How Do I Create a Basic Website for My Small Business?

Creating a Website for your Business

The days of having to hire a developer or designer to get a good-looking and very functional website for your small business are in the past.  I'm here to assure you that obtaining a great website is within reach today even if you have to do it yourself.  Outsourcing budget or tech skills lacking?  No worries!  These are no longer serious barriers to entry.  You can still get your website up quickly with the right tool for you. In this post, we're going to to break down the popular website building tools you can choose from.

Get to know your options for creating your website:

Option 1: Use a Drag & Drop Builder Service / Tool

Vast improvements have been made over the last 5 years when it comes to how easy it is for you, without any coding or programming skills to make a good looking website.  There are Do-it-Yourself builders out there with amazing 'Drag & Drop' capabilities.  Some of these builders are so easy that if you can use an iPhone, you can be assured you can learn how to build your own good looking website (and quickly.)  The three most popular 'DIY website builders' at the moment are Weebly, Wix, and Squarespace.  Each has its own set of reasonably-priced plans & we'll go into those more in a moment. Don't let the term 'drag-and-drop' fool you into thinking such tools / services create inferior websites. The right Drag and Drop builders can create SEO friendly, great-looking, and highly functional websites that also look perfect on mobile.  Ready to get started with one of these builders?  I've created a free checklist for you to ensure you're including everything you need for a modern professional website.  Download it here:

Download the Free 'Website Planning Checklist'.

Option 2: Use Wordpress.org + A Theme
 
If you decide that the Drag, Drop, and Done website building services like Weebly, Wix, and Squarespace aren't for you, there is one more very popular option and that is Wordpress.  Wordpress is not a ready-to-go out of the box DIY drag and drop builder.  It is a formally a 'self hosted content management system.'  (If you need to go the DIY route today or soon and that terminology is already scaring you, you might not want to go with this option except in some industry specific cases like professional blogging.) If you use Wordpress to build your small business website, you will have to choose and install a third-party theme that suits your needs.  In contrast, the DIY builders have several themes to choose from 'built right in' to start.  With Wordpress, you will also need to choose a third-party hosting provider unlike when using a DIY builder which hosts your site for you as part of your plan.  (A hosting provider is simply the company that actually stores your website content).

Some more about Wordpress.  You can (when you know what you're doing) get a good-looking website by using Wordpress.  Significant improvements have been made as well over the past couple of years when it comes to accessibility of nice themes you can use with Wordpress, but most do require at least some code modification, which can be difficult for many small business owners.   Wordpress is the preferred tool in some industries (such as news media), but it is definitely the more time and learning intensive option when it comes to creating a correctly displaying, fully functional website.  (Note: Do not confuse Wordpress.org with Wordpress.com as Wordpress.com does not permit business use.)

Let's Recap & Sum Up your Most Common Options for Building your Small Business Website:

When it comes to creating a website for your small business, it is most common to go one of two main ways.  (We'll break down the pros and cons of each below so you can decide what's right for you.):

1. Choose a DIY website builder service and build your website with it

OR

2. Go to Wordpress.org to download and install Wordpress onto your computer.  Then purchase / choose a Wordpress theme that suits your needs (from a third party theme creator) and use it in conjunction with Wordpress and the host provider of your choice to build your Website

Remember, there are 4 popular options for building your small business website in 2016:  Weebly, Wix, Squarespace (the DIY or drag and drop tools) OR Wordpress.

Which is right for you? This will depend on your type of business and required functionality.  Here's the thing though, I'm a strong believer that the builder you'll be most successful with is the one that feels most comfortable to you.  As long as you are using one of the professional standard builders above, you will be able to get a good looking website.  From there, go for what helps you stay in flow the most.  There are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you come to the right conclusion for you, you can find them in this post. 

The tool you should use to create your website depends on your industry and needs.

While business's in some industries favor Wordpress, many others can do just fine with any option. Building your website quickly on your own is within reach today thanks to huge improvements in the website builder space within the last 5 years!  How much time each will take you will of course depend on your experience with technology, and the service you choose. To give you a rough ballpark, you can sign up for Weebly, Wix, or Squarespace and build an acceptably good looking functional basic site in just a few hours or less.  This would commonly include a home page, an about page, a services page, a contact page, even a menu page if you're a restaurant or salon.  On the other hand, although in some cases it can absolutely be done in less time, creating a Wordpress website without experience commonly takes small business owners several weeks or even months.  In special cases, as discussed above, this is still however the option with which to go.  Still not sure?  There are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you come to the right conclusion for you, you can find them in this post. 

One more important note:  Although outside the scope of what we're covering here in this article on a building a basic small business web presence or website, if you want your website to include a functional online store or 'e-commerce' you can still use any of the builders we mentioned above (as well as e-commerce specific builders like Shopify and others) but this will take additional more time and you'll want to make sure you've purchased an e-commerce ready theme or plan.  Also, remember, no matter which service you use, unless using the free version, you will likely want to purchase and 'attach' your own domain name.

Ready to build your small business website?  Download my free website planning checklist to help you complete it quickly.  This free checklist also is designed to help you ensure you are include everything you need to be sure your website is up to modern professional standard.

​Happy Building!
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