7 Tips for Building a Banging Website as a Start-Up or Small Business

If you're a start-up or a business in it's infancy you may not have the budget to spend on an all singing all dancing website and in fact may opt to build one yourself to get you started. If this is the case, here are some of the things you need to know to give you a helping hand.

1) Choose a platform with an easy interface and one which will grow with you and your business. Our favourites are WIX and Squarespace.

2) Buy a domain which reflects your brand, is short and easy to remember. Avoid hyphens if possible.

3) If you are requesting personal data from your users make sure you have an SSL certificate (the padlock at the beginning of your URL) so they know your site is secure. Also consider cookie notifications if your site is collecting data in the background.

4) When you see the option 'Header 1', 'Header 2' etc. this doesn't mean the style of heading, this is actually code to search engines to tell them which order your website should be read. Header 1 should be who you are and what you do. Get your keyword in here.

5) Get your keywords in your domain, title, header and content.

6) Design your website with the user in mind. Make sure it flows, is easy to use and is accessible. This includes image alt text. This is what screen reading tools will read if a user is visually impaired or your image fails to load.

7) Make sure you complete all the SEO settings - meta tags, meta descriptions. Make sure URLs are all named rather than random numbers. A good platform should guide you through this.

Most of all, remember your website is a reflection of you and your business. Make sure it looks professional and is on brand.

Have fun creating!