Website Wonders – Build, Earn, Shine
In the field of business, a website functions as an online shop in the digital sphere, providing customer interaction, brand promotion, and product or service display.
To run a business and not having a website is like a store without a board showing its name and what it does. For businesses and bloggers, having a website is a must have, not just a nice to have. The aim of this blog is to guide startups, home based businesses, small businesses, aspiring writers, and bloggers through the processes involved in creating and maintaining a good and profitable website which in turn opens the doors to opportunities to interact with a worldwide audience as well as make money.
What is a website or blog?
A website or blog is a place on the internet where people can find a business/blog, can learn about the products, services or information being offered, can ask questions, or communicate with the business or blog owner, and can even make purchases if ready. Websites are an essential digital medium that provides individuals and businesses with a vital online presence. For individual bloggers, it serves as a platform for idea expression, experience sharing, and community building.
In the field of business, a website functions as an online shop in the digital sphere, providing customer interaction, brand promotion, and product or service display. The secret to surviving in the vast internet landscape is having a blog or website, regardless of whether you’re a writer looking to connect with readers or a company looking to reach more customers.
Just like a store or office in brick-and-mortar world, a website is your office, your store, your advertisement, your communication channel, your catalog, your warehouse, your cash register but all in a digital world. The way people need to come into your office or store for any business inquiries or any business transactions with you, people need to visit your website electronically for the same purpose using their cell phones, tablets, laptops, or computers using internet. As your store or office may have different counters/departments for meeting different needs of your customers, a website may have multiple web pages serving various functions.
Blog is also a business, however instead of products it sells knowledge. A blogging website on the other hand provides bloggers a platform to interact with their audience. Bloggers are writers who want to share or exchange views and knowledge such that their audience can also respond or provide feedback. Bloggers can post their blogs on their blogging website periodically and the blog gets presented in reverse chronological order.
A blog is mainly an informal platform for individuals or groups to share their knowledge and ideas, whereas a website serves as a comprehensive online identity. When taken as a whole, these digital entities add to the extensive and diverse landscape of online communication and presence.
Blog or website – why?
In today’s competitive and highly digital business environment not having a website is not an option. It is a necessity. Some of the key benefits of having a business website or a blogging website are:
- Your business/website is open round the clock.
- Potential customers/audience around the globe can reach your business or blog.
- Saves cost of doing business or communication
- Saves effort of doing business or communication
- Saves your and your customers’ time.
- Requires almost no additional manpower.
- Way easier and less expensive to promote.
- Raises your overall business/personal profile.
We all know that every business needs to grow and continuously needs to increase its outreach. A business website not only provides an opportunity for business to increase its outreach, but it is also more cost effective. It not only increases geographical range many folds, but it is open round the clock. Through a business website a potential customer sitting across the globe can know about your business, about your products, about their prices and can even make a purchase while you may be sleeping at night.
Moreover, one can make a decent income from his/her blog or website by following a methodical and disciplined approach for getting more traffic.
How to make a website or blog:
Keep in mind that doing business on the internet is the same as doing the same in the physical world. Just the medium changes so the steps will remain almost same.
Step 1: Buy a Unique Domain name.
The very first step of establishing your website is to buy a “domain name”. A domain name is one’s identity on the internet, their online address. It is your business name on the internet. Exactly the same way that when people visit a market and search your business/store using your address and business name such as “smart traders”, domain name will be your digital identity on the internet and will be used to search your website or store.
Domain name is a digital symbol that represents your brand, much more than just a web address. Selecting a thoughtful and memorable domain name that relates to your business is important.
Domain names are purchased and need to be subscribed periodically. If you fail to renew the domain name subscription you will lose ownership of that domain name and someone else may purchase the same. So, it is important to renew your domain name timely.
Domain names are very cheap (less than Rs.3,000 per year) and are to be purchased from Domain Registrar companies. Use a domain registrar to verify availability and pick a name that best represents your business or blog, be it your name or a phrase that defines your writing style.
Some good companies from where you can buy your domain name are:
Step 2: Seek a Trustworthy Hosting Partner.
After selecting your business name (domain name) the next step is to find a good, reliable, and established website hosting company. Your website, which includes the software, files, logos, pictures, videos, and all other assets of your website will be placed on the web servers of the hosting company where they can be reached by people searching things online.
Websites are built offline and then uploaded to the web servers of the hosting company.
