If you have a new business, then you obviously need a website for it - but it doesn't end there. Do you know all that you need to get set up the right way? Often, we'll get a call from someone who has had their website up a year or two. They want to know why it's not ranking well and why they're not getting much business. We take a look at it and, right away, we see a bunch of things that were not done right. If things had been done correctly from the start, they would have been in a much better position when they called us.
First, you need good design. New businesses usually don't have thousands and thousands to spend on good design but there are options. One great way to get good design and stick to your budget is with a website that starts with a pre-made design or template (sometimes called a "theme," too). It takes a while to search for a good one, sometimes but there are good templates out there. You want to make sure that it's a good one - meaning, it's coded well and works well with all the latest, major web browsers that your customers are going to be using to find you.
You need tools like Google Analytics (GA) and Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) installed correctly from the start. The statistics that those tools generate are priceless. Also, with GWT, you are kept aware of any problems with your website or messages from Google.
You want to get your Google Places (Google Plus) page set up right away. We can help you do that (using the same account as GA and GWT) and then optimize your listing so that it shows up higher in the listings. Along with that, getting your social media presence established is important and should be done as soon as possible.
There are a few other things that you want to make sure are done - we're not about to spell out every step here, though. Getting a website set up properly at the start is very important. You're trying to start your business and you're not an expert on web design - you're trying to run your business. That's why it's important to turn your new business website development to experts!
The main problem with a new website is that it's a new website. There's no reputation, no age, no trust. You're not going to rank well to start. It'll take 6 months or more. That's just how it is. The worst thing you can do is get too many links pointing to your website too soon - don't do that. It's going to have to sit for a little while before you start doing that. In the meantime, you can rely on Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) to get traffic to your website.
The best thing you can do with a new website is just starting adding a lot of good quality (and original) content regularly. Your website should see at least 2-3 of these posts per week if you want to do well. It can increase to 4 per week after your first 6 months. This is what a blog or news section is for. You'll need that.
One mistake we see a lot is how a domain name is registered. They will have someone at the company register the domain name and then, years later, that person leaves. The big problem, then, is that the domain will expire and the website will go down and the company was never notified because the email address used is no longer valid.
The right way to do it is to register the domain and then change it to a generic email address, like webmaster@yourdomain.com or info@yourdomain.com. You can then redirect that email address to someone (like you, the owner of the company). This way, you know that email account will always be active and you'll receive any important notifications.
About 4 months after launch, SEO (search engine optimization) should be done. It should be done at least every month after that. Pages need to be optimized using SEO tools and information from GA and GWT. We won't kid you... it's grunt work. It's not fun. You'll probably hate it but we love it.
After you six month, "break in" period, you'll be in good shape. If you've followed the plan that we've set for you, then your website will start working for you. After 12 months, the website will be more or less on autopilot where not as much maintenance will be needed. It'll be producing leads or sales for you and paying you back for all the work you put into it.
See how that works?
Either do nothing for a year and wonder what's going on or else work a lot the first year and be in a great position after that first year - it's your choice.
If you want your new business website to be successful and be in a great position in a year where your website is working for you, then we would like to work with you. We've explained that it will take some work and effort but give us a call and let's work out a budget that can work for you. We really like seeing websites be successful and it all starts with a business that wants their website to work for them.
-Tony
