Introduction
If you’re just getting started in business or are looking to upgrade your web presence, chances are that you’ll need to hire a professional web designer. But if you want to save money and get started on your own, there are simple steps you can take that will help make sure your website looks great and works as well as possible. In this article, we’ll show how anyone—even those with zero technical experience—can use the tools available for creating a professional-looking website for their business.
Define your goals.
- Define your goals.
This is an important step that many people forget to take before starting a new project or website. The first thing you should do when building a digital agency website is to define what you want it to achieve. Take some time and think about how clients will use your site, what they’ll get out of it, and how this fits in with their needs. When setting goals for your website, try not to worry about what other people are doing—you don’t have time for that! Instead, decide which aspects of success matter most for you and concentrate on those things only. Is there something tangible that you can measure in three months’ time? Be ambitious with your goals and set yourself some big targets—but make sure they’re realistic so that they can actually be achieved within such a short timeframe (three months).
Choose a website building platform
In order to choose the right digital agency website builder, you need to consider a few things.
- How easy is it to use? Does the platform offer a drag-and-drop interface or one that requires coding knowledge? If you don’t have any experience with coding, then you should probably go with a drag-and-drop builder.
- What features do they offer? Are there enough templates so that your site can look professional without too much customization? Do they give access to premium tools like eCommerce functionality and newsletter subscriptions (which are important for any business)? Check out this article from Squarespace about their top 10 features
Customize your logo and color palette
- To make your logo, you’ll need a graphic design program like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. If you’re not familiar with how to use these programs, find someone who can help you create a great logo.
- A logo is a visual representation of what your company does; it’s what people think of when they hear your name or see it in print. It should be simple enough that it can be easily read at small sizes but still retain its integrity when displayed larger (such as on banners or signs).
- Choose colors based on the branding guidelines for your industry and/or target demographic; this will ensure that everything from social media profiles to business cards is cohesive with each other across all platforms so as not to confuse potential clients about what kind of services/products you offer. The best way we found was creating an infographic style sheet that includes icons representing different kinds of clientele (e-commerce site owners versus bloggers) so we know exactly who needs which type of content created first before moving on to anything else!
Design or pick a theme that matches your brand
Your brand is the first thing people will see, so it’s important to have a good one! A good brand instantly communicates what your business is about, and also tells visitors whether or not they’re in the right place.
A good brand should be:
- Easy to recognize (and remember)
- Consistent across all channels
- Memorable, even when you’re not there telling them what it is
In short: Good brands are easy to spot and hard to forget!
Set up your website
Setting up your website is a fairly straightforward process, involving four steps:
- Choose a domain name for your site. You can do this by registering the name through an online service like GoDaddy or Namecheap (which will cost about $10-15 per year). You may also be able to find a .info domain name for free if you’re willing to pay for it upfront.
- Choose a hosting service from one of the many options available on the market today—we recommend Bluehost because they make it super simple to set up WordPress sites and provide good customer support at reasonable prices (plus they’ll give you 50% off if you sign up through us!).
- Install WordPress on your page using Bluehost’s easy-to-follow web interface or their 1-click installer tool (as long as they offer this feature). This step can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours depending on how savvy you are with computers!
- Import all of your content into WordPress by logging into cPanel/FTP client with admin credentials provided by Bluehost or whichever provider you’re using; then upload files using FTP transfer methods like SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) and SCP (Secure Copy Protocol).
Add and customize the details
Now that you have a basic website set up, it’s time to add the details. This includes your contact information, address, phone number and email address. You can also add social media links and other information like hours of operation, payment options and product lists. If you have a physical location (like a restaurant or store), be sure to include this as well!
Optimize your website for speed and performance.
- Use a CDN (content delivery network)
- Use a caching plugin
- Choose a fast hosting provider
Ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
It’s no secret that the internet has become a mobile-first environment. In fact, Google reported in 2018 that 60% of all searches are now conducted on mobile devices.
You need to make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices. A responsive web design (RWD) can help you achieve that goal by using media queries to automatically adjust the layout of your website based on the device being used by a visitor—whether it’s a desktop computer, tablet or smartphone.