This is where you don’t want to compromise and go to a cheap provider. Select a known, established, well-reputed company that is known to provide very good after-sales customer service and technical support. Selecting a reliable hosting partner is essential because it guarantees the dependability, security, and general performance of your website. A dependable hosting provider ensures that users can access your website anytime, which enhances user satisfaction and helps your online ventures succeed.
Like domain name, hosting is also not very expensive (less than Rs.5,000 per year) and need to be subscribed periodically. Again, if you fail to renew the hosting service you may lose ownership of that website and its contents. So, it is important to renew your domain name timely.
Some good but cost-effective hosting companies are:
Step 3: Build the website.
Now that you have a domain name and a hosting provider you are ready to get your website made. Most of the companies that sell domain names and offer hosting services also offer website development services. It is entirely your choice if you want to utilize the services of the above companies or hire an independent website developer. Other than the cost there is no significant advantage of using one over the other.
The creative process for building your blog now starts. Many options are available on platforms such as Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, and Shopify, based on your blogging requirements. WordPress is a popular choice because of its flexibility, and most hosting partners offer simple, one-click installations.
Though the actual; website design and development will be done by someone else you still need to plan and provide them the following so it will be a good idea to write up as much as you can and gather the necessary information.:
- What is the main purpose of your website?
- Contact information
- How many pages do you want on your website and what is the purpose of each?
- Content (what should be written) on each page.
- Your logos
- Pictures to be used on your website.
It will be a good idea to browse the internet and look for other websites offering similar products and services as your business. This will help you generate some ideas on the design, look and contents of your website. The website developer will initially suggest some design and will start development after seeking your approval. Or you could show them some samples based on your above research, if available. They will also need some additional information from you from time to time.
Buying domain names and hosting services are quick things and can be done within a day, website development is a long process that may take up to a month or even longer. It all depends on how much prep work you have already done and how readily you respond to various questions from the web developer, which will be many.
Though the main functionality of a website should be perfectly built and tested before use, some minor functionality or cosmetic updates can wait for a later time.
One age-old and tested piece of advice is to keep your website as simple and user friendly as possible.
You can find a good web developer by asking for recommendations from within your circle or you can also find tons of good developers at:
https://www.theprobizservinfo.com
Step 4: Include social media to expand your reach.
Your website/blog’s ally in reaching a wider audience is social media. Include social media buttons on your website so that users can share your content with ease. Meanwhile, make accounts on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter to expand your online presence and engage with your followers.
This will be and should be part of the web development activity.
Step 5: Sustain Momentum with Active Updates.
It’s important to be consistent when adding updates or blogs to your website. Follow a content calendar to ensure that the website stays up-to-date and engaging. Publish blog entries, articles, or updates frequently to keep readers engaged and improve search engine rankings. Make sure the layout is up to date, the content is updated, and there are no broken links regularly.
This should be part of your website maintenance activity.
Step 6: Use SEO expertise to increase visibility.
Discover the full potential of your blog by utilizing effective search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Research appropriate keywords and improve headers, meta tags, image alt texts, and meta tags. Excellent content, proper keyword placement, and a user-friendly layout will all contribute to increasing your website’s search engine ranking.
Originally the web developer should design an SEO friendly website and then the maintenance should ensure that all contents/updates are SEO friendly.
Step 7: Harness the Power of Analytics.
In the world of websites and blogging, information is power. Use resources such as Google Analytics to track the efficiency of your blog. Keep an eye on data like user demographics, popular pages, and website traffic. With the help of this insightful data, you can improve how well your target audience understands and makes more informed decisions to increase the popularity of your blog.
Step 8: Earn from Google AdSense.
This section is more relevant to bloggers. Apply for Google AdSense to monetize your website or blog. Make sure all the pages on your website are original and meet the requirements. Register, give the correct information, and watch for approval. After approval, customize the ad placements and formats. As users interact with the displayed ads, they earn revenue.
Though creating, owning, and maintaining a website is neither difficult nor expensive it is a good idea to hire a professional to do so depending on your level of technical skills.
Conclusion:
Whether you already have a business, start something new online or want to start a blogging, having a website is a must. And rewards are huge. Consider the website as a very well-worth investment not an expense. Following the above guidelines, you can get your website built and then by continuously maintaining the same and by producing high-quality content a valuable resource can be created in the online world.
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Babar Saeed
December 17, 2023
The writer is a professional marketer and engineer with good work exposure to governments, and businesses and industries in the private sector in several countries. Idea is to take the first step in adding value to anything that one gets exposed to instead of just complaining about the same.