How to build a website for a business

In this post, I am going to try to explain the process of building a website in its simplest form. The aim of this post is to show you how to set up a website as quickly and easily as possible, after which you can then start to add your own content and images.

There are multiple ways to build a website for a business, which is why it’s so difficult to decide on which way is the best. Now just so you understand, building a site is one thing, designing a site is another. Even though they cross over they are still different processes. It also depends on as the title suggests, if you are building a site for someone else or your own business? Before you start, there are a few things to consider before deciding how to go about it but they are all relevant in either case.

• What type of business are you? (Products or Services you offer)
• Have you got a logo or brand identity? (See my post: Why brand image is important – for any business!!)
• Who is your target market? (Your customer)
• What kind of functionality do you need from the website? (What you want the user to be able to do on your site)
• Do you have your own domain name (Your unique business website address) See my post Why do I need a domain
• Hosting Account (The Server or Computer where your website files are stored) See post my post on hosting

Creating a website for dummies

First off you are not a ‘Dummy’. I come from a print design background, which can be an advantage for sure, but also a hindrance in many ways. It’s taken me a considerable amount of time to understand things, so its no easy task understanding websites at the best of times. It can be a huge uphill learning curve for anyone, regardless of their expertise and the hardest thing for me was changing my mindset from a physical media (Print) to a virtual media (Online).

Think of your website as your ’24hour Sales Person’ It’s your shop or office window to the online world that’s always open for business 24 hours a day all year round. Come rain or shine!

My advice is to try to keep things as simple as possible. A visitor to your site simply wants to find the information or product they need as quickly as possible. The harder you make it, the quicker they will switch off and move on to another website.

With online design, there are restrictions which I’ve always struggled to get my head around. With physical media it can be square, round, flexible, soft, cutout, flat, have 3-dimensional form, the list is pretty endless. So being restricted to essentially a TV screen was always going to pose a challenge. However, the same design principles still apply to both print and online which over time I’ve become to realize.

There is so much to think about – my head hurts!!

First things first, lets put aside the aesthetic design aspect for the minute as this is a process in its self – so the last thing I want to do is to confuse things.

If you have ‘oodles of cash’, have ‘oodles of cash’ you could have a bespoke site designed from scratch then coded by a developer into this all singing all dancing website. But unless you’ve got a few thousand to throw at it then forget that idea. And this is only a guess. Remember my things to consider at the start of this post?

What type of business are you? (Products or Services you offer)

If you have ‘oodles of cash’, are a big financial company, you may hold account information and hundreds of pages, products to display not to mention the security issues. The list is endless so the cost can run into the hundreds of 1000s.

But for this post lets keep it simple!!!!

What platform to build a website for a business

There is a multitude of platforms to consider, but by far the most widely used platform is ‘WordPress’. Some of the biggest brand names on the planet use this platform, such as ‘Disney’ and Mercedes-Benz, you just wouldn’t know.

WordPress is an open-source content management system or (CMS) for short, which features a plugin and template based system. It’s probably the number one platform for bloggers, due to its functionality, robustness, and flexibility. Because its open-source (Free Software) it’s continually updated so keeps up with the ever fast moving times.

It takes a little getting use to but once you get your head around things it can be a really effective way to build websites.

There are other platforms such as Weebly, Wix, Joomla, Squarespace, Shopify to name a few with pros and cons for them all, just have a look and see what might suit you. Even host providers have their own online web builders but I wouldn’t advise you to use them.

Why use WordPress to build a website for a business?

As I previously mentioned, its probably the most used platform on the planet, so why not use something that you know will work. Another reason is that its a plugin system. What the heck are Plugins I hear you say!

WordPress plugins are small software applications that can be uploaded to your site to expand the functionality of your website. There are hundreds of plugins to choose from.

The next reason is that its a template-based platform.

Great value paid themes for a single fee…..

There are also paid themes which are created by developers that might add more functionality. One I use which I would highly recommend is ‘Generate Press’ The reason why I chose this was because its a very lightweight theme (doesn’t clog your memory) and you pay a one-off fee, which then allows you to use any number of their themes. Some developers, however, charge per theme, so just be aware of that, prices range from about $50 – $100 dollars. But Generate press is about $50 for all their premium themes, which is good value for money. If you want to check it out, just click the banner below.

The video below gives you a quick overview of the Generate Press Theme – see how versatile it is and how you can create a fantastic looking website. To find out more click the Generate Press link below the video.

Overview from GeneratePress.

Here’s how to build a website for a business for FREE!!!!!!!

Yes, you read the title correctly, I can show you how to create a site for free. When I say free, you have to spend your time putting content in and working through the platform, but all it will cost you is your time.

The platform is a 100% WordPress site and is hosted for free as well. It’s perfect for beginners who are just getting started and need to create a stable professional looking website. What’s also great its part of my No 1 recommended training platforms which will help you get started even faster with your online business. All the setting up and installation is done within the system, but if you had to purchase your own hosting with Cpanel – this becomes a little bit more complicated and can cause all sorts of frustration.

You can check out my recommendation or just get straight to it and get creating your site by simply using the link below.