Setting up a business website can appear to be a complex task, particularly if you’re more familiar with offline business activities. You have a compelling business strategy, a unique service or product, and now it’s time to extend your presence to the digital world. However, the question remains, how do you go about building a website?
Rest assured, this blog post is designed to walk you through the intricacies of creating an efficient business website in an easy-to-understand manner. We’ll simplify the tech-speak and provide a clear guide to help you construct a digital platform that accurately reflects your brand.
So, make yourself comfortable, and let’s navigate the process of crafting a business website together.
What is a Business Website?
Picture this: a digital storefront that never closes, always looks polished, and is accessible to anyone, anywhere. That’s essentially what a business website is. It’s your brand’s home in the expansive neighborhood of the internet.
A business website is where your company can showcase what it does best, whether that’s selling artisanal soaps, offering consulting services, or sharing the latest tech news. It’s where potential customers can learn about your products or services, understand your company’s mission and values, and get in touch with you for more information or to make a purchase. But beyond that, a business website is also a statement of credibility.
In our increasingly digital age, having a professional and informative online presence is no longer just a nice-to-have, but a must-have for businesses looking to succeed and grow. Whether you’re a one-person operation or a multinational corporation, a business website is a vital tool for reaching out to your audience, building trust, and driving business growth.
What Should a Business Website Include?
The Basic
1. A Homepage
The homepage is the main page of a website, and it serves as an entry point to the site’s content. For this reason, it’s one of the most important pages on your website.
Since it’s the first page your visitors will see and as it sets the tone for the rest of your site, it’s prudent to consider its design, your branding, and how it will be represented, including colors, fonts, logos, and taglines.
With a well-designed homepage, you can create a positive first impression and encourage visitors to explore your website further.
A homepage usually contains the following elements:
- A site navigation menu with links to important sections and pages that will allow users to easily navigate your website.
- Call-to-action buttons (CTAs) that will be clearly visible, with a clear call-to-action text that will encourage users to click on it and perform the desired action, like, for example, signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.
- Many homepages contain a hero section to immediately catch the user’s attention and nudge them towards performing a certain action.
Note: Common Ninja has a wide selection of call-to-action buttons that you can easily add to your website.
2. An About Us Page
Another important page to have on your website is the “About Us” page. This page is crucial to establishing credibility and building trust.
The about us page often contains information about the organization, its mission, its history, and the people behind it, enabling users to establish a connection with the company and learn more about the organization and its values.
Note: Common Ninja has a great selection of widgets that can enhance your “About Us” page.
3. A Contacts Page
A “Contacts” page is another, very important page to have on your website. It provides visitors with a way to get in touch with the website’s owners or administrators. Typically, it will include contact information about the business (like a contact email address, phone number, and physical address), as well as a contact form that a visitor can fill out and send to contact the website’s owners.
This page helps to further build trust, improve user experience, and enable other businesses to contact the website owners regarding open new business opportunities.
Note: Common Ninja can improve how users contact you via a free and easily customizable Contact form.
4. A Header & Footer
Headers and footers have become an integral part of website design, and anyone building a website should add them to their website.
Having a header and a footer on your website will improve navigation, create a consistent look, support your branding, provide important information, and improve conversion with CTAs.
The header typically includes branding elements (like the colors, logo, company name, etc.), and navigational menus (to other pages, login options, etc).
The footer will also include branding elements, as well as links to other pages, but its design enables adding more links, CTAs, and other information, in an organized and aesthetically pleasing manner.
The Advanced
While the above elements are true for all websites, a Business website requires a few more elements.
Products/Services
Your products or services are the heart of your business. Make sure you devote an entire section or page to them. Include clear descriptions, pricing details (if applicable), high-quality images, and any relevant details. Think of it as your digital storefront or service catalog where customers can browse and understand your offerings.
Testimonials/Reviews
Nothing builds trust and credibility quite like testimonials or reviews from satisfied customers. Set aside a space to feature these positive experiences, shining a light on the success stories that your business has helped create. This helps potential customers make more informed decisions.
Note: Common Ninja has a great, free Testimonials widget, as well as a bunch of Review widgets for you to enjoy!
