It’s 2018 and, if you have not already done it, now is the time you got your business online!

Okay, so you may not be that web savvy, you may be busy enough or you just haven’t got around to it, but you really do need a web presence if you want your business to be taken seriously.

In many cases, a prospective customer or client will want to check out a business they are thinking of using by looking at their website before they pick up the phone to discuss their project.

And guess what? No website often means no call, so that’s no enquiry and no new business!

A professional website will give a professional impression of your business and lead to more calls and more new orders. Orders you would almost certainly have missed out on with no web presence!

So where do you start?

The first thing to do is to register your domain name (e.g. www.mycompany.co.uk).

You can do this quickly and easily via GoDaddy (https://uk.godaddy.com/) or 123reg (www.123-reg.co.uk) and often for c.£10-20 for two years.

In most cases it will be best to go for a .co.uk and/or a .com but don’t bother with all the .net, .org, .whatever  alternatives as these won’t be necessary.

Once you’ve secured your domain you should get a holding page up ASAP.

This should contain your business name and contact details and maybe your logo (think of an online version of the information on your business card).

Now you can relax a little, you have your business online!

The next steps will depend on your plans for your business; do you just need a small “brochure” site maybe with a gallery of your recent work?

Are you looking to take orders on your site?

Do you want customers to be able to pay you via your website?

All of these options are possible and things that should be considered and discussed with your developer.

But you don’t have to “jump straight in”, you can add content and functionality in the future if you want to and your website can grow and improve as time and funds allow.

How much is all of this going to cost?

How much is a car? How long is a piece of string?

You get the idea!

How much you invest in your new website will be up to you but remember that it is an investment in your business. Ask yourself how many new orders or clients will I have to get from my website to get a good return on my investment?

If you really want to keep the cost down, you could try one of the many self-build website builders on offer, such as Weebly, but these aren’t usually as easy to use as they make out (and a badly built site can sometimes be worse than having no site at all!)

If you really want to convey the best possible impression of your business, employ a professional.

A good website designer/developer will discuss and explain your options and help you decide what is the best thing to do to help your business (some may even offer staged payments for larger projects). They will also help and support you in the future and if your website carries their name, it also carries their reputation and they will want to see your business succeed and grow!

Already have a website?

If you already have a website, then great! STRANDcreative.com offers free website audit reports to see how your existing website performs.

Article supplied by our friends at STRANDcreative.com.
Call Andy or Jack on 0161 250 5040 for a chat if you want to find out more