Your website is essentially your shop window on the internet. It’s working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But having a website isn’t enough on its own. You need people to actually find it. That’s where SEO comes in.
Step 1: Choose Your Platform
There are loads of website builders out there — Wix, Squarespace, WordPress are all popular choices. For most small businesses, Wix or Squarespace are brilliant starting points because they’re user-friendly and look great without needing a web developer. WordPress gives you more flexibility but has a steeper learning curve. Pick the one that feels manageable for you.
Step 2: Get Your Domain and Hosting Sorted
Your domain is your website address (like www.creativecollins.co.uk) and your hosting is essentially where your website lives on the internet. Most website builders include hosting, so it’s often easier. Choose a domain name that’s easy to spell, easy to remember and ideally includes a keyword related to what you do.
Step 3: Keep It Simple and Easy to Navigate
When it comes to website design, less is more. You want clear navigation so visitors can find what they need quickly, strong calls to action so people know what to do next and fast loading speed because nobody waits around for a slow website. Make sure it looks good on mobile too, most people are browsing on their phones.
Step 4: Now Let’s Talk SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, basically, it’s how you get Google to show your website when people are searching for what you offer. It can sound really intimidating but here are the basics to get you started:
- Use the Right Keywords – Think about what your ideal customer would type into Google to find you. Those are your keywords. Use them naturally throughout your website — in your page titles, headings, and the body of your text.
- Write a Blog. Fresh, regular content is one of the best ways to improve your SEO. A monthly blog. Each blog post is another opportunity to be found!
- Get Your Meta Descriptions Right. These are the little snippets of text that appear under your website link on Google.
- Use Google Analytics. This is free and brilliant. Google Analytics shows you who’s visiting and what they’re doing. Essential tools for any website owner.
SEO takes time to build up but the results are worth it. The key is to be consistent, keep creating great content and make sure your website is genuinely helpful to the people visiting it.
We love helping businesses get their online presence to where it needs to be. Drop us a message and let’s chat.
The Creative Collins girls xx
