Your business’ website isn’t just a virtual storefront - it’s a digital representation of all that your business and brand stands for. If you’re looking to boost your customer engagement and get your name out there, you’ll need a business website to showcase your expertise. Looking to build a website for a business? You’re definitely making the right decision.
In this blog, we’ll explore why having a professional website for your business is essential for business growth and how long website development takes and answer questions like ‘How much does it cost to build a website?’ With this knowledge, you can make informed decisions to grow your brand and propel your business to unprecedented heights.
1. Planning your website
Wondering how to build a website for a business? Like many other aspects of entrepreneurship, the first step is planning. You won’t know how you want your website to look, or what you’re looking to achieve, without identifying your website goals and objectives. To ensure that your website effectively represents your brand and connects with your customers, you’ll need to decide what you’re looking to achieve. Are you looking to increase sales? Generate leads? Build brand awareness? Once you know your objectives, you can start to plan out how you’ll look to achieve them.
Here are some planning considerations to bear in mind:
Market research: Make sure you know your target audience and their needs and preferences so you can tailor your website content and design to appeal to them.
Choosing the right platform: You’ll need to consider the level of support you need to set up your website, and the features you require. There are multiple website platforms and content management systems (CMS) to choose from. If you’re looking to sell products online, Shopify may be the ideal choice. Whereas if you’re looking to design the website yourself, Squarespace is a popular platform for more creative entrepreneurs.
Pick your domain: Picking a domain name is a crucial step in the planning process. Make sure the domain name reflects the name of your business, is memorable and isn’t too similar to others in your industry. If you choose a web hosting provider through BSC, you’ll get a domain for only £7.50 for the first year!
Start on your content: Your website needs impactful, engaging content to connect with your customers, market your product or service and reflect your brand’s mission. Develop a content strategy that outlines what information your site needs to include, such as text, videos, blog posts and product listings.
2. Time factors in website development
It’s likely you’ve asked the all-important question, ‘how long does it take to build a website?’, during your research. Ultimately, how long it takes to get your website set up will depend on whether you’re using an AI website builder such as Wix, or you’re looking to hire a web designer and developer to create your website from scratch. The latter will naturally take longer to complete given the complexity of the job, and it may take several months until your site is live depending on the features and customisation you require.
Here are some of the key time factors that can influence the timeline of your website development:
Design: Designing the website can be a lengthy process and involves all the visual elements of your website, such as logos, colour schemes and typography. How long this takes depends on the complexity of your site and what features you’ve asked to be included.
Development: This can be the most time-consuming element of the website process. Development involves coding the site yourself, or asking an experienced developer to take care of things for you. This includes front-end development (HTML, CSS and JavaScript) and back-end development such as databases and integrations. How long this will take depends on the experience of the developer and how complex your site is.
Content creation: You can’t have a site without content sitting on it! This involves writing engaging and informative copy and choosing images that represent your brand and content. This can take time and expertise, especially if you require detailed content written from scratch.
If you’re outsourcing your website development to a designer and developer, you’ll also need to factor in any revisions you may ask for, or unexpected delays that will affect the time of completion. Choosing an experienced web hosting provider can streamline the process and save you time so you’ll have your website up and running as soon as possible.
3. Cost factors in website development
As mentioned, how much your new website will cost you depends on the complexity of the site itself and how you go about creating it. Factors that can affect the cost of your website include the complexity of the site, its overall design, functionality and the cost of maintenance and support once it’s live.
If you choose to build your website yourself, this will cost you around £425 - this includes your domain name, web hosting, subscription costs for the website builder and your SSL certificate. If you decide to trust a professional designer or developer to take care of things, you can expect to pay around £4,500.
4. Choosing the right website builder or developer
Choosing whether to create your website yourself through a website builder, or hiring a developer for your business can be a tough decision. Below, we’ll compare website builders to hiring a professional, with key factors to consider:
Website builders
Pros
Lower upfront costs compared to professional developers
Should feel easy to use
Looking for a website ASAP? Most DIY website builders allow you to create a website quickly
Cons
Limited when it comes to customisation and flexibility
May not be suitable for larger projects that require advanced functionality
May take time to learn how to use the platform, especially if you’re new to website creation
Professional developer
Pros
Professional developers have the creative freedom to build a website tailored to your business, so that it truly reflects your brand
They have the expertise to implement advanced functionality you may not have access to through a website builder
You’ll receive ongoing support and maintenance at all times
Cons
As you can expect, a professional developer will cost a lot more than a website builder
Building a website from scratch can be time consuming, so it may take a few months before your site is up and running
You may be waiting a while for a developer to have the availability to support you, especially if they’re working on several projects at once
5. Designing your new website
There’s more to designing a website than choosing the colours and typography. Of course, choosing the right design elements such as colour scheme is important in reflecting your brand image. But it’s vital you also consider the accessibility of your site, by ensuring it’s accessible to all users including those with disabilities such as blindness and low vision, and deafness and hearing loss. Reading up on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) can help to inform your design decisions, with accessibility in mind.
Try to position yourself in your target audience’s shoes. Following your audience research, you should have a good understanding of their preferences and behaviours which you can use to inform your design decisions. You can then use colour, typography and imagery to resonate with your audience and create an engaging and cohesive user experience.
Remember your users are likely to engage with your new website on different devices, so it’s important to make sure your website is optimised for mobile and desktop and adapts to different screen sizes.
6. Developing content for your website
It’s easy to put your website content at the bottom of your list of priorities, but creating compelling, user-first content requires planning and time. There’s more to writing a blog post than you’d think - if you want your content to connect with your audience and rank on search engines, you need to implement a content strategy.
What will the purpose of your content be? Perhaps you’re looking to educate or entertain your audience, or maybe you’re simply trying to sell your product or service. Knowing your content’s objectives can help to guide your content strategy. From there, you can conduct keyword research to know what your audience is searching for online to help your website show up in search results. Make sure to include engaging multimedia elements such as images, video and infographics to help your content stand out and engage your audience.
If you’re stuck on where to start, you may choose to hire a professional copywriter to support you in the content creation process. Blog writing services can help you create quality content that is valued not only by users but by Google too.
7. Launching and maintaining your website
Once you’ve invested time and money into getting your website created, you’ll want the reassurance that your website is launched correctly. You may look to create a pre-launch checklist that details all the checks that need to be done before your site goes live. This should include tasks such as testing the website layout and responsiveness across different devices, conducting security audits to identify any vulnerabilities and performing speed tests.
Once your website is up and running, you’ll want to understand how your content is performing and whether your target audience is engaging with your site. Make sure you set up website analytics using tracking tools like Google Analytics to track and understand your users’ behaviour and overall site performance, so you can implement changes where needed.
To conclude
Building a website that reflects your brand and grows your business requires patience, time and thorough testing to ensure optimal functionality and performance. Ready to take your online presence to the next level? Browse our marketplace today and sign up for a free BSC account to connect with professional suppliers committed to supporting you on your business growth journey.