When starting a new business, one of the very first steps you should complete is building a website.
Launching a strong, cohesive website that reflects your brand provides credibility for your company as well as provides a feeling of legitimacy and professionalism. Your website should serve as a one-stop shop where all visitors’ questions are answered – including those they didn’t know they had! A well-crafted website should serve as a bridge between your business and your audience.
At The Miner Agency, we specialize in brand and website development. No matter what step of branding you’re facing, we’re here to assist and answer some of your questions. Keep reading this blog for our top five website development tips, or check out our small business toolkit.
Without further ado, here are our most prioritized steps in creating a website.
Select a domain.
Today, it’s easier than ever to launch a website of your own. Whether you’re using WordPress, Wix, or SquareSpace, you can have an up-and-running site in a matter of minutes. While some of these are free, to have a customized domain name, you’ll typically have to pay a flat fee followed by yearly billings to retain the domain rights.
For example, a free site might be called “themineragency.wordpress.com,” while a paid domain might be “themineragency.com.” In our experience, the simpler the URL the better! We do recommend purchasing a domain if you are able.
Be sure to select a name that is distinct and will set you apart without restricting you to one specific market.
Map out your content strategy.
Once you’ve chosen a host and a domain, the next step is to plan out your content!
Utilize an “About” page that explains who you and your business are, your mission, vision, and values, as well as the services or products you provide.
Include a good mix of text and photos to keep your website engaging.
If you’re hoping to incorporate a blog or newsletter, make sure to plan out a content schedule ahead of time and include a visible section on your website where users can find that content.
Master the basics of SEO.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the utilization of certain practices that improve the appearance and organization of webpages in organic search results. Good SEO practices can help your website and content show up sooner if someone were to Google a topic relevant to your work.
For example, if you are an esthetician hoping to share your knowledge and services with the world using your brand new blog and website, good SEO practices can be the difference between whether or not your website shows up first (at the top of the search engine page) or farther down on the list of search results that appear if someone were to search for estheticians in the area.
Good SEO can also streamline your success by requiring less paid advertising and less time spent curating social media posts.
Build a Multi-Page Website For Maximum Impact
Ensuring that you have a well-built website can help a search engine that your website means BUSINESS. Ensuring that each of these websites has multiple headings, great information, and key words, which are industry-specific terms for which people may search. This helps your site rank higher in search results.
When building out your web pages, don’t be afraid to reference them within each other. Include links to other pages on your site so viewers can easily navigate and stay engaged.
Your goal is to keep someone on your website for as long as possible, so providing multiple relevant links to click on is very important.
Boost your SEO with blog content.
Blogs are a great way to showcase your knowledge and credibility within your field while keeping visitors on your site. People also love authenticity and more of an “inside look” at business owners, so it can make your brand feel more relevant and relatable to a potential audience.
Within these blogs, it’s a great idea to include as many of those key words we mentioned as possible. If there’s a section or sentence that you already have a blog or webpage about, go ahead and link it there!
We recommend blogs with at least 350–700 words and web pages with 800–1,500 words. Longer posts are fine—just make sure they’re packed with keywords, links, and valuable information.
It’s important to remember that people have very short attention spans, so it’s best to organize your information in an easy-to-digest manner. Use headers and images to break up text, making it easier for readers to digest the content.
Drive traffic to your site through social media.
The thing about SEO is that the more clicks your site gets, the higher Google and other search engines will rank it. We recommend giving your site a boost by promoting it on social platforms. Include your URL in your bios and frequently remind your followers where they can find the link.
Every time you publish new content, share it on social media. Include direct links or remind followers to check your bio. Google can also recognize that your website link is included elsewhere (and gaining traffic from there) and could rank it higher.
Click here to check out our full post on SEO!
Ready to launch your brand to the next level? Stay ahead with expert insights, branding tips, and website strategies that ignite success. Subscribe to our newsletter and join us on social @themineragency.
