6 Things to Do When Setting Up Your Website

Starting your own business is difficult enough, but creating a website for that business can be overwhelming if you don't have a plan in place. Dedicating time to setting up your website is important, but you'll also need the best advice to establish your online presence successfully.

Keep reading to learn about the six things we recommend doing when setting up your website.

1. Research SEO

First of all, do some research to determine which type of SEO (or search engine optimization) you need. Your strategies should depend on your target audience and what you want to accomplish with your website.

Let's say you're setting up a website for your existing brick-and-mortar business. Local SEO for small businesses may be best to help people in the area find your store easily. Your SEO strategies will be very different than if you were an e-commerce site that's intended to attract the attention of consumers worldwide.

2. Investing in Web Design

The design of your website directly impacts your success, from font to colors to photography choices. Potential customers won't want to visit a site that has bright, contrasting colors or difficult-to-read fonts. Instead, choosing a cohesive theme that matches your aesthetic and brand will keep people engaged when they visit your site.

There are many options for creating websites with these parameters in mind, but there are also many people who specialize in web design that can create a unique layout for you.

3. Link Your Social Media

In today's market, it's necessary to have a robust social media presence to be successful. A fleshed-out website done well is important, but without linking your social media to that website, you make it harder for potential customers to find your business.

By linking to social media like Facebook or Instagram, you will attract more customers, increase your engagement, and seem current.

4. Lock in Your Domain

Choosing your domain name and making sure it's available for you to register is one of the first things you should do. If you have a hosting provider for your website, ensure they verify all the domain details. If you're setting it up yourself, make sure it is registered and ready to go as soon as possible.

5. Optimize for Mobile

Almost everyone uses their smartphones to browse the internet. Some people may not even use a computer to browse online at all, meaning if your website isn't optimized for mobile viewing, you've already lost them as a potential customer.

This means that everything on your site needs to be made for mobile viewing. Paragraph size, photographs, videos, and links all need to be optimized to work on an interface that is less precise than a desktop.

6. Test the Functionality

After you've gone through all the steps and are about to launch your site, run through each function to make sure it runs smoothly. Click every link and visit every page as if you were a customer to see if there are small details you've missed or if any part of the site needs fixing. This will help improve the customer experience and ensure that you're ready to hit the ground running without worrying about slip-ups.

Final Thoughts

Launching a website can be a complicated process, but that doesn't mean it has to be stressful. Taking advantage of the many resources available to learn what to prioritize will streamline the process.

By researching SEO, investing in web design, linking your social media accounts, optimizing for mobile, and testing the functionality of your site, you'll have not only a more successful website but also a much easier design experience.