10 Things To Consider Before Starting Your Small Business Website.

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Building a small business website requires careful planning to ensure it is effective, user-friendly, and aligned with your business goals. Here are the most important things to consider before getting started:

1/ Purpose & Goals

  • Define the main objective (e.g., lead generation, e-commerce, brand awareness).
  • Identify key actions you want visitors to take (e.g., contact form submission, purchase, call).

2/ Target Audience

  • Choose a business name if it’s a new business
  • Choose a domain name that is short, memorable, and relevant.
  • Select reliable hosting with good performance, security, and scalability.

We advise you speak with us before registering anything as you may be able to get an SEO advantage if you use certain keywords in your business name and or domain name.)

3/ Website Platform & CMS/themes (We recommend WordPress)

  • Decide what your website will be built with/on (Wix, Squarespace) or a professional CMS like WordPress. We recommend WordPress as it gives us more flexibility to upscale and add to. It also means you have full ownership and can choose your host and avoid any other subscriptions that there may be for using these platforms.
  • Wix & Squarespace are great for beginners and small basic sites but are quickly outgrown by most professional businesses (Make sure the Web Designer or agency tells you what they are building your site with, or you may end up regretting you didn’t ask).
  • WordPress Themes are great but also have their pitfalls. (A decent Agency should make their own or be able to customise high quality themes easily). Watch out for Fiverr or OS Webdesigners that use low-quality free themes and sell them as premium websites. (go with a local and know what you are buying)
  • Consider ease of use, flexibility, and long-term maintenance. Some business websites may require an ongoing partnership with a developer or agency for security, functionality and updates. This would be worth considering as part of your business web budget to keep your business website and data protected from hacks and bugs (especially if you sell online or collect data like online forms etc).

4/ Domain Name & Hosting (Part of Webify Services)

  • Choose a domain name that is short, memorable, and relevant (you may want to consider keywords and what domain suffix is best – eg .com.au or .au is more trustworthy as it requires an ABN ).
  • Select reliable hosting with good performance, security, and scalability.

5/ Website Design (Part of Webify Services)

  • Use a clean, professional design that aligns with your brand.
  • Ensure that navigation is intuitive and mobile-friendly.
  • Focus on fast-loading pages for a better user experience.

6/ Essential Pages & Content (We can discuss your content)

  • Home: Clearly communicates what you do and why it matters.
  • About: Build trust by sharing your story and values.
  • Services/Products: Clearly outline what you offer.
  • Contact: This provides easy ways for customers to reach you.
  • FAQ, Testimonials, and Blog (if needed).

7/ SEO & Online Visibility (Essential SEO included with Webify)

  • Optimise for search engines (keywords, meta descriptions, alt text).
  • Set up Google My Business and integrate social media links.
  • Consider local SEO strategies if targeting local customers.

8/ Security & Compliance (Part of Webify Services)

  • Ensure the website has ongoing SSL encryption (HTTPS).
  • Follow data privacy laws (GDPR, Australian Privacy Act, etc.).
  • Create backups of your site periodically in case of data loss or hacking.

9/ Functionality & Integrations (Can be added on by Webify)

  • Contact forms or booking systems for engagement.
  • E-commerce setup if selling products online (WooCommerce, Surecart, Shopify, etc.).
  • Email marketing integration for lead generation (Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Mailerlite).

10/ Maintenance & Updates (Provided by Webify)

  • Plan for regular updates, backups, and security checks*
  • Consider professional support if needed.

*Ongoing Maintenance and Updates are provided at an additional cost on a case-by-case basis depending on the amount of work involved.

Would you like a more detailed checklist or recommendations based on your specific business? Contact Webify for an obligation free discussion and our recommendations.