A few months ago, I was talking to a client about what they can do to get more customers.

We had produced a campaign on social media. We improved their Facebook page and changed the style of posts on Instagram to suit their target audience.

That made for a solid launchpad, but to really grab a bigger slice of the pie, a website is needed.

And as soon as I mentioned the word ‘website,’ there was a hesitancy.

And after speaking to several other small businesses, it seems that there’s a bit of confusion with getting online.

Which will hold companies back when the going is tough already.

So, here’s some tips to launching your company into the stratosphere and on the screens of potentially, billions of people.

1. You need to choose a tone of voice and a brand first:

How do you think you should speak to your customer? Would they appreciate a warm welcome? Or do the majority of your customers require a more formal approach? Keep it in mind.

• Wix? WordPress? Where do you want to go?

There are plenty of options when it comes to choosing the right avenue for your website. Both Wix and WordPress are the most successful and for good reason. They offer packages with your domain name, dedicated email and their construction software is quite easy to use too. There’s plenty more to choose from though, so shop around. And when it comes to choosing your domain name? Don’t make concessions on it – make sure its exactly what you want. Your doggy boutique might be called www.caninecuticles.com – so don’t go for www.dognails.com

• Start small and then grow

When you first go online, concentrate on the most important pages first. Your homepage should be the focus, and you’ll need an ‘About Us’ page (which describes your business and you can provide an origin story too) as well as the all-important ‘Contact’ page too. You might have some grand ideas, but make sure you get the basics right first.

• Feast for the eyes

Do you have a logo? How about a slogan and some images of the services you offer? Well, you’ll need them. You can draft up a logo with some free or cheap services found online here and here – but it’s best you go to a professional who can hook you up for a reasonable price. But make sure you get the copyright for it! And sprinkle in an image at least per page. It breaks the info up and keeps a visitor on your page.

• Link to your contact page

Remember how I was saying your contact page is important? It’s because you’re going to be constantly herding your visitors toward it. It will generate potential customers and so you must offer each and every visitor the opportunity to get in touch for anything they might need to know. Otherwise, you’re just putting up a pretty webpage for no reason – and we’re sure you’ve got better things to do.

There are of course finer points to getting your business online, but the above will put you on the right track.

Want some even better news? I can produce a brand new website, complete with customer-alluring content, in rapid time. And I’m a lot cheaper than you think too.

So if you’re too busy – let me help.

Just click the link and let me know what you need – website-wise – and I can get cracking for you.