Portfolio/Case Studies
Consider showcasing your past triumphs and client success stories with a portfolio or case studies page. By doing so, you underline your business’s capabilities and competence, effectively saying, “See? We’ve done it before, and we can do it for you too!”
Note: You can use any of Common Ninja’s Gallery widgets to showcase your work!
Blog/News
A blog or news section on your website is a great place to share everything from industry insights and company news to educational content or thought leadership articles. This not only engages visitors but also helps establish your expertise and brings more organic traffic to your site.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Potential customers might have some queries about your business, products, or services. A FAQ page can address these common questions, providing immediate answers and saving time for both your customers and your team.
Note: Common Ninja has an excellent FAQ widget that’s free and easy to use!
Client/Partners/Customers
A business relationship with a well-known brand or a key player in your industry speaks volumes about your reputation. Showcase these relationships on a dedicated page to add that extra layer of credibility to your business.
Note: A great way to showcase your clients, partners, or customers on your website without taking up too much space is Common Ninja’s Logo Slider widget.
Careers
For businesses on the lookout for fresh talent, a careers page is a must-have. This page can detail available roles, job requirements, and application procedures. Also, use this space to communicate your company’s culture and values, painting a picture of what it’s like to work at your organization.
Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
We value your trust, which is why we’ve dedicated pages to outline our privacy policy and terms of service. They’re here to protect both you and our business, informing you about your rights and responsibilities while using our website.
Media/Press
Has your business been featured in the media or have any press releases? Highlight these on a media or press page. This not only builds credibility but also serves as a resource hub for journalists or media representatives.
Social Media Integration
Make it a breeze for your website visitors to follow your business on social media. Integrating your website with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram can foster engagement and enable users to share your content far and wide.
Note: Luckily for you, Common Ninja has great social widgets, including the Social Media Links widget and the numerous, various social feed widgets!
How To Create a Business Website?
Step 1: Choose Your Website Builder
There are lots of available website-building platforms today. How many you ask? Well, there are well over 200 website and e-commerce builders.
Clearly, not all are on the same level or for the same purpose, but the sheer amount is both fascinating and scary. Fascinating because it means that there’s a lot to choose from, and scary because there’s too much to choose from.
Luckily, there are around 20 that truly stand out in terms of the features they offer, how easy it is to use them, and their prices. We have a great article about the best website builders out there that you should definitely take a look at.
Great Website Builders for a Business Website
While the above gives you a broad overview of website building, here are some website builders that could be great for building a Business website:
Wix
Step into the world of Wix Business, a holistic website construction platform crafted with businesses in mind. Wix, known for its intuitive drag-and-drop system, offers customizable templates and a myriad of built-in features.
Fancy managing your site on the go? Wix has a dedicated mobile app just for that. From online booking and e-commerce to email marketing tools, Wix has got you covered.
Squarespace
Have you heard of Squarespace? If not, let me introduce you. Squarespace is renowned for its stunning, professionally designed templates, perfect for businesses aspiring to make a striking digital footprint.
It doesn’t stop at aesthetics though; Squarespace also provides integrated SEO tools, e-commerce capabilities, and comprehensive analytics. Want to engage your customers? Squarespace offers built-in marketing tools including email campaigns, making it a complete solution for your business needs.
Weebly
Next up is Weebly, a website builder that prioritizes user experience. Featuring a wide range of business-centric templates that you can mold to fit your vision, Weebly makes it a breeze to create your digital storefront.
Beyond the aesthetics, Weebly offers you SEO tools, e-commerce capabilities, and an integrated shopping cart with a secure checkout. What’s more, with Weebly’s email marketing and analytics tools, growing your online business becomes an achievable goal.
Shopify
Have you ever daydreamed about your own bustling online store? With Shopify, your daydream can easily become a reality. Think of Shopify as a bustling digital bazaar, abuzz with a rainbow of customizable themes, trustworthy payment options, and a toolkit brimming with marketing magic.
But Shopify’s true charm lies in its robust inventory management system. Imagine every SKU, every product variant, all managed effortlessly with a few clicks. Shopify takes it a step further with seamless third-party integrations, taking the worry out of coordinating your systems. If you’re ready to transform your products into a vibrant online marketplace, Shopify is the trusty friend who can help you do just that.
