Website 101. Get Online.
by Lenka Davis
Updated October 25, 2021
Business Benefits of a Basic Website
In this article
Start with a simple web presence
Building a website
Key benefits and features of a B2C web page
Key benefits and features of a B2B web page
Blog as a web presence
Social media as a web presence
Creating a Business Facebook page
Creating an Instagram page
Creating a LinkedIn company page
It's more important than ever to build an online presence, a webpage, for your business so that customers can find you. You can no longer think about businesses as online versus brick and mortar. You also want to have more than just an email list to communicate with your customers.
Most businesses will need to have an online presence, such as a website, so they can continue to acquire new customers and support their existing ones.
The good news is that due to the global pandemic more people of all generations are learning to find what they need and do transactions online at an accelerated rate. Online searches range from simple needs such as finding what stores are nearby, searching for specific locations such as ‘hardware stores near me’ all the way to ordering online with home deliveries.
A website will bring awareness of your product line to customers, information about your product and even education about your market or industry. Online is where businesses are going to find new customers and reach their most loyal customers.
Start with a simple web presence
The simplest place to start is to have a website. Simple not because it is insignificant, but rather that it is an anchor or storefront so customers can have a sense of what you are offering them. This can be one page or contain a significant part of your business.
No matter what business you are in you need to have an online presence and a basic website. A basic website will make you look professional. You can show customer testimonials and it gives your customers a place where they can learn more about your business and also contact you. At a minimum on your web page you will want to have:
A homepage
Contact information
Unique benefit your business offers
By the way, if you have a website then the next step would be to add a Facebook Business page and an Instagram Professional page, see the steps below. Or, depending on your type of business and where your customers are, you could also start with only a blog, or a Discord channel (a social chat platform for games and more), a Steam account (a social gaming website where you buy, play and discuss games) or Reddit page (a network of communities based on people's interests also known as the front page of the internet). Channels are where people go to hang out online or discuss topics for which they have a common passion.
Building a Website
There are a couple of ways you can build a website. You can build a simple one-page website for free, or you can start with a basic account with a web provider. The benefit of having a paid account with a web provider is they generally are more secure, offer features such as blogs and search benefits such as SEO that are built right into their platform.
Options for creating a website:
Google My Business will allow you to build a website easily for free
You can build a simple website with any of the many website providers. Many provide free basic accounts. Here is an example of a few:
Weebly
SquareSpace
WIX
WordPress
GoDaddy
Shopify - for new eCommerce sites
At a minimum your website needs to have the following:
A easy to spell and remember domain name
A simple design
A description and images of your products or services
Contact information
The benefits of why a customer might want to use your services or go to your business
(Optional) how to sign up, buy your products or services or an ecommerce option
Privacy Policy
A simply designed website will be easier for customers to grasp what your business is about, it will load faster and it will probably cost less. Today most sites are built to be mobile friendly as more and more people are using their smartphones to do searches. You can purchase your domain name through your website hosting service.
With a website your business will:
Look more professional and credible
Gain visibility and awareness
Key benefits and features of a B2C
Benefits of a B2C website
Revenue generated from the site
Analytics can be richer because of more activity and traffic
Quick decision making or short buying cycle
Features of a B2C website
Customized to one buyer type or persona
Messaging has a sense of urgency
eCommerce
Key benefits and features of a B2B
It’s Complicated
Why? Your business website design will mainly be determined by your audience. The big challenge for B2B websites is they can have a wide variety of audiences. This makes building a B2B website more complex.
Features
Very different audiences for your product or service
Larger amount of technical or market specific information
Your product or service is very customizable
Longer lead cycle
Benefits
Build awareness of your product or service to audiences around the world as leader or innovator in your industry
Can educate your audience about the unique offerings of your product or the industry leading to trust and loyalty
Low cost advertising
“According to research by Verisign, 56% of those interviewed stated they wouldn’t trust a business without a website.”
If you have a website then the next step would be to add a Facebook Business page, an Instagram Professional page, and a LinkedIn Company Page, see the steps below. Or, depending on your type of business and where your customers are, you could also start with a:
Online community
Discord channel (a social chat platform for games and more)
Steam account (a social gaming website where you buy, play and discuss games)
Reddit page (a network of communities based on people's interests also known as the front page of the internet). Channels are where people go to hang out online or discuss topics for which they have a common passion.
Elpha account (an admin monitored site for professional women)
Lunchclub account (an invite only social platform site that uses artificial intelligence to connect users with common interests and objectives.)
