Do you want to establish a strong online presence for your business? If so, you need a website that not only looks professional but also works effectively to convert visitors into customers. This article dives deep into the strategy behind building a business website that actually helps you grow.
The two biggest risks when creating a business website
Many business owners start with great enthusiasm when building their own websites. However, two major pitfalls can turn this into a frustrating and costly process: wasted time and poor performance.
Wasted time: Building a high-quality website takes time, especially if you’re unfamiliar with website development. Having a website built professionally also takes a great deal of time. So, when creating a company website, it’s essential to plan ahead and focus on what truly matters to your audience to avoid creating a website that doesn't fit your needs.
Poor performance: A website that performs poorly may not attract or convert visitors. A business website should be fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate. Otherwise, potential customers will leave without engaging. Avoid common website design mistakes that could hurt user experience and search engine rankings.
How much does it cost to get a website made for a business?
The cost of creating a website for your business varies widely. Factors that affect the price include:
- Custom design vs. templates: Custom-built websites are more expensive than template-based sites but offer greater flexibility.
- Number of pages: A small website with a few pages costs less than a multi-page site with detailed service offerings.
- Features like ecommerce, CRM, and integrations: Advanced functionalities such as online stores, booking systems, or customer management tools increase the cost.
- Ongoing maintenance and support: Regular updates, security measures, and hosting services contribute to long-term expenses.
Check out our comprehensive guide for a full breakdown of how much a website costs.
How much does a GoDaddy website cost?
The cost of creating a company website depends on factors like hosting, domain registration, and premium features. If you’re launching a simple website and want a budget-friendly, all-in-one solution, GoDaddy’s DIY tools can be a good option. However, if your business requires custom design, advanced functionality, or SEO optimization, hiring a professional may be a better option for your business.
Pick a website solution that aligns with your long-term goals
Your website should grow alongside your business. When planning to build a website for a business, it’s crucial to choose a platform that can scale with your growth. Whether you're launching an ecommerce store, running a service-based business, or creating a content-driven blog, your website solution should support your long-term objectives. Choosing the right platform from the start can prevent costly migrations and redesigns later.
Align website features with your business goals
Different business types require different website features:
- Ecommerce businesses: Need built-in payment processing, inventory management, and shipping tools. GoDaddy’s Online Store provides templates specifically designed for ecommerce businesses, making setup much easier.
- Service-based businesses: Should focus on lead generation with clear call-to-action buttons, contact forms, and appointment scheduling. A well-structured site helps convert visitors into paying clients.
- Content-focused websites (e.g., blogs, news sites): Requires flexible CMS options that allow for easy content updates, SEO optimization, and audience engagement tools.
Think about scalability and future growth
Many businesses make the mistake of choosing a short-term website solution that limits future growth. Avoid these common pitfalls:
- Not planning for ecommerce expansion: A small boutique may start with an informational site but later realize they need online sales functionality. Choosing a platform that supports ecommerce from the start prevents costly migrations.
- Ignoring mobile responsiveness: With most traffic coming from mobile devices, a non-optimized website can lead to lost customers.
- Limited customization options: Some website builders may not allow for advanced custom features. If you anticipate needing unique integrations, ensure your platform supports future modifications.
Website builder options for businesses
Website builders offer an excellent solution if you need a DIY option for creating a professional business website. They provide professional designs, ease of use, and quick setup without the need for coding expertise. Or, if your site has more complex need, hiring a professional might make more sense.
Here are a few popular options:
- GoDaddy’s Website Builder: This platform offers templates tailored to specific industries, making it simple to quickly create a professional website.
- WordPress: For businesses that need more flexibility and customization, WordPress is a powerful choice. While it allows for extensive modification, it requires ongoing management to ensure everything functions smoothly.
- Custom development: If your business has unique needs or requires a highly specialized website, custom development might be the best route. While more expensive and time-consuming, this option provides complete control over your site’s design and functionality.
Choosing the right platform to build a website for a business will depend on your immediate needs and long-term goals. Consider scalability, the flexibility of features, and how your website can support a digital sales funnel to ensure future growth and success.
GoDaddy provides a collection of business website templates designed for different industries. Whether you need a sleek portfolio, an ecommerce store, or a service-based website, these templates offer professional designs with easy customization.
Get your domain name
When you create a business website, the domain name is often the first thing your customers will encounter. It’s a key part of your online presence, so it’s important to choose one that’s easy to remember, short, and clearly connected to your brand. A simple domain name without complicated words or extra characters will make it easier for customers to find your site and remember your business.
For more information on choosing a domain name for your business, check out our guide on how to choose the perfect domain name.
