The idea of setting up a website for your business can seem daunting, but in practice it’s surprisingly easy to make one which looks professional and does its job effectively. The key is to plan ahead and get help where you need it...
Step 1: Work out what you want your website to do
Before setting up a website, you need to decide what you want to do with it – and therefore what kind of site it needs to be. This could be:
- a simple page or two advertising your business and providing contact details
- an electronic brochure or catalogue describing your products or services
- a full-blown e-commerce site where people can order and pay for the goods or services that you supply.
Step 2: Decide who will design your website
If you want to keep your costs down, it’s perfectly possible to build your own website – even quite a complex one that includes e-commerce functionality – using simple templates and site-building tools which many web hosting companies offer for free. However these are usually not visually very attractive, and are best for very simple websites. Furthermore, building your own site may not be the best use of your time.
To project a more professional image of your company, especially if you want people to spend money through your site, consider using a professional web design company. They will also be able to advise you on content, show you several design ideas, and help you select a suitable web hosting company.
As a cheaper option, get quotes from local graphic design companies – many now offer inexpensive website "design and build" services to small businesses too.
Step 3: Plan the content of your site
An easy way to focus on what to include on your site is to take a look at other websites which achieve the same things that you want to, and make a list of the best features of each.
It's likely at the very least that you will want to include pages such as:
- About us: a short introduction to what your company does
- Contact us: full details of how to contact your company, including an email address
- Products: details of your products or services, including prices and even order forms
If you collect customer data or take payments online you need to make sure that you’re complying with privacy and security laws. If you’re in any doubt, consider getting legal advice to ensure that the content of your website complies fully with any applicable UK and EU regulations.
A website with poorly written content or spelling mistakes is guaranteed to project a poor image of your company, and what works in printed brochures might not work online. It’s worth considering handing over the copywriting to a specialist as well as the design.
Step 4: Choose your hosting company
If your company already has a business internet connection, your ISP (internet service provider) may offer very basic free website hosting. However, a specialist web hosting company will usually offer a much better service for just a few pounds per month. Before selecting a web hosting service, check:
- How much web space is included: 200Mb will usually be enough.
- How much traffic is included. Many hosting companies offer up to 1Gb per month, which is ample for most websites.
- That FTP access is included. This enables you to log in to your website and add, remove or edit pages – for example to amend pricing information or add new services.
- What other services are included. For example, if your website has been built (by you or a web design company) using Perl scripting or Microsoft FrontPage extensions, you'll need to ensure that the web hosting company can offer these.
How much does a website cost?
A simple website with a few pages of information and contact details that you create, hosted by your ISP, could cost you nothing. A busy, professionally designed e-commerce site, by contrast, can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds to set up and operate. As a rough guide:
- Website design: Expect to pay £200 to £500 for a local designer to create a simple five-page site, or £10,000 or more for a comprehensive business site.
- Web hosting: Typically £50-£150 a year for a small site, up to about £70 a month for a large, busy e-commerce site.
- Content updating: Hosting or design companies charge from about £25 to make a small text alteration to one of your web pages to £300 or more per month for regular content updates. You can avoid these charges by learning to do this relatively easy task yourself.
How uSwitch for business can help
Read our guide to buying business broadband