If you want to go one step further, you can use a mobile-friendly theme or even build an app specific to your industry niche instead of relying solely on RWDs.
Protect your website from hackers.
- Use a security plugin
- Use a firewall to block malicious traffic
- Make sure your website is HTTPS compliant
- Use a password manager to protect your login credentials and keep them synchronized across all devices (it’s not just for computers)
- Deploy on Amazon CloudFront or Google Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute your content globally
Launch a blog.
A blog is a great way to get your name out there, as well as to demonstrate your expertise in the field. It can also be used as a means of gathering feedback from potential clients and customers.
You don’t need to be an expert writer or have experience with blogging; all you need is a desire to share information about the digital agency industry and build up your reputation for being knowledgeable about this niche.
The first step in starting a blog is deciding what kind of content you want it to feature. Are there topics that are relevant but not covered by other blogs? Maybe you want to write more about business processes than software tools, or maybe it’s just another avenue through which people can learn more about your agency (and hopefully begin trusting its services).
Stay relevant with fresh content.
You should also make sure that the content on your website is not outdated. You don’t want to be perceived as someone who doesn’t care about their own business or their audience. This can be hard to do, especially if you are working with a lot of different clients and projects at once. One way to keep up with fresh content is by using tools like Feedly or Google Reader, which aggregate all of the latest posts on websites that you follow into one central location. If there are any relevant articles from those websites that pertain to your agency, then they will automatically show up in your feed reader as well!
Lastly (but definitely not least), make sure that the information on your website is relevant and useful for people searching for digital marketing agencies! There are plenty of ways to connect with potential clients online: social media channels like Facebook & Twitter; blog posts; email newsletters; videos…these are just some ideas off the top of my head!
Put analytics to work for you.
To put analytics to work for you, make sure you have a tool that can track your website’s performance. You want to know what’s working and what isn’t on your site so that you can make changes accordingly.
Analytics software will be able to tell you:
- What content is getting shared the most?
- How many viewers are coming from organic searches versus paid searches?
- How many people are visiting your site on mobile vs desktop devices?
This information will help determine where to spend time in terms of content creation, or if there are other marketing activities that need more support (or less).
Get listed on search engines, including Google Places, Bing and Yahoo Local.
Getting listed on search engines, including Google Places, Bing and Yahoo Local is essential for getting your website seen. You can also use paid advertising to get your website ranked higher in the search results. Social media is another great way to get more traffic to your site as well. There are many different ways that you can do this, so make sure you do a thorough analysis of which one will work best for you before spending any money on social media ads or marketing campaigns online..
Make the most of social media and free online directories, such as Manta and Yelp.
Social media is a great way to build your brand and reach out to new customers. It’s also a great way to get more referrals, which can help you grow your business faster than ever. With social media, you can:
- Find new customers through content marketing and customer relationship management (CRM).
- Get more clients by promoting events that bring in the crowds you want—and the people who will become your next clients.
- Get more visibility by posting regularly on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These platforms give you access to millions of potential customers every day!
Use paid advertising to attract more visitors in less time.
Paid advertising is a way to get more traffic to your website in less time.
With paid advertising, you can target specific audiences and promote your website or specific content. Paid campaigns can also be used to increase your search engine rankings over time and help you build links to your site.
With the right tools, you can build a professional-looking website that drives business.
To make your website more appealing to visitors, you need to create a site that’s easy for people to use on their mobile phones. You can also use analytics software like Google Analytics or Piwik to find out what pages are getting the most traffic, which will help you better target your customers and attract more business. To get listed in search engines such as Google Places, Bing, and Yahoo Local (which are all free!), create a Google My Business listing. Paid advertising like Facebook Ads is another great way to attract targeted visitors quickly; just make sure not to spend too much money or waste it by advertising on irrelevant sites.
Conclusion
Creating a website is an investment that can pay off in the long run. By taking these steps, you’ll be well on your way to attracting more customers and growing your business.
