How to build a website from scratch in 2023

How to build a website for a business in 2023?

Why should you build a website for your business and how can it help you and your clients accomplish goals?

Imagine Katie owns WoodenSpoon, a bakery selling fresh cakes, cupcakes and breads. Katie carefully designs her store to create a great shopping experience, and to showcase her talent and passion for baking.

In respect of the website, Katie thinks the design and content don’t matter. Or do they?

Actually, a website is an extension of your own business. Just like your physical shop, you want your website to have a prime location, showcase your brand, and convert browsers into buyers.

What type of website might help Katie do that? Keep reading to find out!

How to build & launch a website

First and foremost, to be able to launch a website, you need to get what’s called hosting space.

Think of it like it’s a plot of land for a house or a farm. Just like for a real piece of land, you most likely will have to pay for it.

Your new plot of land is one of many within your neighbourhood. We call this neighbourhood a server.

Think of a server as a street where various companies have their space for websites. Then each server has it’s own internet protocol (IP) address.

IP is made up of a string of numbers that can be located by any device that has internet access.

So now you have a great location for building your website but no web address (or domain name). Luckily, there are websites like GoDaddy or Google Domains to help you search for and register available domain names. You can also use our services to find your perfect domain (and hosting).

We recommend that you use the “.co.uk” or “.com” extensions, if available, as they are the most widely recognisable and trusted extensions. Keep in mind that you need to renew your contract every year. If you do forget, you will lose your domain name!

One thing worth considering is including a keyword in your website address. WoodenSpoon, for example, is a clever name for Katie’s shop. However, people might not find it if they do a search for a local bakery. Adding “bakery”, “cupcakes” or “cakes” can help people find Katie’s business more easily.

If you’re still not sure what to call your business website, read this blog.

Once you have picked your ideal domain and hosting solution, you can create, for example, a WordPress website. WordPress is the most popular website building platform.

Do your research, and decide which platform might be the most appropriate. Alternatively, you can speak to us if you need help – we specialise in website building!

You have now built your website

We have now answered the first part of the ‘how to build a website’ question! Time to move on and discuss the other important website components…

Although you might think it’s not essential, you should really set up a custom email address on your domain, like Katie@woodenspoon. This will make your business look professional, and can help increase brand awareness among people you email. Your business email could also be used for email marketing campaigns in future.

You can get an email address using Google Apps for Work, Zoho Mail, or Rackspace Mail.

Once your website has been created, you need to consider a few additional things.

For example, how long it takes to load? This depends on things such as the amount and type of information, and internet speeds.

The following things affect Katie’s website speed (from most to least):

2-minute HD advertising video for cakes
Large high-resolution, full-screen background image of cupcakes
20-second explainer animation of how yeast helps bread raise
Low-res compessed thumbnail image
Twitter button that links to Katie’s Instagram page
Text descriptions of the bakes

Nowadays, people expect super-fast websites and a frictionless online experience, and might leave if your website takes too long. You therefore want to make your website pages load fast. At the same time, you want to keep your overall unique design you want.

Choosing the right media mix and hosting solution can help you with this.

Generally, it is good to test how long it takes for your business website to load on different devices and connections before it goes live.

If you want to include images on your website, we recommend that you use compressed images.

Moreover, if you want to include videos, we advise that you embed them rather than host them on your own website. This allows for faster load time on your website, and you can choose from a multitude of services for video hosting.

How to build website awareness, drive sales, and collect leads?

While helping reach your goals like raising awareness, driving sales, or collecting leads, your website should also satisfy your customers’ needs.

In order to raise awareness, you should start with the basics. You should already have your business name, but think about your map location, and contact details.

Consider putting your contact details in the footer of every page, and encourage clients to email or call if they have questions.

Moreover, you can register your business with your local directories. Local directories are a great way for local businesses to connect with potential customers in their area! Keep in mind that search engines can now also consider the searcher’s geographic location. They can suggest businesses in the searcher’s area.

In addition to putting your contact details in the footer of every page, make contacting your business easier by creating a form on your “contact us” page, See ours as an example.

You will later be able to use your clients’ details to send marketing information. Don’t ask for too much information though, or they might not fill it out!

You may have noticed that a lot of websites also have an “about us” page. Add an “about us” section to your website explaining what your business does and stands for, too.

You can also add a link to your business’ social media accounts so your customers can connect with you easier.

Having staff bios and customer reviews can also help your visitors get to know you!

How to make a website stand out?

As a physical store, you need to stand out. The same is true in the digital world.

When we identify what makes us different from the competition online, we call that our Unique Selling Point (USP).

In Katie’s case, her unique feature is that she bakes custom cakes, cupcakes and breads. Katie therefore might want to create a page that allows her customers to design their own cakes. or see different designs for inspirations.

Identify your USPs, and highlight them on your website. Make your website stand out from your competitors!

In addition to the above, you need to remember about optimising your website for search engines (SEO), like Google and Bing.

When writing website content, you need to remember that it needs to be relevant and contain keywords.

Search engines have algorithms that help them order the list of results. The search engines constantly scan the web for new content and try to make sense of it.

Where your business website appears in the search results is affected by the words you use on your website (cakes & cupcakes, for example) as well as many other factors. Another factor could be how many websites link to yours.

Does this seem confusing? How is this: think of a search engine like a matchmaker. What is the goal? To find the searcher exactly what they are looking for on the web.

In summary, search engines pull words from your webpages to understand what the website is about. It’s therefore important that your website’s content is descriptive and relevant.

To make sure your website covers all the relevant information, use the 5 W’s:

who – WoodenSpoon
what – cake, cupcake, bread bakery
when – Mon – Fri from 9am until 5pm
where – 321 Fake Street
why – unique baking creations by expert baker, Katie.

If you think it would be helpful to explain your product or service in more detail, create a frequently asked questions section. FAQ section will allow customers to learn more about your company.

Finally, make sure that you use font sizes, colours, and other aspects of design consistently across your website. This will make your website look presentable and professional.

Good luck, and if you need any help, get in touch with us!

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