Everything you need to know before setting up a web page

The digital transformation and modernization of business is key to improving competitiveness and profits, whether they are SMEs, large companies or the self-employed. And the most important window to the world is the Internet, for this reason, just as posters and physical windows are used for the local public in establishments, it is important to have a window in the cyber world, that is, set up your own website. But before you do, you should know a few details about it, or get up to speed with one of the most important CMS of all: WordPress.

Benefits you can have

Having an open web page for your business or for your brand brings big benefits, as the following:

• greater range: from the local you go on to be able to cover an entire country or the whole world thanks to the fact that the Internet has no barriers. In this way, you can reach a much higher number of customers compared to a physical business. This is not only an increase in customers, but also in sales and profits.
• Low investment: having offices or branches in different parts of the world would mean a huge cost of renting premises, payment of employee salaries, and other expenses for electricity, water, etc. However, having a website requires a minimal initial investment and very little maintenance. So all the benefits come with little expense. In addition, you can save a lot with platforms like WordPress, which is the world leader in terms of websites, but it is completely free. That is why it is important to master it, for example with tutorials, books, or a advanced academy to learn WordPress.
• Better picture: Currently, when looking for a business, even if it is local, if you have a web page where you can obtain information about the location, contact, see products or services in advance, etc., much better. A business without a website is obsolete in the society in which we live and having one means a better image of the company, giving potential customers what they need in a more direct way.
• Physical store support: one thing is not at odds with the other, so you can continue to count on the benefits and profits of your premises, but expand further with your website.
• Open 24/7: having a space in the cyber universe implies being active 365 days a year, making profits grow enormously. Anyone, from anywhere, and at any time can be buying your services or products or looking at information about your brand.
• Advertising and marketing: there are many tools to promote your brand, make your website more visible, etc., so it is a great step forward to make your business grow with new era tools. For example, with Google Adwords you can launch much cheaper advertising campaigns than by other traditional means and that will reach more people than by television, written press or radio.

Tips and tricks to set up your website

If you want some Tricks and tips that can come in handy to start with your website, here are the most outstanding:

• Start with a simple plan, try to make the website simple, without being too loaded with menus, subpages, etc., that can lose the visitor. It is important to think about usability.
• Think about your possible audience and offer what they need, and how you can retain customers.
• The design, the first impressions, the choice of colors, logos with transparencies (png), quality photos, typography or appropriate font, etc., is very important. For example, if it is a funeral home website, black may be appropriate, with a sober logo and a classic font, no Comic Sans or similar. However, if it is a website dedicated to children's entertainment, bright colors and colorful letters cannot be missing.
• Invest in your own domain name (registered domain name) and TLD (.es, .org, .com,…) accordingly. For example: www.your-company-name.es and also use this domain for the contact email. It is very bad to have a business and use GMAIL, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. accounts.
• It is important to check how the page looks on a mobile device, since there are a large number of people who consult the websites from smartphones or tablets.
• Think about accessibility. Clients with vision or mobility problems are also clients. Make it easier for him.
• The texts should not only be easy to read, they should also be concise and separated into short paragraphs.
• Do not forget to enhance SEO to better position your website, it is something that should never be forgotten. And enhance this with social media advertising.
• Always keep track of your website traffic to see if you achieve your goals or how you can improve.
• If you are going to hire a hosting, start with a more basic one, and as your website traffic grows, you can scale the plan. This will help you reduce the initial investments while the traffic grows.
• Find out about the legal requirements for your website and to comply with the RGPD.
• You should always keep in mind your direct rivals, since you can learn from them.

Steps to follow to set up the website

1. Choose a suitable hosting (OVH, Ionos, Clouding,…), some even allow you to install WordPress and other CMS automatically.
2. These hosting usually also have services beyond simple web hosting, such as domain registration for your website, TLD, and email. It is important to have all of them.
3. You should also use an SSL/TLS certificate (HTTPS instead of HTTP) to give your customers more confidence.
4. Once you have the infrastructure set up, you should start designing with WordPress to leave the web to your liking according to your needs. If you don't know how to start, there are many resources on the net, from books, to online tutorials, etc.
5. It is important to create quality content to offer to your customers or visitors.

Only with these steps you will have a plus in your business with almost no investment. Not worth it?