How to create your website

Many small businesses underestimate the value of professional looking website design. Good looking, quality website design can sometimes be the deciding factor as to whether your website is successful and taken seriously. The following ideas should help you create a good website:

Hire a website designer

For the best looking design you should hire a website designer. There are some who specialise in designing websites for small businesses and can produce a simple professional looking website for you for a small investment. Always check out their portfolio before committing to anyone, as some designers are better than others.

Website templates

There are free, professionally designed website templates which can be found on the internet and can be put on your website quite simply. You will need to edit them so they display your own content. Here are a couple of websites that offer free templates:

www.freewebsitetemplates.com
www.templateworld.com

To add templates you will need to have some knowledge of how to upload files to your website. A great resource for beginners is TheSiteWizard.com which helps explain everything you need to know.

Some sites enable you to use existing website templates and change them using a content management system. Moonfruit.com, for example, will also host your website for you and can supply an email account in return for a monthly fee.

Website design

Small businesses can often overlook website design as they believe it to be an expense they can't afford or don't see it as important enough.

A website that looks professional sends a message to a potential customer that the company is professional, and the chances are they will be more likely to buy your product or service. Other websites are also more likely to link to your site if you look like a more credible source.

If you haven't already, it is often worth investing in getting a logo designed for your business that you can put on your website. This adds to the professional look of your site.

Website design checklist

Here is a quick checklist of some important things to think about when you are designing your site:

Content - Make sure your content is clear and has lots of paragraphs and headings so it's easy for your customers to read.

Navigation - Make the site navigation simple and clear directly your website visitors to the pages they are most likely to find interesting. Put yourself in the shoes of your potential customers.

Links - Check if you have any broken links on your site (broken links are links that don't go to a page, you get an error when you click on them), broken links can make a website look less professional.

Images - Make sure any images you use aren't too large because they might cause your pages to load slowly.

Test your website - If you have a site that requires customers to contact you or even buy online, test the forms to make sure they are working. It's surprisingly easy to make a great website and the most important part (getting the enquiries from customers) doesn't work.

Testing your website

Before you launch your website it is important to make sure that it is immediately obvious what you are offering, where users should click to get the information they need, and what they think of the design and content.

The only way to do this effectively is to test it. Larger companies do what is called 'usability' testing where they hire a user from their target market to go through the website and point out things they like and don't like and why they are doing certain things.

This method can be quite expensive but a smaller business owner can achieve similar results by asking friends and family to test their site. Ask people who don't know much about your business and ask those from different demographics. For example, one colleague always gets her uncle to test her website because he is the worst person she knows at using the internet.

There is a useful book you can buy which will help you with the testing process. It is called 'Don't Make Me Think' by Steve Krug.

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