Ready to register your perfect domain name? Give it a try here:
Keep your design simple
A cluttered website confuses visitors. Stick to a clean, user-friendly layout with these essential pages:
- Homepage: The homepage serves as your website's introduction. It should clearly convey who you are and what you offer within moments of landing on the page.
- Contact page: Make it easy for customers to reach out. Include your email, phone number, and a simple contact form for convenience.
- About us page: This page builds trust by explaining your company’s values, history, and mission, allowing visitors to connect with your brand on a deeper level.
- Services/products page: Clearly outline what you offer with descriptions, visuals, and pricing (if applicable), making it simple for potential customers to understand your business.
- FAQ page: Address the most common questions or concerns customers may have, helping to reduce barriers and improve the user experience.
These essential pages guide visitors through their journey, helping them understand your business and easily connect with you.
Why simplicity matters
When you make a web page for your business, simplicity is key—especially if you’re new to web design. A clean, uncomplicated website enhances user experience by making it easier to navigate. Visitors should quickly understand who you are and what you offer without feeling overwhelmed. A simple design also builds trust with customers and makes your content more digestible. Plus, search engines favor straightforward, clear content, which helps with SEO.
For those unfamiliar with web development, a simple design ensures you don’t get bogged down by unnecessary technicalities. Starting with a simple layout means you can focus on maintaining your business and content, without getting distracted by complicated design features.
Ways to simplify your website design
Here are a few ways to ensure your business website stays simple yet effective:
- Use a clean, minimalistic layout: Opt for a straightforward design with ample white space, allowing your content to shine without visual clutter.
- Limit your color palette: Choose a small, cohesive set of colors that match your branding. Too many colors can create confusion and distract from your message.
- Select readable fonts: Stick to simple, legible fonts that ensure visitors can easily engage with your content across different devices.
- Use optimized images: High-quality visuals improve the look of your site, but make sure they’re fast-loading to prevent slow page speeds.
Integrate technologies to grow your business
When you set up a website for your business, integrating third-party technologies can provide a significant boost to both user engagement and business operations. Tools like customer support features, CRM systems, and ecommerce solutions can enhance the customer experience while streamlining your internal processes.
By using technologies that offer real-time interaction, personalized content, and automated services, you can not only increase user satisfaction but also improve your website's conversion rates. Leveraging these tools helps build stronger relationships with customers, driving sales and boosting retention.
Key technologies to enhance your business website
There are many third-party technologies you can integrate into your business website to improve its functionality and user experience. Here are some popular and effective options:
- Point of Sale (POS) systems: Integrating POS systems into your website enables seamless transactions across both your physical and online stores. This integration ensures that customer and sales data are synced, making it easier for business owners to manage inventory and track sales.
- Mobile POS: If your business requires sales on the go, mobile POS systems are invaluable. These systems allow you to process payments on smartphones or tablets, making transactions easy whether you're at events, on-site at customer locations, or operating pop-up shops.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems: CRM tools help businesses track and manage customer interactions, sales leads, and data. They enable personalized communication, improved customer satisfaction, and more efficient sales processes.
- Email marketing tools: Integrating email marketing tools into your website allows you to automate email campaigns. These tools help you keep customers informed about promotions, new products, or updates, enhancing customer engagement without additional manual work.
- Analytics tools: These tools enable you to track visitor activity and optimize your site for improved conversions and a better overall user experience.
By integrating technologies like POS, mobile POS, CRM systems, and more, these business owners have enhanced both their customer experience and back-end processes, ultimately helping their businesses grow.
Layer in SEO and essential digital marketing to be found online
A great website means nothing if no one finds it. SEO and social media are the backbone of getting traffic and turning visitors into customers. SEO helps your site rank on search engines like Google, while social media connects you directly with your audience, building trust and engagement.
Create content that works for SEO and social media
People go online looking for solutions. If your content answers their questions, you’re already ahead. A well-planned content strategy strengthens SEO, boosts engagement on social media, and keeps your business top of mind.
Here’s how to make your content work:
- Write blog posts with real answers to customer questions.
- Create videos showing your product in action or providing quick tips.
- Use infographics to break down complex topics in a simple, shareable way.
- Highlight customer success stories to build credibility and attract new buyers.
Keep your strategy simple and sustainable
You don’t need to be on every platform—just the ones that matter to your audience. Focus on choosing social media platforms where your ideal customers spend their time. Then, create a plan that keeps you consistent without overwhelming you.
A streamlined strategy includes:
- Defining clear goals: Are you looking to increase sales, get more leads, or build brand awareness?
- Scheduling content in advance: Use automation tools to stay consistent.
- Tracking performance: Adjust your approach based on what’s working
Track KPIs that will actually tell you if your business is growing
Don’t just launch your website and forget it. When making a website for business, you need to know whether it’s actually helping you grow. That’s where KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) come in. Tracking KPIs helps you understand what’s working, what needs improvement, and where to focus your efforts. Without analytics, you’re flying blind—guessing instead of making data-driven decisions.
