Are you just starting up your own business and looking for a website that sells you and your product? Chances are you feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of seo campaigns gone viral and the ‘n’ number of options out there to choose from. From fully paid hosting services that do everything for you, to self-hosting platforms that require a little more expertise – finding the right platform is just the tip of the iceberg.

So start right there and use this clear and simple guide to setting up your own website:

The fun part first, what are you going to call your business? This is the first piece of the puzzle and sometimes feels more long-winded than it should. You’ll have to register your business domain name but first negotiate the hurdle of finding something original, or at least one that doesn’t exist in the form you want to use.

If you simply must have one name, your own for example, then consider using hyphens or dots to punctuate and to differentiate you from the competition.

Then it’s time to figure out who’s going to host your website. There are a lot to choose from WordPress to Weebly you’ll be spoilt for choice so read around for recommendations and choose one that fits your requirements and your budget. Think about how many pages you might need and whether you’ll need your site optimised for mobile as well as PC viewing.

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Words Count

If you’re up and running then it’s time to talk content. In a world of SEO friendly words and pages dedicated to getting you picked up by search engines, you need to have a firm idea of how you want to sound online.

Do your research, look at competitors’ sites and compile a list of what works and what doesn’t work. Seek the help of the professionals, such as the Figment Agency if you’re struggling to make sense of it all. Remember, first impressions count and so do your words.

Think too about how you’re using your images. Make sure everything on your site speaks quality. No poorly pixelated photos, no home snaps, everything should be professional and sharp. Your brand demands the best so make sure your images back that up.

Time To Analyse

Now you’re live you’ll want to know how your website is faring in the sea of other websites. Now’s the time to call on tools, such as Google Analytics to help find out how many visitors you’re attracting, your most popular pages, how long they’re staying on your site and what they’re doing on there. Getting to verify google business without postcard might not be the most expeditious idea, but it’s a start.

These incredibly powerful tools will help you gain real insight into your site’s performance and highlight any weak or poorly performing pages.

Make sure you set aside time to tackle these problem areas, re-writing content where necessary and making changes that you believe will draw customers back to you.

You don’t need to be an expert to get your own website but do you need to be dedicated to research and to make changes when things don’t go as planned.