I need a website, what do I need to know? 5 tips for entrepreneurs

Having and maintaining your own website on the web is nowadays an obligatory item on a company’s task list. It is advisable to have your website designed and built by specialists. So what should you expect in order to be satisfied with your website? These and other questions about investing in a website are answered in our latest article.

We are FASTSITE, we create an online presence. We support companies, freelancers, influencers or NGOs in building their brand online. This article is part of a series of tips and advice for entrepreneurs looking to grow their business online. Read other articles in this series:

Contents:

Tip #1: Think about what you need your website for on the internet. What role does it play in the sales funnel?
Tip #2: Find out what resources you currently have at your disposal.
Tip #3: Rethink content and frequency of publication.
Tip #4: Discuss your ideas and needs with the contractor.
Tip #5: Don’t forget the synergy with your presence elsewhere in the network.
Summary and acknowledgement

Tip #1: Think about what you need your website for on the internet. What role does it play in the sales funnel?

Although this question may seem trivial, establishing the purpose of your web presence is crucial. It helps you choose the type, size, complexity of your planned site. A person planning to publish regularly on their blog will need different tools, while a company selling online will need different ones. Therefore, it is worth looking for the answer to the first important question: What role does your website play in the sales funnel?

Re 1. A professional website provider will probably ask this question. Especially, during a workshop or the preparation of a briefing for the entire project. Therefore, it is all the more reason to think about these questions beforehand.

This is a fundamental question. Because websites are divided into many types. We can mention, for example, a business card, a blog site, a landing page or an online shop. Each of these sites has a different added value in the sales funnel. Below are the special features of the three most commonly used websites.

Business showcase page: This is a simple page with only basic information about the company. It usually contains a brief history of the company, a description of the company, a basic offer and contact details. A business card usually confirms that the company is in operation. Customers who come to it have heard about the company elsewhere. They come to the site to obtain information about the company or in search of a contact. The website usually does not stand out with search engine positioning, thus generating fewer leads.

Blog site Like a showcase page, it contains basic information about the business supplemented by longer content. In addition to the blog, it can include testimonials and case studies. Content enables better search engine positioning and strengthens the expert position of the industry. Websites that include a blog require constant and regular publishing.
For some businesses, this may not be feasible. It is worth considering whether the business has the resources to create content. Leaving a blog tab without posts acts as a deterrent to potential customers.

Ecommerce website: Driving sales online is done through leading marketplace platforms or through your own website. Take a peek at the article:Profession of the future – influencer to see the advantages of having your own ecommerce. A website that includes ecommerce features is more sophisticated. The aesthetics of the site and credibility must be taken care of. The sales funnel directs traffic precisely to the e-commerce site, and the site becomes the destination point of the sales process.

Tip #2: Find out what resources you currently have at your disposal.

Before starting to design the website, we encourage you to carry out a search of your own materials. This involves analysing the resources you have at your disposal, such as reports you have compiled, articles you have written, references you have received or projects you have carried out. In order to develop a website with content, we need specific information that we can show off on the internet.

Very often, such material has already been prepared, but is sometimes scattered and not catalogued. Therefore, they sometimes escape memory, which is a pity! Collecting all materials in one place significantly speeds up the process of building a website. A newly created website should not be empty, so it is worth checking what ready-made materials are available, and what materials need to be prepared.

Tip #3: Rethink content and frequency of publication.

This guidance brings us back to the question of what to publish and how often? It is worth answering this question at the planning stage. The frequency of publication determines the volume of content that needs to be delivered on a regular basis (it takes resources – time or money).

This could be video content, podcasts, articles or reports. If you are planning any of your own publications, it is worth thinking about a suitable tab for them. What’s more, until the material is published, the subpage in question can be hidden. You can only make it visible once content of value to your customers has appeared on it.

Depending on the type of business, companies may or may not create content during their regular business processes. For example: a person providing plumbing services needs a different website and a lawyer needs a different one. In the case of the former, reviews from satisfied customers regarding the professionalism of the services will play a greater role. For the latter, in addition to testimonials and won cases, it is useful to present case studies undertaken.

Tip #4: Discuss your ideas and needs with the contractor.

Not every website development company offers the opportunity for a workshop to define the aims and needs of projects. In our opinion, this is a must, as it allows you to clearly define the expectations of the website owner. We use workshop based analitycal approach in our work.

1️⃣ Analysis – Without knowing the needs and expectations, we will not start designing. Therefore, the first step is to conduct a workshop where we identify the customer’s needs online. In doing so, we analyse the market, observe the activities of the competition and draw conclusions. The final product of the analysis is the website concept.

2️⃣ Design – This is the process of visualising a prepared concept. For us, it is important to keep the welfare of the end user in mind during the prototyping stage. This is why we focus so much on the user experience.

3️⃣ Implementation – For us, this is the finale of a complex analytical and creative process. Hard skills, attentiveness and meticulousness are important at this stage. Then it is possible to deliver the highest quality. This is why all those responsible for the previous steps are involved in this stage, so that no detail is overlooked.

Tip #5: Don’t forget the synergy with your presence elsewhere in the network.

In the age of social media, it is worth ensuring that there is synergy between it and the website you are creating. Therefore, if you are undertaking a redesign, or creating a new website from scratch, it is a good idea for it to correspond with your existing pages on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Dribble or Clutch.

With such a wide-ranging investment, think about a unified graphic identity and social media descriptions. Don’t forget the links to other media, too. Although this is a detail that seems quite obvious, many people forget about it at the stage of selecting a contractor and preparing the project briefing. That’s why, now that you’ve arrived here, we want to remind you.

Summary and acknowledgement

At the outset, we thank you for reading our article. We hope it was helpful. Back to the topic at hand. Creating your own website is a challenge. To avoid a project stalling and grey hairs, it is worth following our tips. From our experience of several years, we know that an informed client is the best client. Cooperation then progresses smoothly, without unnecessary changes and turbulence.

If you like our analysis, please feel free to contact us. We would be happy to talk to you about your online business. Write or call us, you will find contact information here.