Did you know that less than 50% of small business owners have a website? That is despite the fact that 81% of consumers say they research online before making purchasing decisions. In this guide we show you how to get your business online today, so you can start generating more business and stay one step ahead of the competition. Here is what this guide is going to cover: Why We Recommend Weebly To Build Your New Website Choosing A Weebly Template Choosing Your Domain Name Building Your Weebly Site Deciding What Content Your Weebly Site Should Have Designing and Adding Your Logo Customizing Your Mobile Site Launching Your Site You can follow along with this guide by registering for a free Weebly website at the link below: Ready? Let s Get Started!
Why We Recommend Weebly To Build Your New Website Over the last couple of years, new doityourself website builders have launched, which allow anyone to build their own website. This has brought the cost of launching a new site down tremendously. There are now dozens if not hundreds of do it yourself website technologies out there. After testing a large number of the most popular options ourselves, we chose Weebly for the following reasons: Ease of use: If you can use a computer then you can likely build a website using Weebly. They offer a variety of free templates that can be customized in a drag and drop format with the click of your mouse. Search Engine Friendliness: When using Weebly your site has a better chance of ranking in search engines like Google than when using other popular Website builder s. Price: Like many other website builders Weebly offers a version you can use for free. There are a number of drawbacks to this however, including they put ads on your site, and you can t have your own domain name. For this reason we recommend choosing a paid package, and at $8 a month Weebly is by far the cheapest of the most popular options. You don t have to purchase a premium package to see how easy Weebly is to use however. So if you would like to follow along with this guide register for a free Weebly site below: Choosing A Weebly Template Another thing we really like about Weebly, is that you do not have to purchase anything in order to build your site. They have a free version which is ad supported. Using this free version you can setup your site, and once you are happy you can convert it to a paid version. Once you have registered for your free Weebly site, you will be taken to a page where you can choose the type of site that you want. There are 3 options: 1. Site - The standard website that most small businesses are going to choose. 2. Blog - This is for individuals who want to share their thoughts in a sort of online diary. 3. Store - For businesses that want to sell things online. You can add a blog and a store to your Weebly site later if you would like, so choose Site for now and you will be taken to a page where you can choose your templates. It looks like this:
There are dozens of different themes you can choose from. Once you have found your favorite, select it and then you can start customizing it to fit your unique tastes and needs. Choosing Your Domain Name Once you have chosen your template, you are going to be presented with a screen that asks you if you want to use a subdomain of weebly, to register a new domain, or to connect a domain that you already own. The domain is what people type into their internet browser to get to your site. If you choose a Weebly subdomain then your website s address will look like this: www.youraddress.weebly.com The advantage of choosing a Weebly subdomain is it is free. The disadvantages are that your site will have ads on it, it looks less professional than having your own domain name, and your site will be less likely to rank in the search engines. If you want to register a domain name now with Weebly you can, or if you already own a domain name you can connect it to your Weebly site in this example:. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a domain name: 1. Whenever possible your domain should contain your company name. 2. Domain names are important for search engines, like Google. When possible they should include words that people are likely to use when searching for your business and/or the products
and services you sell. 3. Domain names should be easy to pronounce and remember. Keep your name as short as possible and avoid punctuation like dashes. 4. Domain names should be unique. You want to minimize the chance of someone trying to reach your business ending up at a different site. 5. Businesses should always choose the.com version of a domain. If you have not done so already, you can register for a free Weebly account with subdomain or purchase your own domain using the link below: Building Your Weebly Site After choosing your template and deciding on your domain, you will be taken into the Weebly website builder. Here you can edit text, change images, move section of the site around and add new elements and sections to the page.
Deciding What Content Your Weebly Site Should Have Every website should have 5 pages to start: 1. Homepage: On the homepage, you should include the name of your business, where you re located or area you serve, plus give one or 2 reasons to do business with your company. 2. Products and Services: A page with details about the products you sell or services your provide. On the page which you detail products or services, spend one to five sentences describing each type you offer and give the pricing. 3. Testimonials: Lend credibility, trustworthiness, and show your experience. 4. About Us: Provide your background, include testimonials, and list organization memberships like being part of the Better Business Bureau. 5. Contact Us: Your address, email, phone number, the hours you are open for business, and links to any social media accounts such as Twitter and Facebook. You should also embed a google map of your location and include different ways of getting there (ie subway, train, car etc) if applicable. In addition to a contact page your phone and address (if applicable) information along with any social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter, should be prominently featured on every page of your site. For search engine purposes make sure that your phone number and address are text and not part of an image. You can add new pages and edit existing pages of your Weebly site by clicking the button below:
Designing and Adding Your Logo If you already have a logo for your business in electronic format, then adding the logo to your site is simple. When you are in the Weebly website builder, simply add an image box to the page and then upload your logo: That will bring up a window where you can upload your logo. If you do not already have a logo, and want to build one for yourself for under $20, then we recommend Logo Garden. They have a ton of free templates that are easy to customize with your own colors and unique style. USE LOGO GARDEN TO BUILD YOUR LOGO If you want a professional logo designed for you, and are willing to pay around $500, then we recommend using 99Designs. Customizing Your Mobile Site The importance of having a mobile website for your business cannot be overstated: Smart phones and tablets now comprise 52% of total time spent online by US consumers. There are now more than 140 Million smartphone owners in the US (that s 1 in every 3 people) US smartphone penetration is growing at 30% a year. When people search using their phone, they are also action oriented. A visitor who finds your website through their mobile device, is often searching for a business to visit that same day. Another great thing about Weebly, is they automatically convert the work you have done on the desktop version of your site into a mobile version. To see what the mobile version of your site is going to look like, click the mobile designer button in the upper right hand corner of the website builder:
You can add, remove, and edit elements on your mobile site in the exact same manner as you do on your desktop site. Launching Your Site Congratulations! You are now ready to launch your new small business website! Just click the publish button in the upper right hand corner of your screen.