If you are an entrepreneur like me and own businesses, you need a website. Yes, social media can drive tons of business and sales. However, if you are for the long-term success; for the long run business. You need a website.
Why? Simple. Social media can be a driving force in regard to sales and business in general. But, what happens when the attention of the consumer; the attention of the people, shift to a different platform of communication. All of your hard work is gone and so are your clients. Think of MySpace and other platforms that have perish. So many depend on them as a source of income, sales and business. Now they are gone. All of the effort put into the accounts and then suddenly gone. Disappointing right. That’s why you need a website.
You need a platform that you alone as a business owner can control, manage and update at any given point.
Below I will be sharing 8 fundamentals that are required to building a website. This fundamental apply to small and mid-size businesses. I have also added a small section for e-commerce.
1 You need a Face, you need a logo. One you have a clear name of your business name and what your business will stand for. It’s time to start thinking of your logo. Using a Logo is a great way to help create a brand for your business and website. There are 2 ways you can create your own business logo:
Option 1: Hire a graphic designer: 99 Designs gives you access to 950,000+ designers. You can post a logo design project and just wait for graphic designers all over the world to apply for your project. You only pay if you like the final results – but it may not be the cheapest option. Pricing may be vary from $500 – 5,000 Dollars depending on the designers or scope of work. (Fiverr is the lowest you can go personally and budget wise)
Option 2: Use a logo generator to create your own logo in 1 minute: Logo generators allow you to create professional logos without any graphic design skills. It is a great option if you. Squarespace logo generator (free) and Tailor Brands (paid) are two of the best logo generators we have tested. The downside to this free logo generators is that you will look to generic. Plus, someone else can be using the same logo or image as their logo already and you are going to look like a me too copy.
Regardless of the road you decide to take. Remember it’s your brand and it’s going to be the first impression your visitors are going have and look at. So, take your time and do it right. Make sure it meets your needs, but it caters to your clients and over message you want to send out to the world.
2 Domain Name A domain name is often the first thing you need when starting a website. It is your digital address that people will use to get connected to your website. For example, the domain name for this website is www.jessebrands.com.
Some popular domain name providers are GoDaddy. You can easily check if the name you want is available and how much it will cost, which is usually around $10 – $50 per year. If it’s not register, premium domain or on Bidding Mode. GoDaddy is also a good point to start searching for pricing on regards to hosting and different CMS platforms which I will discuss next.
3 Website Building Software A website builder software is what you use to build your website. Some of the more popular web builders that you might have heard of are WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and Weebly. I love using website builder software even though I can code up a website from scratch using just a Note Pad.
Why do I prefer a website builder? Because it is just so mind-blowingly easy. Depending on your skills level and what complex features you want on your website, some website builders will work better than the other.
Here are some of the most popular website builders, and what we think about them:
Wix Best All-Around Website Builder: They have the most features and tools when it comes to drag & drop website builders. Whether you need an online booking tool, insert video backgrounds, or want to create an online store, Wix has you covered. *Pricing start at $14.00 – $25.00 per month – 150.00 – 300.00 per year plus renewals.
Squarespace Best Design Oriented Website Builder: Their design templates are so good, they can make your website look as if you custom designed it. *Pricing start at $16.00 – $26.00 per month – $150 – $300 per year plus renewals.
Weebly Easiest to Use Website Builder: They’ve made it so easy for you to use, you can build a really good website even if you are deathly afraid of technology! *Pricing start at $8.00 – $25.00 per month – $100 – $400 per year plus renewals.
WordPress Most Flexible Website Builder: You can customize your website to your heart’s content, but WordPress is not easy to learn for beginners.
*Pricing start at $4.00 – $24.00 per month – $100 – $300 per year plus renewals.
Talk to someone who has experience on web design and ask for a free consultation and see what suits your needs. We experts, usually recommend to have a backup for domain and hosting and for them to be separated from each other (This is will require a long explanation.).
4 Website Hosting A host is the storage unit where your website documents reside online. Whenever someone enters your domain name in a web browser, the browser will fetch your website content from your website host. Think of it as your apartment or house rent. You need one to live on.
How do you know what type of hosting to choose? The type of hosting you choose depends on how many visitors you expect to visit your website. The cost of your hosting will increase when more people visit your website as you will need to upgrade from basic to advanced hosting.
There are 4 general types of website hosting:
Shared Hosting You are sharing a server with other websites.
VPS Hosting You are still sharing a server with other websites, but you get more capacity to handle more visitors.
Dedicated Hosting You have a server all to yourself and don’t need to share.
Free Hosting This is provided for all fully managed drag & drop website builder. Its not actually but they market it that way. Just FYI.
Hosting Services start from $10.00 – $60.00 Per Month or $400 – $600 Dollars per year. This depends on your needs. If you decide to pay yearly you can save between 10% – 20% on the total cost. Remember, this all based on your needs and requirements for your business. For pricing you can check out