Since 2015, I've been creating websites for businesses home and abroad. Over the years, I've seen a lot of great websites. But I've also seen many sites that don't look appealing at all.

Why? Well, because they were made by people who had no idea what they were doing. To build a great website, you don't even have to be an expert. All you need is some time, a little bit of patience, and a lot of common sense.

A website is an effective way to reach and connect with customers around the world. It can help you find new customers, get the word out about your products, and even sell your services faster than mouth.

The best thing about a website is that it's easy to create, and you don't even need to break the bank to get one.

If you want to build your own website or have already started and want to know what to do next, this post will show you how to make your business website stand out in 2023.

Find out what you need to create a website for your business that people will want to visit and keep coming back.

Choose the Niche of Your Website

This is one of the most important things you need to do before you create a new website. The most important thing for a business website is to choose the right niche or as I like to call it, sub-industry.

Your niche will determine the kind of content you write, the kind of audience you attract, and, in the end, how much money you make each month or each year.

The main benefit of a niche-based website is that it gives you a steady way to make money online.

When you have a niche website, it's easy to make money because your website has an area of focus.

And it is crucial to choose a niche that you're really interested in and that's also fairly popular. You can choose from niches like sports, health, entertainment, politics, etc.

But if you really want a great website that pumps money, you must niche down further. For example, health is a very broad niche, but I could create a website around “men under 30 fitness tips”.

This is a sub-industry under a bigger industry, and you can bet that it won't be as competitive as the parent niche.

It is very important you think things through by doing your own research.

There are different ways to study the market. You can also spy on competitors, for example. To create a business website on personal development, check out other websites that discuss the topic before starting yours.

Get a Good Domain Name

A domain name is a unique address for your site. You can think of it as your physical home addresses.

It tells search engines where to find your site. And it is also the first step to make sure people trust your site. If you want to build a website for your business, one of the most important things to consider is the domain name.

Which would you trust more: a business in Ebute Metta, located in the heart of a ghetto, or one in Lekki, sharing an address with reputable companies like Glo and MTN?

Every business website should have a good domain name. Because it makes it easy for people to find you when they search online.

Here's an example of a good domain name, www.gloworld.com. While something like, www.itsglo2theworld.com is a very bad one.

You can use a domain name generator if you don't know what to use as your domain name.

This tool will provide you with various ideas based on the keywords you enter. Once you have a name picked out, make sure it is easy to spell and say. And don't use special characters or numbers in the name.

Your business name can also be in the domain name. But remember, you can't change your domain name once you get it.

Choose a Fast Hosting Provider

Companies that help you store your website files on their own servers are called website hosting providers.

And choosing the right hosting company can help your business website load faster, thus increasing user experience.

When you create a new website, choosing who will host it for you is one of the most important decisions you will have to make. It can be hard to choose a hosting company in Nigeria if you don't know what to look for.

There is shared web hosting, dedicated servers, virtual private servers (VPS), and cloud hosting. Each choice has both good and bad things about it.

• Shared hosting is a type of web hosting that only gives you a certain amount of space to store files and can only allow a certain amount of traffic.
• Dedicated hosting: This type of website hosting is faster and has more storage space than shared hosting.
• Virtual private servers: With these web hosting plans, you get a server that acts like your own computer but isn't your own computer. So you get full control on what to on or switch off.
• Cloud hosting: This one uses cloud resources to make apps and websites available. However, resources are not put on a single server like they are with other hosting.

Shared web hosting is a budget-friendly option for beginners, but only one or two websites can be hosted at a time and there is no control over the server. This means that people won't visit your site as much.

Use WordPress Or Another Popular CMS

A content management system (CMS) is used to manage information on a website. A CMS allows you to update and modify your website from a single place. And it can be done easily using any web browser.

A CMS will allow you to create and manage your website, adding new content and making changes to it. You will be able to do this on your own without hiring a web developer or knowing how to code.

There are many different kinds of CMSs available today. Here are some of them:

• WordPress (Recommended)
• Drupal
• Joomla
• Magento

You should choose a CMS that best fits your needs. Once you’ve decided on a platform, you’ll need to install it.

To create a business website, you must use WordPress because of the many features that come with it.

