How to Build a Business Website Without Developers: Tips and Best Practices

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Expand your concern website’s capabilities to execute invaluable selling goals.

It’s a well-known information that the prime of your concern website impacts the credibility of your brand.

However, fewer radical cognize conscionable however important that interaction truly is. And adjacent less cognize however to accurately measurement and amended it.

Website design, mobile responsiveness, and pb procreation technologies each play a important relation successful connecting your products and services to customers. In 1 survey commissioned by Google and conducted by Deloitte, decreasing mobile tract load times by conscionable 1 tenth of a 2nd improved conversion rates by 8.4%.

On the different hand, businesses that neglect to optimize their websites’ selling capabilities are losing out. Some of the astir communal website mistakes tiny and mid-sized concern owners marque see crowded web design, missing calls-to-action, and atrocious navigation.
These issues, on with dilatory load times and deficiency of mobile responsiveness, are immoderate of the main reasons radical wantonness websites.

Today’s businesses person unsocial opportunities to leverage website technologies towards growth. In this guide, you’ll find retired however you tin alteration your website into a afloat fledged, conversion-boosting concern website.

What defines a concern website?

Let’s commencement by defining the concern website successful a wide and concise way. Any website tin beforehand products and services, seizure leads, and make conversions, but not each websites are genuinely optimized for this purpose.

A concern website uses selling tools to actively make profits for its owner.
It’s much than a promotion vehicle—it’s optimized to nutrient worth for visitors and stakeholders alike.

This explanation is utile due to the fact that it’s inclusive without being vague. Even though astir blogs aren’t concern websites, it doesn’t mean a blog can’t beryllium one. A idiosyncratic blog whitethorn not request to make worth for visitors, but a concern blog decidedly should. The aforesaid goes for astir each tool, platform, oregon exertion you tin incorporated connected a website.

Business websites usage selling technologies to spell beyond promotion and actively link radical to the products and services they’re funny in. 

For example, ideate you tally a concern website that focuses connected email marketing. You people invaluable contented that builds spot betwixt website visitors and your brand. You inquire those visitors to motion up for an email newsletter. You past nonstop regular emails with adjacent much invaluable information, on with commercialized contented that persuades them to acquisition your products oregon services.

You can’t execute this extremity without specialized selling technology:

• You request an email selling level that tin automate the process of creating and sending personalized emails.
• You request a pb seizure signifier that convinces visitors to springiness you their email code determination connected your website.
• You can’t amended your selling show without measuring it, truthful you’ll request immoderate benignant of attribution technology/analytical tools that shows you however effectual your decisions are.
• As you grow, you request much blase lawsuit narration absorption solutions that alteration you to monetize your email database much efficiently.

This is simply a elemental example. Most concern websites usage aggregate channels to determination customers done the income funnel. Your website mightiness harvester email selling with societal media influencer marketing, search motor optimization, and more. There is nary bounds to the fig of antithetic ways you tin signifier your concern website on these lines.

Different types of concern websites

While determination is nary bounds to the fig of antithetic ways you tin equip and run your concern website, astir autumn into 1 of 3 large categories. Although it’s imaginable for a azygous website to bash each these things, astir concern owners thin to absorption connected 1 and exclude the others:

1. Portfolio website

Portfolio websites revolve astir showcasing products and services that aren’t disposable strictly done the website itself. Photographers, writers, artists, and contented creators person the astir to summation from this benignant of attack due to the fact that their services aren’t needfully connected to the web level itself.

Here are immoderate examples of palmy portfolio websites:

• Robert Lawler Photography uses a portfolio to showcase the accomplishment and professionalism of Robert Lawler’s wedding photography business. It shows imaginable customers precisely what they should expect, but doesn’t measurement down the website with products, packages, oregon forms.

• Sean Halpin’s website is the merchandise that Sean wants to amusement web visitors. As a web decorator and front-end developer, his website’s idiosyncratic interface showcases precisely what helium proposes doing to assistance different businesses optimize the web acquisition for their customers.

• John Green’s website is the perfect introduction constituent for the New York Times bestselling author’s work, which includes hosting an acquisition YouTube series, a podcast, and more. While the website does see an online store, it’s secondary to the contented that helium produces – you can’t acquisition his books straight done the store, for instance.

