A Website for your Business
In talking with other aspiring entrepreneurs over the past couple of weeks, it has become apparent to me that creating a web presence (especially a website) for a new startup is somewhat of a pain to such people - especially those that claim to be non tech savvy. However, it should not be. These days, with tools such as Squarespace.com the focus on creating a website for your business should be less on the technology involved and more on content that it contains.
The first question that you should ask about your startup is - Why do I need a website? It seems that it has become the norm for every business to have a website, regardless of whether it is necessary or not. Unless your business involves some facet of e-commerce or it revolves around the web - like Sportycus - a website is no more than one leg of your business’ web presence. Therefore you should treat it like that and not stress out about it.
Eventually though you will need to build a website. When that time comes, you should then ask, What kind of website is right for me? This is something that I think everybody fails to understand and it is the reason why some startups end up with $5000+ quotes from a developer to build a website. Again, assuming that you business needs a website just for web presence, then a basic, informative website with no more than five pages that would cost you less than $200(for one year) will suffice. The five pages that you need are:
- HOME - This is your primary marketing page. Visitors will primarily use this page to make assumptions about your and your business.
- ABOUT - Detailed information about the business, you the entrepreneur, and other information that would entice a prospective customer to trust and want to work with or buy from you.
- SERVICE/PRODUCT - Detailed information on the service or product that your business provides including pricing and how to acquire your services or products.
- FAQ/FEEDBACK/BLOG/NEWS - This is the page where you will interact with your customers. Post news releases about your business, common questions and answers that customers have (or may have) about your business etc…
- CONTACT - This page will contain detailed information on how customers can get in contact with the business. Make sure you post a street address, an easy to remember email address, AND a phone number. You’d be surprised how many websites do not include this information.
Thats it! Anything more than that will be overkill. Notice that with just 5 web pages you can spend more time on creating good content for your website rather than focusing on the technology behind it.
As I said earlier, this is a quick post for those who are intimidated by thought and process of building a website. You can certainly find more in depth information elsewhere on the web AND I do encourage you to do so!