Blog as a web presence
If you would like to start with a blog, then most website hosting services offer a blog feature in their website templates. You can set the blog to be your homepage so customers see it first when they search for you on browsers. If you have a business where you want to share news and insights that are continuously happening or updated then a blog might be the direction to go.
Social Media as a web presence
Alternatively, to start you can have a Facebook, Instagram page or LinkedIn company page. The Home Edit, a business offering home organization consultation, was able to build their business using Instagram. “Shearer proudly states that the duo has grown their entire business through Instagram, and many of the clients attest on camera that they discovered @TheHomeEdit through the social media platform.”
If your customers are on Facebook then connecting with that community on Facebook would be a good place to start also.
As a B2B business the need for a LinkedIn company page will give your company visibility to venture capitalists, your professional network and your product and services.
Creating a Business Facebook Page
Facebook is a key place to form your community of current and potential customers.
Before you begin you will need:
Your exact business name and description - the recommendation is to use the same name throughout all your social media accounts so customers can find you easily
Profile photo - you can use your logo
Cover photo - use something customers will identify with either pictures of your product, storefront or a photo that represents what you offer
(Optional) Decide what ‘call to action’ you want users to take and add that as a button on the page
Quick steps: Setting Up a Business Page, Using a Desktop Browser
Go to Facebook Business Pages. Click on Create A Page button
If you don’t have a Facebook account, create one with your business email address
Add in your Page Name and Category, these are required fields. You will have a preview of the Desktop or Mobile page on the right of your screen
Add a photo for the top banner
Let your customer know about your page. Share the news on your own Facebook page, email your customers and put your Facebook address in your storefront.
Go to Facebook Set-up for more information.
Creating an Instagram Page
Instagram was initially released as a photo app so it is the right place to put beautiful, emotion eliciting photos and videos. It also responds well to photos with people’s smiling faces. Any photo of your product or a person using or benefiting from your service will be the best post to put on Instagram.
Before you begin you will need:
Your exact business name for your user name, and description. You can also register with your Facebook account. The recommendation is to use the same name throughout all your social media accounts so customers can find you.
Your bio or business description
A link to your website if you have one
Profile photo - you can use your logo
Example of Instagram Account Homepage
Quick steps: Setting Up a Business Instagram Account within Instagram.com
Create an account then change the setting on the account to a Professional Account
To switch your profile to a business account:
Go to your profile and tap the icon in the upper right corner
Tap Settings
Tap Account
Tap Switch to Professional Account
Tap Business
If you’d like, you can follow the steps to connect your business account to a Facebook Page associated with your business. This step is optional, and will make it easier to use all of the features available for businesses across the Facebook family of apps. At this time, only one Facebook Page can be connected to your business account.
Add details, like your business category and contact information.
Tap Done.
Creating a LinkedIn company page
LinkedIn company pages give your business visibility to your professional network and those in your industry. The page will give you a place to post news, allow your employees to share information to their professional network giving you a bigger reach, and provides the ability to measure the effectiveness of your updates.
Steps
Log into LinkedIn
Click on Work and select Marketing Solutions under LinkedIN Business Services (https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/ads)
In the top menu bar hover your cursor over LinkedIn Pages
From that landing page click on the Create your Page button
From there pick the correct choices that describe your business (company size, type and other company details)
In the final step you will see an option to show you the Admin View.
Post occasionally on your company page and then encourage your employees to share the posts.
Fun Facts
30 years ago, on August 6, 1991, the first ever website was published. It happened in the Swiss Alps at a CERN facility and was published by a 36 year old physicist named Tim Berners-Lee. ‘The site explained the concept and history of the Web, provided links to all "the world's online information" — a list that lengthened as the Web grew — and outlined the process by which people could improve and expand the Web.’ Only the small team had web browser software, and it wasn’t until 1993 that the Mosaic browser was released, that’s when the technology started to gain momentum. Live Science and Wired
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Lenka Davis is a Managing Partner at Fly to Soar. She has worked in marketing, managing projects and building tools in the high-tech industry for Fortune 100 companies and also ran her own business. Follow Lenka and the Fly to Soar Team on Twitter @flytosoar.
Definitions
Brick and Mortar refers to a traditional street-side business that offers products and services to its customers face-to-face in an office or store that the business owns or rents. Sometimes called a storefront.
Blog See the Fun Fact for Product Market Fit for a little history about the word ‘blog’.
Domain Name is a name owned by a person or organization and consisting of an alphabetical or alphanumeric sequence followed by a suffix indicating the top-level domain: used as an internet address to identify the location of particular web pages..
