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Web Design

How To Start A Small Business Website: The Essentials

If you have a small business, or are thinking of starting one, you need a website. There’s a lot to consider though — and many small businesses fail because they’ve overlooked one or more of the essentials. So here’s how to start a small business website.

Ready? Let’s begin!

What Every Small Business Needs

First, there are a few things every business needs. Hopefully you’ve considered these already, but let’s cover them briefly, just in case.

A Good Offer And A Realistic Target Market

The key words here are “good”, “realistic” and “target”.

Startups often hope to sell something they like to “everyone”. That rarely works — especially if no-one else sells anything similar. If there’s no competition, the market may not exist, or may not be sustainable.… Read the rest

How To Avoid The Cheap Web Design Trap

Small business owners often think cheap web design will be enough to promote their business online. That’s understandable, but there’s a catch.

Underinvesting in your website will cost you far more in the long run. It can even cost your entire business.

Over the past 25 years, I’ve helped many small firms recover from this mistake. So I’d rather help you avoid it.

Still, that does not mean every website needs a five- or six-figure budget. After all, my budget web design and affordable web design packages cost far less than that. What it does mean is that simply seeking the cheapest web design you can find is likely to cripple your business.… Read the rest

Affordable Websites: How To Set A Website Budget

Affordable Website BudgetSmall businesses and startups often seek affordable websites — but what makes a website “affordable”? How do you set a website budget?

In fact, it mainly depends on whether it’s a personal site, or a business site.

Why? Because whilst personal websites often cost money, successful business websites do not. In fact, contrary to the hype of DIY platforms and cut-price cowboys, a cheap business website can easily cost you more than a professional one.

How To Budget For A Personal Website

Personal websites aren’t built to make money. So traffic isn’t their priority, and even if monetised with ads or affiliate income, that isn’t their key goal. They aren’t expected to pay for themselves. They also often depend on “bootstrapping” — personal funding from savings, friends and family.

Read the rest

How Procrastination Kills Projects

I was going to write about how procrastination kills projects seven months ago. That article wasn’t going to be so personal.

Then life got in the way. As it always will, if you let it. So what happened?

Out of the blue, my partner of over 25 years got a diagnosis so terrifying that we had an emergency wedding. “Emergency” as in, we woke up that morning not knowing we’d be married by teatime.

Eternal thanks to the Newport Registry Office, the Royal Gwent Hospital, and the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff for facilitating that. Even more so for making her condition more manageable for now.

Yeah, writing a blog post pales into insignificance in the face of that, doesn’t it?… Read the rest

Why Small Businesses Need Professional Websites

Professional websites can seem like big investments to small business owners. Online marketing is such a huge topic that it can be hard to work out where to begin.

So why do small businesses need professionally designed websites? Here’s an analogy that may help.

Professional Websites Are Marketing Vehicles

Your website is your main marketing vehicle in the non-stop race for sales. To extend that analogy, hosting is the garage you rent for it, and your domain is the address of that garage. Site visitors are passengers that you pick up briefly, and some of them convert into customers.

However, your vehicle won’t get far without regular maintenance (support and updates) and good driving (active marketing).… Read the rest