You can do this yourself, but it's easier to hire someone to do it for you. If you don't know how to do this, you can search online for someone who knows how to install WordPress.

We also recommend that you find a company that offers website creation services. A website design company can help you create a professional-looking website using WordPress, and they can also help you update it.

Install Plugins or Extensions

If you ask me, WordPress plugins are top-notch. You could think of them as small-scale apps. And they can do things like add social media buttons to your website.

They also enable you to install and use extensions or add-ons to your website.

When you install essential plugins, you will find that there is a lot of freedom to customize your site. Many extensions can help you add extra features to your website.

A large part of the website development world has moved towards using plugins instead of customizing themes.

Customizing themes was once the only way to customize a website. Now, however, you have the ability to choose from thousands of plugins that come with the WordPress software.

You’ll also need to decide on a theme. There are thousands available, so you’ll need help choosing one. My favourite themes are Divi and Essentials. They are both available for free.

Another important plugin you can try out is a website builder called Elementor. It has a large, active support community and a lot of useful add-ons you can add to your site to make it more robust.

Create Important Webpages

Making navigation easy is very important. It should be well-planned and easy to access. A website without a well-planned navigation menu is almost useless. There should be a good flow on your website.

It should be easy for users to find the information they need on your website. If you don't create a website with good navigation, it is unlikely that users will stay on your site.

If you want to create a website for your company, it's important to understand that you will need more than a one-page website. And each of these pages should be different in content and style.

Your website should have a home page, contact page, privacy policy, about us page, services page, and terms and conditions.

The homepage should be the first page that users visit. So it is very important you make sure that your homepage has everything that your visitors need for the best user experience.

Add a Blog Section to Your Business Website

A blog section will allow you to share your views with others and gain some new readers. Adding a blog section to your website will make it easier for you to engage more people.

Blogs are a great way to keep your visitors up-to-date on your business. They can even assist you in reaching out to potential clients. It will allow you to share your views with others and gain some new readers.

Having a blog is a great way to get your message across to the world. You can even get to know the people who visit your site and the ones who visit your blog by segmenting your visitors.

This will allow you to connect with your potential customers in a much better way. A blog is also an excellent way to rank higher on search engines like Google because it gives great value through information.

Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

Ranking on search engines means making sure that you are providing your visitors with the best experience to show up on Google or Bing. And there are several ways to accomplish this.

First, you should optimize your website's content. You do this by writing articles that are relevant to your niche. You should also keep them short. Don't write long articles that will become boring or confuse your readers.

Also, when you are writing your articles, be sure that they are unique because Google hates copied content.

If you are going to add pictures to your blog, make sure that they are high-quality and that they don't distract the reader.

If you are looking to sell products online, you need to ensure that your product pages are optimized for search engines. This means that your product pages must have relevant titles and descriptions.

This is something that will help your website get indexed on Google easily. Because search engines use this data and other factors to rank websites on the search engine result pages (SERPs).

You should avoid using too much text when you are writing the title of your website. Avoid stuffing too many keywords when you are describing your products or services, so you won't get penalized.

Test and Publish Your Website

Testing your website allows you to find out whether it is easy to navigate and whether it loads quickly.

Ideally, your website should open completely in less than five seconds if you want your users to stick around. So you need to test your website to see the load time by using a website speed checker.

A website speed checker allows you to measure the speed of your website and see whether it loads fast enough.

You can also use the speed checker to test the mobile version of your business website. A mobile website usually loads faster than a desktop website, and it's usually more favoured above desktop load time.

If the loading time is longer than 5 seconds, then you should audit your website to see what's causing the hold-up.  If the loading time is shorter than 5 seconds, you should continue testing to check other things.

You should use this method to test all the features of your website. Once you've tested it, you can now publish your website. Remember, you should only publish your website if everything has been fully tested.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you want your business website to stand out, you need to take the time to build it properly. When you have a website, you can increase your company’s visibility, create a better brand and boost your conversion rate.

I've been writing about the benefits of creating a blog for your small business for a while now. But what I hadn't really mentioned before is how important it is to have a website.

I've found that if you don't have a website for your small business, people will not take your busness seriously when you try to sell them your products or services.

So, make sure you get a website for your small business today.