Odoo
Presenting Odoo, your one-stop shop for all business applications, including a powerful website builder. Its drag-and-drop interface, customizable templates, and SEO tools make creating a business website a breeze. But that’s not all; Odoo shines with its suite of integrated applications — think CRM, e-commerce, and email marketing — allowing businesses to manage all aspects of their operations from one cohesive platform.
Kajabi
Say hello to Kajabi, an all-rounder platform for businesses selling, marketing, and delivering digital products. From customizable website templates and a built-in shopping cart to email marketing tools and analytics, Kajabi has all the essentials. Plus, its robust course builder makes it an ideal choice for businesses offering online courses or memberships.
Hostinger
Introducing Hostinger, your budget-friendly partner in carving out a spot for your business on the internet. Hostinger might be famous for its web hosting solutions, but it’s also got a pretty handy website builder in its toolbox.
Armed with a library of modern, customizable templates, and a simple-to-use interface, building a professional business website is a piece of cake with Hostinger. It’s a pocket-friendly choice for businesses that need both a website builder and a hosting solution, all wrapped up in one tidy package.
Framer
Lastly, let’s talk about Framer, a potent design tool ideal for businesses eyeing to create high-fidelity, interactive prototypes of their websites. Framer, while not a traditional website builder, offers advanced features enabling the creation of vibrant, responsive designs.
If your business is focused on delivering a highly interactive user experience or has a keen eye for user interface design, then Framer is worth considering. It provides the unique opportunity to prototype dynamic and engaging designs that truly reflect your brand.
Choose a Hosting Plan (Optional)
Depending on what website builder you chose, you may have to get a hosting plan separately. We have a great guide on the top 10 hosting providers available on the market. Mind you that many of these offer the option to get a domain name, too.
Choose a Domain Name (Optional)
Depending on what website builder you choose, and on what hosting plan you choose, you may have to get a domain name separately.
Step 2: Start Designing Your Website
Choose a Template (Optional)
Some website builders offer pre-made templates that you can choose from for specific website types. This is a great way to save time on design.
Choose Color Schemes
Color schemes are super important in website design and branding. They’re not just for show—colors can really affect how we feel and react. If a brand chooses the right colors, it can guide our eyes where they want, make us feel a certain way, and even get us to take action.
This is where color theory comes in. It’s basically the science of how colors work together and how they make us feel. For instance, blue usually makes us feel calm and trustful, red stirs up energy and passion, and green symbolizes growth. So, when a brand chooses colors that match its vibe and the feelings it wants to evoke, it can really boost its recognition and trust with customers. Super cool, right?
Choose Fonts
Font pairing is like the secret sauce in website design and branding. Just like colors, the fonts you choose can really set the mood and deliver your brand message. You’ve got to think about the vibes different fonts give off. A fancy script might feel elegant, while a bold, all-caps font can scream confidence and power.
The trick is in finding fonts that complement each other without clashing or looking too similar. That’s why we do font pairing. You want your headline font to grab attention, but it needs to work well with your body text font, which should be easy to read. So, for instance, you might pair a decorative font for your headers with a simple, clean one for the body text. Get it right, and you’re on your way to a website that looks super professional and keeps your visitors reading. It’s a bit like a good music duo—each part’s got to be good on its own, but together they create a whole new level of awesome!
Add a Hero Image
The hero section of a website is like the opening scene of a movie—it sets the stage and grabs your attention. It’s that first big chunk you see when you land on a website, often with a big image, a catchy headline, and a call to action. It’s there to quickly show you what the site or the brand is all about and, hopefully, make you want to stick around.
Choosing the right elements for your hero section is key. A stunning image or background can draw people in, while a powerful headline can spark interest. Then there’s the call to action, which could be a button or a link, nudging you to do something—like shop now, sign up, or learn more. So, think of the hero section like your website’s elevator pitch. It’s got to be punchy, engaging, and super clear about what’s on offer. If it’s done right, it’s like a friendly welcome mat that invites visitors to come in and explore more.