2. B2B website

Business-to-business (B2B) websites absorption connected selling products and services betwixt commercialized organizations. These websites often effort to contiguous an informed, nonrecreational outlook that is little evidently sales-oriented than the mean retail website. B2B websites usually walk a large woody of clip and vigor advertizing to a precise tiny fig of people, similar executives astatine Fortune 500 corporations.

Some examples of palmy B2B websites include:

• Salesforce has a wide assortment of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for businesses ample and small. Its website highlights those solutions the mode a portfolio tract does, but besides acts arsenic a level for purchasing and utilizing its products. It has hundreds of pages of contented designed to amusement however Salesforce exertion helps lick circumstantial concern issues.
• Gartner is simply a exertion probe and consulting institution that publishes cutting-edge contented for concern leaders. Its website demonstrates this from the precise start, guiding visitors towards the company’s latest probe and insights. It takes a batch of clip and vigor to person customers to acquisition a $40,000 Gartner expert subscription.
• Castra is simply a managed information work supplier that works with tiny businesses, ample enterprises, and authorities agencies. The website goes to large lengths to explicate however Castra’s worth proposition differs from different cybersecurity providers, encouraging customers to docket a gathering oregon petition a quote.

3. Online store

Online stores merchantability products and services straight to customers. For this reason, they’re besides called business-to-consumer (B2C) websites. For online retailers, optimizing each measurement of the lawsuit acquisition is an important measurement to success. Simple ecommerce stores and analyzable retail platforms alike person overmuch to summation by streamlining that experience.

Examples of online stores include:

• Clocks and Colors is simply a manner and accessory retailer that specializes successful men’s jewelry. Rings and bracelets are overmuch harder to size than t-shirts and jeans, truthful the website helps customers accurately size their fingers and wrists earlier completing transactions. It indispensable besides support customers returning to spot the newest merchandise releases and boost sales.
• The Container Store sells furnishings and retention solutions for homeowners. The centerpiece of the brand’s website is its customized closet designer, which allows users to make a closet that perfectly fits their home’s dimensions and past bid it close connected the site.
• The Dunbar Academy sells canine grooming lessons to caller puppy owners and nonrecreational trainers alike. Since the merchandise consists of integer video lessons, the website has to enactment video hosting, interactive webinars, and a afloat integrated outgo system.

You whitethorn beryllium capable to picture your website utilizing immoderate 1 of these categories, but chances are it falls chiefly into 1 of them. Identifying the main intent of your website volition assistance you determine which technologies to integrate and however to optimize your landing pages for conversion.

Setup stage: Choosing a website builder, domain name, and hosting service

Once you’ve identified the benignant of website your concern needs, you tin statesman preparing for its development. In the past, this meant hiring a developer oregon a boutique web bureau to physique your website. Now, concern owners tin physique and people high-quality websites connected their ain without penning a azygous enactment of code.

Website builders tin marque your beingness easier

The cardinal to doing this is choosing the close website builder for your concern needs and skillset. You don’t request to cognize HTML to make a compelling web acquisition for visitors. Your website builder tin marque the process elemental utilizing an intuitive drag-and-drop interface.

Even if you bash cognize however to code, website builders let you to make nonrecreational web pages faster and much reliably than processing them from scratch. While your concern website needs to beryllium caller and unique, determination is nary request to reinvent the wheel. 

There are tons of ways you tin usage a tract builder to make fresh, caller web pages with minimal effort:

• Start from scratch utilizing a drag-and-drop interface to spot widgets straight onto a blank page.
• Start from a template, modifying on-page elements to acceptable your marque and message.
• Go 1 measurement further by opening with a Full Site Kit. Start with a professionally designed website with integrated backend functionality and marque it your own.

A good website builder volition heighten your improvement capabilities and alteration you to make polished web pages rapidly and easily. This volition trim the outgo of publishing caller web contented and let you to absorption connected gathering your business.

Domain sanction registration tin interaction your brand

Of course, earlier publishing thing you’ll request to registry a domain sanction and take a web host. Getting these steps close volition guarantee your website tin run arsenic a afloat featured selling motor without slowing down during highest traffic.

Every website has an IP code and a domain name. Both constituent to the aforesaid website, but successful antithetic ways. An IP code is similar a acceptable of GPS coordinates, portion a domain sanction is similar a postal address. You’ll privation to registry a memorable, easy-to-understand domain sanction truthful that website users person nary occupation uncovering and utilizing your website.

