Gone are the days where an online presence was limited to technology-related businesses.

In today’s hyperconnected world, an online presence is a must—not an option. No matter what industry you’re in, whether you’re a startup or are an established brand, having an online presence can positively impact your business.

If you don’t know where to start, know that the first step is simply deciding to have an online presence. After that, the best place to start is getting a website.

Here are some tips to help you move forward:

Why Build a Website?

Social media may be all the rage, but nothing beats your own website.

Social media may seem like a more worthy spend of your online minutes because of the potential for a high quantity of likes and engagement. But when you sign up for a new social media account, content visibility will depend on the social site’s algorithms. Perhaps your content is doing well at the moment, but inevitably, social sites switch algorithms to lessen visibility so that businesses will buy ad space to stay front and center.

With a website, everything is yours to own and control. Additionally, having a website makes your business look more professional.

The good news? It’s never been easier to build a website. You don’t need to learn code, as there are plenty of what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) website building tools that you can use to get started online.

The downside? Many of these WYSIWYG tools are managed websites that require a monthly fee and seldom offer a dedicated web host, meaning that they share bandwidth with other websites. These slight inconveniences aside, a managed website solution is perfect for starters and technophobes that don’t want to have to deal with any of the technical aspects of their website.

One of the most popular website builders is WordPress, which is free to download and use, and is quite easy to set up. WordPress powers over 30% of the internet and is easily customizable with themes and plugins. Using WordPress, the only other thing you really need is web hosting (which you can get from various hosting services).

Depending on your web host and package, you can also set up your email address to reflect your domain name, creating a more professional means for communicating with clients.

Design with the End in Mind

Knowing what you’re using your website for can help you determine your specific site requirements.

If you offer physical products, you’ll need to tap into special ecommerce functionality. If you have a restaurant business, you’ll need to use tools that help people view your menu and make reservations. If you’re in the information business, you’ll need blogging functionality and the ability to capture leads.

Promote your Website

Once your website is complete, it’s time to share it with the world. Though social media can help, the best way to get more visitors is through the use of search engine optimization (SEO). SEO helps by recommending to users the most relevant content for their queries. A large part of SEO can be attributed to content, so when creating content, remember to always create value for your audience.

Investing time in establishing an online presence is never a regrettable decision. If you don’t have time to work on your website, give Harrington Technologies a call—we’ll do everything for you!