Building a website holds significant importance for any business, as it serves as a gateway to attract organic traffic from search engines. A website comprises a collection of web pages thoughtfully designed to facilitate visitors in finding relevant information, including text, images, and videos. It should offer smooth scrolling, fast loading times, and responsiveness.
Beyond the technical aspects of website development, it is vital to incorporate effective business and marketing strategies to drive traffic, scale the website, expand functionalities, and automate business processes. I discussed this in part – 1 as well.
Remember, the initial version of a website is never the final one. Website building is an ongoing process that demands continuous improvements in content, design, speed, functionality, and more. Analyzing traffic analytics, gathering feedback, and monitoring conversions enable you to refine your website consistently.
Interestingly, I’ve observed that the success or failure of a website is often influenced more by business and marketing strategies than technical factors. Even with an average web designer or developer, it is possible to create a technically sound and visually appealing website.
Countless examples reveal that despite having impeccable products, websites, hosting services, and strategies, businesses can still falter. While technology plays a crucial role in achieving success, relying solely on top-notch hosting, expert designers, or abundant resources does not guarantee a prosperous website.
The real key lies in combining appropriate website-building techniques with effective business and marketing strategies.
In this post, I will delve into the top 7 techniques encompassing both basic and advanced aspects, along with essential business and marketing strategies. These insights will provide you with valuable considerations to incorporate when building your website, ensuring its success in the online realm.
Related: Basics things to know before building a business website: Part 1
1. Start with the right and expandable purpose:
Considering the purpose behind building a website is very important. The selection of domain, hosting, design, and content highly depends on the purpose of the website.
For example, if you want to use a content marketing strategy to attract and engage potential customers on your website then you have to add a blog page or function on your website. Similarly, if you want to generate leads through ads then you have to create landing pages.
So, starting a website with the right purpose is very important to planning and executing a marketing strategy.
2. Selection of the right Website Hosting Service:
Hosting plans is one of the most important roles in the success of a website. Selection of the right Hosting service and plans play of an important role to expand and grow the website. Selection of a cheap managed website hosting service is good when you’re just creating a small niche website. But when your plan is to get 100000 to 500000 monthly traffic to the website, then you have to use a premium, scalable, and secure web hosting service.
Similar to this when building a website through website builders then always consider how you will expand the business when you get a success. Having a business expansion plan in advance helps you to choose the right website builder or hosting company. Else, later you have to migrate your website from one host to a server, or website builder to WordPress or WordPress to custom development. And this process costs you money, and time and even many times decrease the search engine rank.
It’s best and better to consult everything with the website builder, hosting, and web development support staff about your business plan.
So that each web development service and platform provider company can show you the best solution.
3. Genuine SSL Certification:
Integrate SSL or use SSL in the domain from the beginning. SSL is not only mandatory for eCommerce but it’s also very important for all types of websites. When website visitors see a message on the browser navigation bar at the left that “website is not secure” or any other security message then it scares a more non-technical audience.
While it’s more important for eCommerce websites. But to increase trustworthiness it’s important to integrate SSL certification from day one.
Another advantage of doing this in the beginning when building a website is that it will make a positive impression on the search engine about the domain and website from day one. But if do it when you’re getting 1000 visitors per day on the website or a blog then there is a risk of misconfiguration and redirection. And that reduces the traffic and search engine rank initially. And if links are not redirected properly or tested then you will lose the traffic.
So my suggestion is that when buying a domain and hosting also integrate SSL at the beginning.
You can also consider those hosting plans where you will get free SSL certification or else, you can also use a free SSL or self-signed certificate through Cloudflare.
4. Selection of the right and relevant keywords for the website:
Keywords are the most important part of SEO. But only relevant keywords are more important when your plan is to get traffic to a website through SEO and organically.
Relevant keywords are those search terms that a group of people searches on Google and bing. You can find relevant keywords based on the desires, goals, pain points, and current needs of your target audience.
For example, if your target audience is computer science students then you have understood their current needs, future goals, desires, and challenges.
The majority of people search for current needs, solutions, products, services, and knowledge.
You can use keyword research tools and techniques to find relevant keywords.
And when you have a list of 10 to 15 keywords then you can add those to your website title, meta, and website content. Even the success in your content marketing, social media, and advertising strategy and campaign highly depends on the keywords that you’re using to reach and attract people to your website and content.
So, when building a website always consider the keywords, target audience, competition, and market gaps. So that you can plan your website and content strategically and effectively.
5. Website loading speed:
Whatever technology, CMS, website builder, plugins or extension you use on your website but if it’s not loading faster in the user browser within 1 to 3 seconds then it will impact search engine rank, user experience, and conversion rate negatively.
That’s why it’s also important to consider using the right website-building platform, technology, and hosting company.
6. Make the design and content of the website relevant and different than competitors:
You can follow the market trend in design and layout. But following what everyone is doing is not a good business strategy when there is high competition.
Copying the content of your competitors, and similar niche websites on your website is wrong and unethical. Duplicate content pages will not get traffic from search engines.
Users easily identify that you’re duplicating or copying others’ content. Not you will get traffic, not sales, and even your website will be blacklisted on the search engine.
Even if you use AI content generator software, still the content will be identified by search engine duplicate. Because AI copies the part of content, terms from thousands of websites then manipulate them into fresh content. But that is not fresh content? That is manipulated content.
Even search engines are also failed to identify duplicate content and websites on many search terms but do not think they will not find it any time in the future.
When you’re investing so much money and time in website building then why not you can invest some time in writing good, unique, and quality content?
Do not matter if it’s below average, but at least you have unique, new, and different.
You can hire a copywriter or website content writer for high-quality and unique and fresh content.
7. Focus on Customers/Target Audience/Visitors:
Focus on the target audience and customer when creating pages, layout, and design of your website. This is the most important thing not only to consider when planning website design, content, hosting, and domain name but in every activity that you do in your business.
A website is a communication channel between your business and customers. The goal of design, layout, pages, and content is to communicate as quickly as possible with the visitors. So that they will be able to make decisions immediately.
For example, if your business is rated good on Google then show that the above the fold. Instead of showing fancy sliders on the home page, show your product strength, features, ratings, sells, and customer feedback.
Designing a website is part of marketing and lead generation. Do not build a website if just want to tell your friends that you have a business website. Build a website if you want to help people to get what they quickly and effectively.
Your customers are your best friend, best consulting, best designer, and the number 1 reason behind your success.
So whatever other things you can consider while building a website but if you do not consider the designers, goals, and current needs of your customer then consideration of website building technology and scalable hosting will not benefit you.
Always remember that whatever we do in business, we do it for customers. We’re not building a website for ourselves instead we’re building it for customers.
And when someone forgets this to consider, then they close the door to growth opportunities and success in business.