A website remains an important part of your business’ digital mix, even now with the popularity of social media and AI.
However, even if the benefits of having one are clear, building a website can feel challenging and easy to put off in the face of the work of running a growing business.
In talking to small businesses, we’ve learned there’s a sense of overwhelm around building a website – it can be hard to know exactly where to start and what it actually costs.
There’s a common perception that only the most beautiful, complex, feature-packed website will be good enough. In reality, most businesses usually only need a simple – the simplest – website to get started, and act as an anchor for a trustworthy digital presence.
This is why we’ve put together Build a website for your small business – a step-by-step DIY guide to planning and creating a simple website that anyone can use.
Modern tools make it easier than ever to put together a website, even if you haven’t built one before. With the right planning you can get a simple website up and running relatively quickly, at a relatively low upfront cost, to support your business’ online presence.
We know it can be easy to put off your website so here are some top tips when considering how to build your own website:
1. Go at your own pace – but get your .au domain name now
Registering your business’ .au domain name can be your first step to build your digital presence. It’s easy, quick and costs less than a lunch on a per-year basis.
While there’s no requirement to do anything with a domain name you register, securing your .au domain name is actually an active step to protecting your brand or idea
2. Planning up front saves time later
A lot of website advice ignores the foundational step of content planning in favour of the “how-to” of certain tools or platforms.
Putting time into understanding the content you and your audience need on your website upfront has some clear benefits:
- It can make the overall project less intimidating
- It makes later decisions around tools and design much easier
- It helps you get clear on what you most want to convey to new or existing customers.
The key to content planning is answering a few simple (although not necessarily easy) questions to work out what you really need at this point. See our Build a website for your small business guide for some tips on plannning your content.
It’s also worth familiarising yourself with simple web accessibility steps, including how to use descriptive hyperlinks and set out headings, to help you create inclusive content and reach a broader audience.
3. Aim for simple but plan to add to your site over time
Think of your website as something that will continue to grow and evolve as your business does – not something that needs to be perfect and complete on day one. The website you need now might be as simple as a page or two outlining who you are, what you do and how people can contact you.
4. Sometimes it’s worth investing in an expert to help you build your site
1If you have the resources, there’s an entire industry dedicated to helping businesses build websites. The advantage of this approach is leveraging expertise in design, layout, security and the accessibility of your content and website system. The brief – what you’re asking a web developer to build – becomes very important to ensure you get what you need and manage costs.
Understanding some of the key decisions you need to make ahead of time will be helpful, e.g. who is your target customer, what do you want users to be able to do? So, even if you’re not building it yourself Build a website for your small business is a great foundation for developing your brief.
5. Email is a great first step too
If you’re not quite ready to start on your website, you can set up an email service using your .au domain name. Email is a sometimes-overlooked way to put your .au domain name to work that helps build customers’ trust in your growing business.
You don’t need a website to set up an email service using your domain name, and setting up your own .au email service is easier than you might think (look out for our guide on setting up a .au email, coming soon!).