The Quick And Easy Way To Set Up Your Business Website
Before you invest countless hours of time and energy setting up a website for your business, there are a few key things you should know that will save you time, money, and heartbreak later.
This is the most exciting time of being a business owner - when ANYTHING is possible and you get to shape your business from scratch.
YOU get to decide how it looks, feels, and stands out in the world.
Which means there’s a lot to do. A lot of choices to make. And soooooooo many things to create.
You’re wearing 1000 hats right now and every single one of them is important.
Which means you’ll need to take shortcuts where you can.
I get it.
Which is why I want to share my expertise with you, as someone who has successfully built all the things and knows where you can afford to cut corners.
Let’s look at the most basic features first, and then optional features next. I’ll also share the best shortcuts to take so you can cut corners that save time and money without sacrificing your success.
A One Page Website
This is step one. It’s the bare minimum you need to be taken seriously online.
Even job seekers have a one page website to help recruiters get to know, like, and trust them beyond what they see on social media.
Because they understand its affect on their income potential.
You can add on additional features once this is in place.
A Unique Domain Name
Choose something memorable and easy to spell.
A lot of people use their own name, which is ideal if you’re a job seeker. But if there’s more than one way to spell your name or if your name is tricky to spell, I highly recommend choosing something else for your domain name.
It can be the name of your business or your signature program or just an easy description of what you do.
.com is still the best choice if you can get it.
If not, there is a range of choices from .coach to .video to .vip and more are being added everyday. Just avoid .net or .org if you’re a for-profit business because it would be confusing to your audience.
Registration and Hosting in one place
It’s easier to register your domain with the same company you buy hosting from so you can keep all your site-related info and bills in one place.
The Best Website Platform For Your Business
If you’ve done any research at all into website platforms, you probably stopped when your head started spinning from all the choices.
Wix, Squarespace, Wordpress, Wavoto, Shopify, ClickFunnels, GrooveFunnels, Kajabi, Kartra, Teachable, and so many more.
Even GoDaddy and HostGator offer website builders these days.
I don’t know if you noticed it yet, but all of those platforms are completely different. Each with their own strengths in weakness in different areas.
That’s because each one tries to appeal to every web builder, but in truth, each one is best suited for a totally different type of user.
Some (but not all) are geared to online sellers, so they’ve added extra security for handling credit card transactions. Which is ideal for businesses who sell products or online courses.
Some (but not all) prioritise SEO to make it easier to show up on the front page when your potential customers are searching for the things you sell. Which is important for every business, but especially so for businesses in a competitive market and/or bloggers.
While others sacrifice SEO and credit card security in order to make your photos and videos leap off the page. Which is ideal for photographers, video game companies, and the like.
A few have email marketing built in, but most do not.
There’s no such thing as a platform that’s strong in every area.
Choose The Platform That’s Best For The Type Of Business You Have
This is one of the most valuable shortcuts you’ll learn in the world of online sales.
Choose the best platform for your business from the very beginning because it’s a lot harder to switch than they want you to believe.
Even a one-page website can be expensive (in time and money) to move later because you have to rebuild and reconnect each piece. Just like you did in the beginning, essentially starting from scratch.
This is one of the pitfalls I want you to avoid. Choosing the right platform now will save you a ton of stress later.
Most business owners don’t hear this advice in time and when they realise that their first choice wasn’t the best choice, they feel stuck.
They get scared of moving to a different platform because of the herculean amount of work it will require. And they put it off and put it off even though they’re literally losing sales and wasting time using the wrong tool.
Right after their success goes up, it dives back down again because they can’t sustain that level of success without the right tools. And even then they resist switching platforms, even while they’re losing sales.
The shortcut is to choose wisely in the beginning.
The Quick And Easy Shortcut To Choosing The Right Platform
Consult with someone who knows all the platform choices inside and out so they can show you which ones are the best fit for your business and why.
You could create a spreadsheet that shows all the pros and cons of each platform side by side for comparison.
