How to start or grow a business – the website is the horse before the cart

How to start or grow a business – the website is the horse before the cart

You may have a good business idea and are wondering where to start in terms of marketing your products, services, expertise.

Here, we will hopefully explain: How to start or grow a business.

Social media is ready and able to do this for you but it is a supplement not a solution, it is a part of a launch and growth strategy, just as a website is not a blueprint for success.

You need a blended plan – a mixture of print, social and online advertising.

I’d argue though that a website should come first

It is the horse – before the proverbial cart.

Why?

It gives your new (or established) company digital validation. You plant a web address on a social media channel, on your business cards and email signature, and prospects will inevitably look at it. Look at it – and form a value judgement. Google will too and search engines gauge whether it is providing answers for those search terms.

This is easier said than done.

This website – optimised for web design Manchester – for the past 15 months, sits at 57th on Google page results for that term. Pleases me though as, when first altered, it was invisible for that search phrase.

However it does get organic enquiries for other search terms – like “How much does a website cost?” You can read that tome here.

SEO is a long term marathon (or Snickers), not a sprint and to be honest, 57th place will do for now as traffic to this website averages 1500 visitors a month and these stem from:

  • Social media bios – TikTok and Instagram are rich sources of digital footfall
  • Backlinks – this website appears on over 300 website footers and people land on a rival’s and contact us for a price on one we designed
  • LinkedIn – I am prolific on there in terms of connections and posts

But the starting point for this business was a WordPress website, almost 9 years ago.

It’s been through 4 redesigns in that time and a 5th is imminent soon.

But when you’re starting a business, a website must come first.

It doesn’t need to be expensive either.

Put £1000 aside.

£1000 will get you a 5 page website with:

  • Hosting
  • SSL
  • Logo
  • 5 pages of search-optimised content (get thee behind me, ChatGPT)
  • SEO lifting done for you with the premium plugin Rank Math Pro
  • A branded colour scheme
  • Choose your pages from Home, About, Services, News, Contact

Now I know £1000 is not a small amount of money. You can get websites for £300 but check the extras – is hosting and SSL included? Are you expected to write the content? Who is designing the logo? Is maintenance included? Is it on a CDN?

Let’s share some nice examples of starter websites below and above this price bracket that we’ve created.

Maker’s House Norwich – a simple parallax scroller for Harvey and his business on St Benedict’s Street, Norwich (where I used to be based).

Focus Technical Recruitment, Manchester – Andrew Newton was delighted with the design and quick process.

RK Law, Preston – Rob Kellock, a solicitor ordered a start up website and it is about to have a redesign.

PCR Plumbers, York – Pete Crowley commissioned a second website from us.

Metro Man and Van, Manchester – Kashif also pays a retainer for SEO and blog posts on a monthly basis and has seen business growth from the website and optimised news items.

Websites for bigger businesses – not £1000 though!

We don’t just target start ups though – our portfolio includes leading companies in their own fields. Look at these four:

ESM Operations – I taught English to Steven Coleman when he was 12, 32 years ago and he commissioned us to design the website and maintain it.

HSEQ-360 Limited – a wonderful offshore team based in Gorleston, Norfolk, with Steve Cook as the affable Director.

We Are Fulfilment, Nottingham – Richard Ardis was advised by Andrew Barker to use us and they are delighted with the new website.

Lincoln Cleaning Technology – Andy Plues put us in contact as they needed SEO work on their previous website but it was impossible to optimise as was heavily custom coded so Martin Ingham and Simon Jackson ordered a bespoke new website with superb photos from Andy, the icing on the cake.

Whether you’re starting or growing a business, a decent website should be part of your digital strategy.

Contact Stuart directly today if you’re starting a venture or improving the digital presence of your existing website. Call: 07462923476

We offer:

All at an affordable price, with great quality assured.

Get in touch today with Stuart Walton and his team.

 

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