Add CTAs
Calls to Action (CTAs) on a website are like your friendly tour guides. They tell you where to go next and what to do. You’ll often find them as buttons or links with words like “Buy Now”, “Sign Up”, “Learn More”—you get the idea. They’re super important because they help guide your visitors and encourage them to take the actions you want them to.
But here’s the thing: all CTAs are not created equal. A good CTA is clear, concise, and compelling—it tells you exactly what you’ll get and why you should click on it. And where you place them can make a big difference, too. You want to position your CTAs where they’ll be noticed, like in your hero section, at the end of a blog post, or even in a pop-up. So, think of CTAs as your website’s friendly nudges, steering your visitors in the right direction and getting them to engage, interact, and hopefully, become customers. It’s like having a good salesperson right there on the page.
Step 3: Publish The Website
When you are done setting up and designing your website, publish it. And that’s it.
How To Enhance Your Business Website?
Enhance Your Website With Powerful Widgets
While many of the website builders we recommended are great for building your Business website, they are somewhat limited in the features and tools they offer, and, in a competitive world, every additional feature that you can add to your website can be a game changer.
That’s where Common Ninja comes in to save the day.
Common Ninja offers an extensive, ever-growing collection of professional and reliable widgets that will help you save time and money and improve your website beyond what your current website-building platform offers.
Common Ninja’s widgets are free, fully customizable, perfectly responsive, and easy to use (just check our YouTube guides), so be sure to check them out, and greatly improve your website.
Common Ninja — The Only Collection of Widgets You’ll Ever Need
Content
Content is an important part of any website, no matter what niche it’s in. Content can include anything from text, images, videos, and other media that informs, educates, or entertains the audience, and we highly recommend that you add good content to your website.
It is crucial for several reasons:
- It provides value to visitors — good content, can provide value to users, whether these are guides, service or product comparisons, tips, tricks, or other equally helpful content.
- It builds trust and credibility — by creating good, well-written, and well-researched content, you can increase trust in your brand and improve its credibility.
- It improves SEO: Search engines like Google prioritize websites with high-quality, relevant content, so by creating content that includes relevant keywords and provides value to your audience, you can improve your website’s search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your website.
- It drives conversions — well-written content that addresses pain points, with strategically placed CTAs can drive conversions, such as sign-ups, purchases, or inquiries, up.
- It establishes your brand’s voice and identity — the content on your website is an opportunity to establish your brand’s voice and identity. Consistent and high-quality content can help your brand stand out and create a memorable impression on your audience.
Optimization
Optimizing a website is essential for improving its visibility on search engines, increasing traffic, and improving the user experience. Here are some effective ways to optimize your website:
- Remove unnecessary distractions
- Improve page speed
- Optimize for mobile
- Optimize forms
- Write good copy
- Write good CTAs
- Define and communicate your value proposition
- Localize content
Promotion
Promoting a website is essential for increasing its visibility and driving traffic to it.
It requires time & effort, and here are some ways that can help you promote your website:
- Social Media: Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram are great for promoting your website, building a following, and driving traffic to it.
- Email marketing: Building an email list is an effective way to promote your website, reach your audience directly, and keep them updated on your latest content or products.
- Paid advertising: Paid advertising through platforms like Google Ads or social media ads can help you reach a larger audience and drive targeted traffic to your website.
- Collaboration: Collaborating with other websites in your niche can help you gain exposure, drive traffic to your site and improve your SEO via backlinking.
- Incentives: Offering incentives like discounts, free trials, or giveaways can attract new users to your website and encourage them to share it with others.
Conclusion
In conclusion, building a business website is a lot more than just arranging pixels and typing code. It’s about telling your brand story, engaging your audience, and offering a digital solution that drives growth. While this process might appear daunting at first, the promise of an increased market reach, better customer interaction, and the potential for exponential growth certainly makes it worth the effort.
Remember, your website is a reflection of your commitment to your customers and the value you bring to the table. So, invest your time, creativity, and resources wisely. Embrace the journey, and remember, the path to creating a stellar business website isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. May your website not only be a cornerstone of your business but also a beacon for your customers, guiding them towards the products, services, and solutions they need. Happy building!
