Websites for small business: SEO, design, SEO plan, marketing, find clients

This article is for small businesses who want to grow their business with a website, an SEO plan, marketing and in the end, new clients. Small businesses can help their customers find all the resources they need in one place with the help of the website.

Best website builders for small businesses

One way to get a website is to build it yourself. There are many sites that have “website builders” as part of their attraction. Sites such as Squarespace and Wix allow you to quickly build a site using a template, and then add on as many features as you need. Need a blog? Just click to add one. Need eCommerce? Just click to add that.

Another option is to use WordPress. While getting a website up and running in WordPress is much easier than it used to be, there are more hurdles to get through when setting up WordPress.

WordPress sites are not tied to one hosting company like Wix and Squarespace are. If you choose Wix or Squarespace, you are “all in” with that hosting service. But if you choose WordPress, you have the option of hosting it anywhere. Popular hosting companies are Dreamhost, GoDaddy, and Bluehost. You have the option of moving your WordPress website away from one host over to another (if you found something that made you want to move.)

What to look for in a site builder

If you go the website-builder route, you will likely pay more per month for that service, compared with a WordPress site. But there are definite advantages.

The advantages of a website builder is that you have much more “all in the same place”. You don’t need to add new software onto the website the way you would with WordPress. Because the website builder systems have everything in one place, that make it easier to connect the pieces. For example, you can put up a page to gather someone’s email address and add it to your newsletter mailing list very easily, with little additional configuration.

With a website builder, you will want to look at their templates and make sure you find one that has the look and feel you are wanting for your website. You will want to confirm it has all of the features you need for your site.

Get a Website from Shared Hands

At Shared Hands, we primarily create websites with WordPress. A WordPress website has the most flexibility to change, update and host where you want it. We will help out with Wix and Squarespace sites as well, but work mostly with WordPress.

What’s the goal of the website anyway?

Your website really has one goal – bring new clients to you. New clients means growth and more revenue. So getting the website up and running is really just the first step. The more important steps are letting the world know you have a website, and ensuring that when potential new clients search for what you are selling, your website comes up on top.

Build website, set up SEO, get clients

That’s the process. Build the website. Get it ranking high in Google. Bring in new clients. At Shared Hands, that’s what we do.