Let’s face it; your website reflects your business. With more than 2 billion websites in existence, you must differentiate your company from the competition. WordPress is an excellent platform for creating a site that does just that. But how do you build an eye-catching and professional-looking WordPress website for your business?
After all, 75% of consumers judge a company’s credibility based on its website design.
Read on to learn more about building an effective WordPress site for your business!
Pros and Cons of WordPress Websites for Small Businesses
Pros: WordPress is the only website management platform you’ll ever need. It’s powerful, affordable, and easy to use. WordPress offers the perfect solution for small businesses looking to manage their website hosting on their own. With thousands of third-party plugins, and unlimited customization options, and puts you in control of your business’s digital presence.
Cons: You have access to free plugins and themes but It requires some coding knowledge to customize your site and achieve the results you really want. In addition, WordPress is an open-source platform, so there are no customer service representatives available for help. Although a wealth of information is available online and you can also hire a developer.
How to Set Up a WordPress Website
WordPress makes it easy to set up a new website, and you do not need advanced technical knowledge to get started.
First, pick a hosting plan on Siteground.com. The startup plan on SiteGround.com includes a ten GB web space, a free SSL certificate, and 80% off the first year of hosting. This plan is perfect for those just starting with their online presence. It includes everything you need to get started at a fraction of the cost of other hosting providers.
Once you’ve chosen the right plan for your needs, it’s time to plan. Your website is often the first interaction potential customers have with your business, so it’s important to ensure it’s a good one. But what exactly makes an excellent small business website? For starters, it should be user-friendly and easy to navigate. Professional looking, with a strong brand identity. Full of valuable, relevant content, it should be able to quickly and easily put visitors in contact with the business.
Of course, creating a website that ticks all of those boxes is no easy task. But if you keep your customers’ needs in mind, you’ll be well on your way to creating a small business website that stands out from the rest.
As you learn what works, what doesn’t, and what your customers want via testing, optimization will be an ongoing process.
Tips for Building the Best Small Business WordPress Website
What makes the best small business sites stand out? First, think about the sites you prefer. They’re user-friendly, professional-looking, and full of useful content. They don’t overwhelm you with text, are easy to navigate, and communicate brand identity. Most importantly, they allow you to get in contact with the business quickly and efficiently as well as make transactions conveniently.
Read on for five tips to build your best WordPress website.
Let’s get started.
1. Opt for a customizable theme.
The default WordPress theme is simple and clean, but it lacks the branding potential that many companies need. While you can use basic tools to customize this theme, the limitations of its design make it hard to create a unique online presence. You may also find that its limited features don’t suit your business needs.
Opt for a customizable theme from the WordPress directory or a third-party theme provider to make your site exactly how you want it. There are nearly endless theme options that leave so much freedom for colour scheming, layout, font, and features you’ll be able to create a business website that attracts your target customers and helps your brand stand out among the crowd.
2. Be consistent with colour.
When it comes to having a professional website, design and colour scheme are important factors that influence the opinion of your company. You should use one colour scheme and a sleek, professional design when designing your website. You want to convey trustworthiness and reliability to your audience.
If you use multiple colours in your design, it may come across as unprofessional and chaotic, which is not the perception you want to give off when trying to build a successful business. To ensure a professional image for your company’s website, ensure you’re using a simple colour scheme and keeping the site’s design clean.
Pro tip: Using a consistent colour palette across your digital channels will create a recognizable brand image. This will make your business reliable, increasing customers’ faith in your products and services.
3. Customize your site footer.
It is important to include a footer on your small business website that reflects your business’ brand identity. The default footer that comes with WordPress can make your site seem unprofessional. To avoid this problem, create a customized footer with your logo, an informative link to your privacy policy and a copyright notice.
This simple addition will strengthen your brand identity and increase trust and credibility, making this often overlooked feature a powerful brand tool.
4. Use Webchat.
WordPress websites come with many features that you can easily install, with a plugin directory that includes thousands of helpful plugins for small business websites and the option to install third-party widgets. However, you don’t want to overload—doing so can slow down the speed of your website and distract and overwhelm website visitors.
When designing a website, focus on features that will have the greatest impact on your conversions. One feature you should include is a chat option—specifically Webchat. Webchat is a chat tool that uses text to allow you and your customers to open an ongoing communication thread that won’t timeout when they leave your website.
With its ability to facilitate personal and meaningful conversation and increase convenience, Webchat significantly increases your website conversion rate.
5. Test your website’s speed.
According to sweor, more than 45 percent of visitors to a website expect the page to load in less than two seconds and websites that load slowly cost retailers an estimated $2.6 billion per year in lost sales. The numbers don’t lie: a slow-loading website means you’re missing out on new customers and recurring revenue.
Test your website before going live by ensuring it works properly on all devices, including mobile. For example, check that buttons work correctly, ensure text is easy to read, and provide images that don’t spill out of their allotted spaces.
Ready to build one of the best small business websites on the web and up your conversions?
Contact Social Traffic and one of our specialists will be happy to answer any of your inquiries.