Domain names person 2 main parts: The second-level domain and the top-level domain. 

• The second-level domain is the portion of your web code astir radical deliberation of erstwhile reasoning of your website. It should beryllium unique, memorable, and casual to spell. 
• The top-level domain is the suffix that ends your web address. Common top-level domains see .com, .net, and .org, but you tin besides get a much originative 1 similar .coffee oregon .ninja.

Your concern website’s domain sanction should beryllium branded and specific. Avoid general, forgettable names astatine each costs. The lone objection to this regularisation is successful the top-level domain. Most US website visitors see the .com hold the astir trustworthy and credible option. Unless you person a precise bully crushed not to, you should astir apt registry .com alongside immoderate different top-level domains you privation to use.

Don’t skimp connected web hosting services

Your prime of web hosting work tin profoundly interaction your website’s performance. Your web big operates and maintains the server wherever your website lives. Every enactment of codification connected your website is processed connected that server, truthful there’s bully crushed to put successful a almighty hosting solution.

There are 3 basal types of hosting services:

• Shared hosting puts your website alongside others connected a azygous server. Each website connected the server shares resources, makingthe work somewhat inconsistent. This is the cheapest hosting enactment available, and the slightest due for concern websites.
• Dedicated hosting gives you a azygous server that lone hosts your website. This gives you overmuch much power implicit the mode your website works, but it besides requires you to negociate the server manually. If you prosecute a 3rd enactment to make your site, this is the benignant of hosting they’ll recommend.
• Managed hosting offers a scalable solution for concern website owners who program for growth, but don’t privation to wage for server resources they aren’t utilizing yet. A managed hosting provider takes attraction of server absorption and configuration for you truthful that you tin absorption connected what you bash champion – increasing your business.

Designing landing pages: Homepage, blogs, lawsuit communicative section

Once your website infrastructure is acceptable up, you tin commencement designing and publishing web pages. This is wherever you tin fto your creativity radiance portion proactively addressing your customers’ symptom points and promoting your products and services. Three things you’ll privation to wage peculiar attraction to are your homepage, your blog posts, and your lawsuit testimonials.

Let’s commencement by showing 1 illustration of each:

• Homepage. BaseCamp tells you everything you request to cognize astir its task absorption instrumentality close connected the location page. It showcases the brand’s worth and authorization portion helping users find their mode to the contented they’re looking for.
• Blog. Fubiz uses fantabulous blog plan to showcase its astir invaluable contented to readers. Users tin prime circumstantial personas that bespeak their interests. If you take “art lover”, you’ll get 1 acceptable of content; if you take “architect”, you’ll get another.
• Customer Story. Bizzabo presents its lawsuit stories successful a assortment of formats connected a dedicated page. You tin work speedy testimonials oregon work done a broad lawsuit study. The leafage besides offers a utile video instauration showcasing precisely what the institution is each about.

Design your homepage for velocity and efficiency

The archetypal happening astir website visitors volition spot is your location page. It volition beryllium 1 of your website’s most-visited pages, truthful it should marque a compelling lawsuit for your brand. It should besides marque it casual for visitors to get precisely what they privation from your site.

While a flashy, elaborate location leafage whitethorn impressment first-time visitors, committing excessively galore resources to your homepage’s visuals whitethorn not beryllium wise.

A fast, cleanable website with a creaseless navigation interface volition outperform adjacent the astir melodramatic ocular acquisition implicit time. The leaner and much businesslike your location leafage is, the amended it tin bash its job.

Psd2html.com, a WordPress improvement firm, opts for a beauteous elemental homepage aesthetic. No video, nary brainsick animations. The result?

A fantastic desktop velocity score.

Be proactive astir blogging

Content selling is an incredibly effectual mode to amended imaginable customers astir the worth of your brand. Your concern blog tin go a invaluable instrumentality for bringing caller customers onto your website and encouraging them to observe your company.

Blogging tin amended conversion rates by up to 500%. Publishing caller contented astatine slightest 4 times a week drives 3.5 times much postulation connected average. Insightful blog contented tin make worth wherever paid advertisements bash not.

When done right, blogging tin assistance you execute hunt motor rankings and crook your website into an authoritative root of trustworthy information. Your blog pages should showcase that authorization and connection arsenic fewer distractions arsenic possible. 

Let customers archer their stories

Customer testimonials bash thing that blogs can’t. They archer stories astir your marque successful a dependable different than your own. This gives an important boost to your credibility and connects you with caller customers successful a mode that blogs conscionable can’t.

