How to create a business or startup website

Rachael Page

How to create, procure or update a website and other digital assets for your business or business idea with advice on digital marketing and local SEO approaches.

What's in this article

1. Purpose of this article and who it's for
2. A note on MVP's
3. The special challenge of startups
4. Before you jump in - Is the user seeing Value?
5. Webdesign - Content first!!!
6. Website creation platforms
7. If you’re not a designer, it can be tough
8. Web history overview
9. Modern design is flexible
10. Build it and they will come - Errrr no!
11. The 19 Marketing Methods
12. Designing your users ‘experience’, and how that translates to the web design
13. User flows, Sales funnels, Conversion pages, CTA’s, and Tracking
14. Breakdown of SEO - Search Engine Optimisation
15. For example: On-page SEO
16. Some common pitfalls - A.K.A ‘Rookie mistakes’
17. Technical SEO - Page Speed Issues Example
18. Page speed - why it matters and how to fix it
19. About the author and Wave Web Design
20. Join our next online event!

1. Purpose of this article, and who it's for

some of the challenges of startups (small businesses are exempt because they likely started small and built up customers)

The stages of business or startup blooming on the web - idea, initial website to test the interest and market feedback e.g. just an instagram account or typeform survey could to that....

Rookie mistakes ( so agrees my partner who is maybe humouring me! - not havin

Build it, but they may not come, unless you have SEO
Little bit about local SEO, importance of being on all directories
About site speed - google marks you down if...

The platforms - pro's and cons
Wordpress
Wix
Squarespace
Bespoke

The process you should go through to run a digital project

The costs involved, examples
Bespoke - your code and API's will constantly break. if you have a shop, you'll need to test that it's working weekly, and that's just ONE example

You should keep products and subscriptions simple, not just for fast user comprehension, but its so much easier to administer. e.g. x amount per year, no refunds, pay up front, if there is a larger plan, keep it simple.

Automate as much as possible e.g use buffer.com or better still semrush.com to manage social media posting - semrush also gives analytics and keyword research for 99 per month, BUT you need to be a marketing expert to be able to use all the features properly

It's very important to have a CMS where you can not only edit text, images, write your blog, but also control SEO elements, as per the info you get from Semrush

I haven't even got into
User research
Clickable prototypes
User testing and insights
A/B testing
....


OK, this is probably going to give a very brief overview of the skills required an online marketing professional needs, covering web design, web developerment, hosting, marketing, SEO and more...

It takes a long time to learn this, and due to sites like wordpress, most startup founders think that they can do this thermselves.  BUt would you do the electrics in your home, or call an eleectrician?

Join our online event on the third Monday of every month at 7pm CET for an overview of the process and pitfalls of setting up a new business website. The session will have a Q & A at the end, so bring your questions - all welcome!

Join the online meetup
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