If you do that, make sure you include the following:
Page load speeds (important for SEO and user experience)
Email deliverability (does it go to the inbox or spam folder)
Secure checkout tools (so people can actually pay you)
If you’re a service-based business, you’ll also want tools for e-signing contracts and scheduling appointments.
If you’re a course creator, you’ll also want easy-to-use funnel builders and a members area.
But wouldn’t it be better to discuss it with someone who has actually used most of the platforms and can tell you from experience what they’re good at (and what they’re piss poor at)?
You’ll achieve 10 years of technical experience in a 30 minute conversation instead of spending 3 weeks trying to DIY it.
So that’s shortcut #2. I think this blog post has just saved you 33 days of wasted time and we’re not done yet.
Get A Customized Website Solution
Here at Inspired Impact, I match business owners and network marketers with the best performing platforms for their unique business.
Because no two businesses are exactly the same, we don’t offer a cookie cutter one-size-fits-all solution.
Each site is customised specifically to your business needs.
If you’re a service based business, course creator, or network marketer, you’ll love features like:
Email marketing built right in - no more trying to get your email tool to communicate with your website. Grow your email list right from the same dashboard you use for blogging, sales funnels, and landing pages.
Drag and drop sales funnel builder - when you’re ready to launch your next offer, you’ll have everything you need on a single screen. Set up your sales page, order form, email automation and more all in the same place.
Use your own branding or choose from a list of templates - if you already have your own brand, enter it into the settings to have it available on every page. If you haven’t gotten that far yet, start with a template and choose whatever colours you feel called to until you’re ready to take the branding leap.
Web store built in - it’s called a web store, but you could use it for your own paid products, online courses, free challenges, or freebie lead magnets. Charge $0 or $10k, your choice. Need a contract signed before work can begin? No problem. Just add the contract text to the form builder and use the electronic signature feature.
Initial set up is done for you - and when it’s ready, I hand you the keys to a powerful online sales machine. Plus you’ll get coaching on how to use it and how to market it so people actually find it.
Ok, so that’s shortcut #3. Once you choose Inspired Impact to build your site, you can channel all that saved time and energy into your social media strategy to grow your audience. That way, you’ll have a warm audience ready to go when your site goes live.
The Ultimate Shortcut To Growing Your Online Presence
When you’re ready to scale your business to the next level, your Inspired Impact site will grow and scale with you.
I’ll even share my Dream Team of branding and marketing experts who will provide you with:
- custom, one-of-a-kind branding
- stunning brand photos that leap off the page and WOW your ideal clients
- authentic marketing strategies to help you boost your sales
- brand video that builds know, like, and trust in mere minutes
- copywriting that boosts your storyselling to turn every visitor into a buyer
All done for you. No trial and error, no guesswork, no playing small.
So even if you’re starting with a one-page website today, there’s plenty of room for your business to grow and expand without the stress of outgrowing your site platform.
So let’s just recap those shortcuts:
Choose the platform that’s best for the type of business you have and choose a successful domain name. (VALUE = 50 hours of time spent trying to move your site later or $1000+ to pay someone to move it for you.)
Consult with someone who knows all the platform choices inside and out so they can show you which ones are the best fit for your business and why. (VALUE = 3 weeks of time spent researching vs a 30 minute chat)
Choose an Inspired Impact site and have it done for you. (VALUE = Anywhere from 1 week to 6 months of time spent trying to DIY it, depending on your tech skills)
Borrow my Dream Team to get the full online presence package (VALUE = minimum 6 months of time spent researching who to hire, who to trust, how to look good in front of the camera, buying a logo and brand package, hiring a photographer, hiring a marketing agency, hiring a copywriter, and learning how to build your own sales funnels.)
And one last bonus shortcut for you - book a free 30 minute chat with me to discuss if an Inspired Impact site is the best fit for your unique business and budget. (VALUE = reaching your first $10k month 10X faster than DIY.)