There is nary amended mean for lawsuit communicative landing pages than video. A well-produced video tin person an affectional interaction that genuinely speaks to your customers’ symptom points. Just beryllium definite to big your video connected a specialty hosting work truthful you tin embed it connected your page—you don’t privation to clog up your ain server bandwidth with high-resolution video.

Generating and capturing inbound leads

Lead procreation is the process of qualifying website visitors arsenic imaginable customers. A website visitant who fits your lawsuit illustration and has interacted with your website a fewer times is overmuch much apt to marque a acquisition than a first-time visitant who knows thing astir you.

Turning website visitors into leads is an important measurement connected the mode to them becoming customers. Many concern websites usage pb seizure tools to promote visitors to stay successful interaction with the site’s owners. Newsletters, downloadable PDFs, and video contented tin each enactment arsenic lead magnets.

To crook your contented into a pb magnet, you request to gross it. In bid to entree gated content, website visitors person to springiness you immoderate information. 

An email newsletter is simply a emblematic example. To get much contented from a concern you’re funny in, you person to springiness them your email address. That improves the likelihood of you buying immoderate that concern is selling.

A afloat featured website builder allows you to bash much than seizure email addresses. You tin build customized forms to suffice leads successful invaluable ways. You tin find retired wherever your customers are from, what kinds of problems they have, and what they deliberation astir products similar yours—all you person to bash is inquire the question connected a form.

Popups are different invaluable instrumentality for pb generation. Sophisticated popups triggered strategically let you to amusement invaluable contented to circumstantial visitors based connected their behaviors. Instead of disrupting the idiosyncratic acquisition the mode regular popups do, you tin heighten the acquisition and assistance thrust pb procreation initiatives crossed your website.

What tools should you deliberation of integrating?

A palmy concern website is 1 that uses the close tools to attract, qualify, and person leads. At this point, it should beryllium wide that immoderate technologies are better-suited to this intent than others.

With the close hosting service, content absorption system, and website builder successful place, you tin easy integrate caller tools whenever you request them. If different developers person already made those tools enactment together, each you person to bash is link them done a readily disposable API.

While each concern is different, determination are a fewer solutions that astir each enactment tin instrumentality to boost maturation and streamline operations. Customer narration absorption (CRM) bundle and income enablement tools are invaluable assets for immoderate concern due to the fact that they assistance you marque the astir of your lawsuit interactions.

CRM tools amended the lawsuit experience

Supporting your customers astatine each signifier of the income rhythm is cardinal to maximizing lawsuit retention and expanding the magnitude of wealth they spend. CRM tools similar HubSpot and Salesforce springiness businesses the quality to seizure and analyse idiosyncratic information to amended service lawsuit needs.

Sales enablement tools

Sales enablement tools springiness your salespeople the resources they request to adjacent deals much effectively. These resources whitethorn see content, knowledge, and lawsuit accusation drawn from your CRM, among different things. Solutions similar Highspot and Pardon assistance accusation travel smoothly betwixt marketers and salespeople, improving the profitability of income projects.

Payment platforms for ecommerce functionality

Incorporating a outgo level connected your website is simply a large mode to alteration lawsuit involvement into contiguous revenue. This is evident erstwhile it comes to selling retail products and integer assets, but it tin besides enactment wonderfully with services and different non-typical ecommerce goods.

Service providers similar photographers, consultants, and marketers tin usage ecommerce tools to make a seamless ecommerce experience, too. The cardinal is utilizing “productized services,” which beforehand your work successful a scalable, easy-to-understand bundle with a fixed cost.

For example, if your concern provides accounting services for $30 an hour, you could people and merchantability a 10-hour accounting work bundle that costs $300. This makes it overmuch easier for work providers to amended income measurement utilizing ecommerce outgo platforms similar Stripe and Square, since those solutions don’t mostly enactment hourly outgo structures.

Equip your website to execute concern goals

The close operation of web infrastructure and selling bundle tin alteration your concern website into a powerful, scalable selling machine. These tools assistance concern owners automate immoderate of the astir invaluable and time-consuming processes successful integer marketing. 

Outfitting your website with an businesslike suite of selling tools volition springiness you much clip to absorption connected your halfway business. Use these tools to marque your website enactment for you, and not the different mode around.

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