social media buttons to promote sharing and connect with your audience on different platforms. Consider integrating your latest social media feeds onto your website.

• Ecommerce capabilities (if applicable)
  For selling products or services online, integrate ecommerce features such as a shopping cart, product pages, a secure checkout process, and a payment gateway.

• CRM integration
  Integrate your website with a customer relationship management (CRM) system to better track and manage customer interactions.

• Analytics and tracking
  Implement tools such as Google Analytics to track visitor behavior, traffic sources, and other important metrics. This data is key for knowing your audience and optimizing your website.

• Email signup and newsletter integration
  Include an option for visitors to sign up for newsletters or email updates. This is a valuable tactic to build a customer database for ongoing marketing efforts. Integrate your website with email marketing software to capture leads and nurture them through automated email sequences.

• Testimonials and reviews
  Showcase customer testimonials, case studies, and reviews to build credibility and trust with potential customers.

• Trust badges
  Display any certifications, awards, or endorsements your business has received.

• FAQ section
  An FAQ section can provide quick answers to common questions, saving time for both you and your customers.

• Accessibility features
  Implement features that make your website accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This includes text-to-speech functionality, keyboard navigation, and high-contrast visual options.

• Multilingual support (if applicable)
  If your audience is global, consider providing your content in multiple languages.

Optimizing for search engines

Search engine optimization, or SEO, can boost the visibility of your small business. Good SEO can attract organic traffic by placing your website high in relevant search engine results, especially if it’s near the top of the first page of results. Here’s how to optimize your website for search engines:

• Keyword research
  Identify relevant keywords that your target audience uses to search for products or services such as yours. Use tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, or Ahrefs to find keywords with good search volume and relatively low competition. You can also focus on long-tail keywords for higher chances of ranking and to attract more qualified traffic.

• On-page SEO
  Optimize individual pages by incorporating target keywords naturally into titles, headings, meta descriptions, and content. Check that each page has a unique title and description.

• High-quality content
  Create content that is informative, engaging, and valuable to your audience. Google favors content that is helpful to users. Regularly update your website with fresh content.

• Mobile optimization
  Make your website mobile-friendly. Google prioritizes mobile-responsive websites in its search rankings.

• Page load speed
  Optimize your website’s loading speed by compressing images, using cache tools, and minimizing the use of heavy scripts. Use tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights for recommendations.

• Internal linking
  Use internal links wisely to help search engines understand the structure of your website and to distribute page authority throughout it.

• External links and backlinks
  Gain high-quality backlinks from reputable websites. Backlinks are a strong ranking signal for search engines. Avoid dubious link-building practices that could harm your SEO.

• URL structure
  Use descriptive URLs. Ideally, URLs should be easy to read and include relevant keywords.

• Image optimization
  Use alt tags to describe images, incorporating keywords where appropriate. This improves accessibility and provides context to search engines.

• Local SEO (if applicable)
  For local businesses, optimize for local search by including local keywords and backlinks, registering with Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business), and adding your business to local directories.

• SSL certificate
  Use SSL encryption to secure data transfer on your website. This is particularly important for ecommerce websites. Security is a ranking factor, and it also builds trust with visitors.

• Structured data markup
  Use schema markup to provide search engines with detailed information about your website’s content. This can improve the appearance of your website in search results with rich snippets.

• Voice search optimization
  Optimize for voice search by including conversational keywords and phrases that people might use when speaking rather than typing.

• Regular SEO audits
  Conduct regular SEO audits to identify and fix issues such as broken links, errors in the XML sitemap, and duplicate content issues.

• Analytics monitoring and adapting
  Use tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console to monitor your website’s performance. Adapt your SEO strategy based on the insights gathered.

Testing and launching your website

Before making your small business website live, it’s important to thoroughly test it to make sure it functions correctly and provides a positive user experience. Here’s a quick look at the testing and launching process:

• Functional testing
  Check all the functionalities of your website—including forms, checkout processes, searches, and any interactive elements—to make sure they work as intended.

• Browser compatibility testing
  Test your website across multiple web browsers (such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) to check if it displays and functions correctly in each. Browser compatibility is important for reaching a wider audience.

• Mobile responsiveness testing
  Verify that your website is responsive on various mobile devices and screen sizes. This includes testing the navigation, readability of content, and accessibility of key features.

• Load testing
  Conduct load testing to see how your website performs under different levels of traffic. This can identify and solve potential issues with website speed and performance.

• Link and navigation testing
  Make sure all internal and external links work correctly and that the navigation menus function as expected. Broken links can impair user experience.

• SEO review
  Perform a final SEO check. This includes reviewing title tags, meta descriptions, and alt tags, and making sure that all content is optimized for targeted keywords.

• Security checks
  Confirm that security features, including SSL certificates, are properly installed and functioning.

• Compliance checks
  Make sure your website complies with local legal requirements, such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (if applicable), privacy policies, and cookie consents.

• Content review
  Do a final review of all content for spelling, grammar, and accuracy. Make sure all images and multimedia elements are properly formatted and optimized.

• User experience (UX) feedback
  Gather feedback on the user experience. This can involve asking colleagues, friends, or a focus group to navigate the website and provide feedback on their experience.

• Prelaunch backup
  Create a backup of your website before launching. This is a safety net in case any issues arise during or after the launch.

• Setting up analytics
  Verify that tools such as Google Analytics or other tracking systems are properly set up to monitor website traffic, understand user behavior, track conversions, and identify areas for improvement.

• Launch plan
  Develop a launch plan that includes a schedule, marketing activities to promote the launch, and a plan for monitoring the website’s performance immediately after going live.

• Going live
  Once testing is complete and you are satisfied with the website, proceed with the launch. Update your domain settings if needed to make your website live to the public.

• Post-launch monitoring
  Closely monitor the website for any issues in the days following the launch. Pay attention to website performance, user feedback, and any unexpected bugs.

• A/B testing
  Regularly conduct A/B testing on different elements of your website—such as CTAs, page layouts, and headlines—to increase conversions.

• Feedback loop
  Establish a process for collecting and acting on customer feedback to continuously improve the user experience.

• Regular updates
  Keep your website platform and plugins updated to protect against vulnerabilities.

• Staying updated on trends
  Keep up with the latest web design and digital marketing trends to ensure your website remains relevant and effective.

A small business website should evolve with your business and the changing demands of digital customers. Applying these best practices is a great way to engage customers, build your brand, and drive growth.