Most business websites, whether ecommerce, service-based, or content-driven, rely on KPIs to measure success. Analytics tools give you a clear picture of visitor behavior, sales trends, and marketing effectiveness. By tracking the right data, you can optimize your website for better performance, increased conversions, and ultimately, business growth.
Essential KPIs for business websites
Every business has unique goals, but these core KPIs apply to most websites:
- Website traffic: Measures the number of visitors your site receives. A steady increase in traffic means your marketing efforts (SEO, social media, paid ads) are working.
- Conversion rate: Tracks how many visitors take a desired action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a contact form. Service-based businesses and ecommerce stores should monitor this closely.
- Revenue (for ecommerce sites): The most critical KPI for online stores, tracking total sales and average order value. This helps you understand whether your website is effectively converting visitors into paying customers.
- Bounce rate: The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate slow loading times, poor user experience, or irrelevant content.
- Customer engagement: Includes metrics like time spent on the site, pages per session, and social media shares. Content-driven websites and service providers should track engagement to ensure they’re providing valuable information.
How to determine the most important KPIs for your business
Not all KPIs matter equally. To focus on the right ones, consider:
- Your business type: Ecommerce stores prioritize revenue and conversion rates, while service businesses focus on lead generation and engagement.
- Your website goals: Are you aiming for more leads, sales, or brand awareness? Define what success looks like and choose KPIs that align with those goals.
- Your marketing efforts: If you invest in SEO, monitor organic traffic and search rankings. If you use social media, track referral traffic and engagement.
The best analytics tools to measure KPIs
To track and interpret these KPIs, you need reliable analytics tools. Here are some top recommendations:
- GoDaddy Website Builder analytics: Provides insights on traffic, social views, and conversion trends, making it easy to track KPIs without extra setup.
- Google Analytics: A free tool offering in-depth website tracking, including traffic sources, audience demographics, and user behavior.
- Hotjar: Helps visualize how visitors interact with your site using heatmaps and session recordings, useful for improving user experience.
By consistently tracking the right KPIs, you can make informed decisions to optimize your site and grow your business effectively.
Staying on top of compliance and cybersecurity
If you’re going to build a website for a business, you can’t afford to overlook compliance and security. Ignoring legal requirements or failing to protect customer data could land you in serious trouble—fines, lawsuits, loss of trust. But don’t worry, staying compliant doesn’t have to be overwhelming. A few simple steps can keep your site secure and legally sound.
Make sure your website meets legal requirements
No matter what kind of business you run, your website needs to follow certain rules to protect both you and your visitors. Here’s what you should have in place:
- Privacy policy: If you collect any customer data—emails, payments, or even site activity—you need a privacy policy that clearly states how that data is used and protected.
- Web cookies: If your site uses tracking cookies (which most do), you should have a cookie consent banner to comply with laws like GDPR and CCPA. This gives users the option to allow or reject cookies.
- Web accessibility: Your site should be usable for people with disabilities. That means adding alt text to images, ensuring keyboard navigation works, and choosing fonts and colors that are easy to read.
Protect your site from security threats
Even if your website is legally compliant, it still needs to be secure. Cyber threats are real, and small businesses are just as much a target as big corporations. Here’s how to lock down your site:
- Install an SSL certificate: This encrypts data, protects customer information, and gives your site that important padlock icon in the browser.
- Use strong passwords and authentication: Weak passwords are a hacker’s dream. Use complex passwords and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to keep your site safe.
- Keep everything updated: If you’re using a website builder, content management system, or plugins, make sure they’re always up to date. Outdated software is an easy entry point for hackers.
Stay ahead of compliance and security changes
Regulations and security risks change all the time, so keeping up is important. Here’s what you can do to stay on top of it:
- Keep an eye on new laws. Rules around data privacy (like GDPR and CCPA) evolve, and your site needs to stay compliant.
- Run security audits regularly. Checking for vulnerabilities helps prevent breaches before they happen.
- Choose a secure website platform. Website builders like GoDaddy offer built-in security tools, automatic updates, and compliance features so you don’t have to stress about it.
At the end of the day, compliance and cybersecurity are all about protecting your business and your customers. A few simple steps now can save you from massive headaches later.
Resources to get your business website up and running
When you’re figuring out how to build a website for a business, having the right resources makes all the difference. That’s why GoDaddy provides easy-to-follow guides, tools, and expert advice to help you create a website that works for your business. Whether you're starting from scratch or refining an existing site, these resources will walk you through each step—from planning your site to launching it successfully.
GoDaddy offers numerous resources to help you build a successful website:
