If you look for the basic steps to open a company, you’ll see that creating a website is mentioned right behind having a business plan, opening a business bank account, and getting all the important documents. 

In this day and age, and thanks to the Internet, your target audience will base their decision on whether or not to buy products/services from you largely on what they see on your webpage. And it will be pretty hard for them to make that decision if you don’t even have a website, right? 

Reasons for a company to have a website

Other than the fact certain generations of potential customers will wonder does your business still exist if there’s no website attached to it, here are a couple of more reasons why creating it is so important: 

  • Credibility: your customers might have to choose between you and other similar companies. A good website will help you stand out in the crowd and help them choose you. Additionally, your website can be the place where you publish previous customers’ testimonials. These can be another push in the right direction for the future ones. 
  • Digital marketing: many forms of digital marketing are based on the premise you have a website and can’t be done without it. For example, a page with proper SEO optimization will help you show up at the top of the SERP, hence taking a potential customer to your website. 
  • Customer service: Many details a customer might need will be visible on your website (i.e. working hours, location…) It significantly reduces the time your staff would use to speak on the phone and let your customer know about. Not to mention the majority of customers expect to find this information on a website, not have to call a number to get it. 

How to create a website 

Being that it’s so necessary, websites of today are much simple to make, even without hiring professional help. But you can always do the latter as well, it’s up to your wishes, abilities and of course, your budget. Here are the steps in both cases.

DIY 

If Do It Yourself is your choice, you should still be aware that this won’t be 100 % yourself unless you’re in a website-creating business. We say this because you’ll need a website host so technically you’re again cooperating with someone. 

There are many hosts to choose from and they can be found for any budget. This is pretty good news, but keep in mind that you might overgrow your host and search for a new one as your business develops and expands. 

Once you have a host, you should decide on your domain name. Right after that, you’re going to want to fill your homepage and all other pages with content that will help your future customers (and search engines) know what it is that you sell.

Don’t forget to search for the Internet's help on your DIY path. It’s full of resources and testimonials that could help you make the right choices. 

Hire pros 

The most common reason to hire a professional is the fact that DIY seems a bit overwhelming. Or a simple lack of time. It requires a bigger budget, that’s for sure, but if you make a good choice, you’ll get good value for money as well as a quick investment return. 

To start, you’ll need to find a custom web application development company that will build your website and create its design. After that, you’ll need someone who's going to write content for it and SEO optimizes it to make it visible to Google and subsequently, customers. 

Searching for people that are right for you, might be a bit time-consuming. But if DIY isn’t your cup of it, it will take far less of your time than trying to do it alone and failing. 

Wrapping it up

It’s very important, if not crucial for a company to have a website. If you’re writing a checklist of things to do to start your own business, creating your website should be at the very top of it. It’s up to you to decide if you want it done by professionals or if you prefer to rely on yourself.