How to Get Small Business Website Design

‍Every business needs a website nowadays. But how to build your website? And what’s the best way to get your small business website design? We have the answers!‍

Wondering why small business owners hire web designers? Because their businesses can’t survive without a website. 

It used to be a case of getting out in the street, and finding the nearest place that  is of interest, whether it's a bakery, cafe, shop, or something else. Nowadays, people usually google their interest and only then decide to visit the brick-and-mortar shop. 

But how does website design impact your site’s success? Let’s start there.

Why do small businesses need a professional website?

Experience alone will tell you that having a website is a no-brainer. But why spend time or money creating a site when you can use a free website template?

Here are just a few reasons why a well-designed website is a must even for small local businesses.

Helps users find information

The design of your website impacts how users interact with it. If you organize information clearly using menus and visual cues you can make sure that prospective customers find the information they’re looking for.

This is one of the most vital aspects of creating a positive user experience. If your website is easy to navigate, chances are users will spend more time on it, which will have a positive impact on your bounce rate and search engine rankings.

Mobile optimization

Close to 60% of the world’s internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Furthermore, over half of online sales (56%) come from mobile devices. 

So, there’s no way you can build an online presence without a mobile-friendly website. If you decide to use a website template, most of these are already optimized for mobile. Similarly, many website builders will automatically optimize your designs.

However, if you decide to design a website from scratch, this is definitely an area where hiring a professional web designer will pay off.

Ecommerce

Ever since the covid-19 pandemic (and in most cases well before that) small businesses have realized the potential of selling their products or services online. It might be an online store for physical products, or a way for customers to order something and pick it up in store (e.g. a drink).

Either way, great small businesses web design means you get to increase your profits with a user-friendly online store. Here are a few simple rules that you must follow to ensure your ecommerce site performs

• Provide a simple checkout system (avoid mandatory account creation).
• Offer multiple payment options.
• Use plenty of white space on your products page.
• Create a user-friendly search and filter option.
• Make all shipping and additional costs transparent.

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Builds trust

If you’re not yet an established business, it can be difficult to gain prospective customers’ trust.

A professional-looking website is your best ally here, as it’s often the first point of contact for people learning about your business. In fact, studies have shown that 75% of people judge a company’s credibility based on web design.

Here are a few elements that will greatly impact how people perceive your business:

• Responsiveness: Around 47% of users won’t wait longer than 2 seconds for a website to load. This means all your pages and media must be optimized for web use. 
• High-quality images: It goes without saying that high-quality product shots are a must for businesses selling physical products. Still, poor quality blurry graphics will give off the impression that your website hasn’t been updated and ward off potential clients.
• Customer testimonials: Creating a dedicated caste study or testimonials page will help clients understand your value proposition better. This is especially important for small businesses selling services, such as plumbers or electricians.
• Contact page: No matter whether you have or don’t have a physical storefront, customers should be able to get in touch with you easily. Make contact information, such as phone numbers or email addresses visible and easy to find. A contact form can also be a good addition to your website.

How to make a small business website?

Hopefully these examples of small business websites give you plenty of food for thought. But how can you create a website of your own? Here are the steps to follow.

Choose a domain name and pay for hosting

A website is usually a part of a bigger business strategy. So in case you’ve already chosen your brand name, you should ensure whether there’s an available domain that fits. You can check out free domains at:

• Name.com
• GoDaddy
• Namecheap

If your preferred domain is not available, you can always try a different extension (e.g. use .co instead of .com).

Most website builders include web hosting, so you won’t need to do this separately.

Find a website builder

If you don’t want to hire a web developer, you’ll need to find a platform that does this for you. Note that many popular website builders also offer integrated hosting solutions.

There are numerous free website builders for small businesses. However you usually have to purchase one of the paid plans in order to have a custom domain, and make use of advanced functionalities, such as ecommerce, design customization, social media integration, etc.

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Design the site

In the last section we’ll go over some options to get your site professionally designed. However, if you take the DIY route, here are a few things to know.

Platforms such as Wix, Shopify, Instapage, Squarespace and others (most of which support WordPress websites), are popular for a reason: these cheap website builders have large libraries of design templates and many integrations, such as ecommerce or email marketing tools that you can use.

However, plenty of companies use these website builders, so you probably won’t end up with the most original site. Still, if functionality is your primary goal, as a small business, a website builder is perfect for your needs and budget. 

Launch and maintain your site

Static websites are a thing of the past. If you want to keep your site at the top of SERPs, you’ll need to update it regularly.

‍Blogging is the most popular and cost-effective way to keep your site SEO-friendly. You should also conduct regular audits and check for any broken links and bugs. Some tools that can help with that are SEMrush, Moz, Ahrefs and Google Analytics.

Get professional small business website design

Cheap website builders allow you to get a website up and running for little or no money at all. So, it’s fair to wonder why small businesses owners hire website designers anyway?

There is more than one reason. 

Creating a website design is time consuming. It also requires a lot of technical skills (e.g. creating a responsive website), which non-designers lack. In the end, this increases the risk of ending up with a bad website that will hurt your traffic and ultimately, your profits. So, you’ll have to redesign the website before long, which will result in additional costs.

Instead, here are 4 ways to get your small business website design, with their key pros and cons.

Unlimited design service

An unlimited graphic design platform instead of a web design company? It might sound unusual, but it is an extremely effective and affordable option.

Unlimited graphic design services allow you to get professional web design for as little as a few hundred dollars! Best of all, the flat-monthly rate also includes other services like, social media design, landing pages, ads, even motion graphics that can improve your online presence!

ManyPixels is one of the leading unlimited web design companies in the field. Our subscription plans start at just $549, which allows you to request unlimited websites, landing pages, and more!

We’ve worked with hundreds of small businesses and helped them establish their online presence with a professional website. Take a sneak peek at our portfolio here!

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In-house web designer

If you are not a startup, chances are you will not have the need to tweak and update your website all the time or change the services as you grow.

That means that, for a small business, hiring an in-house web designer is a waste of resources, as you would only need them for one project, and then they wouldn’t have much work on their hands.

The average salary for a web designer in the USA is more than 56.000 dollars a year, based on Glassdoor’s data. In reality, you would only need a website designer for a month or two for your small business website, so there is no need to strain your budget this much.

Web design agency

A web design agency will take care of your design needs, and can scale up and down based on the complexity of your design.

Web design companies usually include way more services than just the design, such as SEO copywriting, responsive design, ecommerce features, custom themes and style, domain names, content management systems, etc.

The cost of hiring a web design agency can be anywhere between 3.000 to 100,000 dollars on average for the US market. For the smallest price, you can expect to get just the look and layout of the website.

It definitely won’t be a cheap website for a small business, but a higher level of professionalism and larger scope of services are to be expected.

Freelance website designer

Outsourcing freelancers is an affordable and flexible opportunity for almost any type of one-time project. From web designers to narrators, you can find any kind of freelancer on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.

You can hire freelancers to take on the full website building process, or just the design portion of it, and discuss the details, time management and scope of work with them.

However, the biggest risk of working with freelancers is the lack of quality assurance. Without a project manager or QA team you may spend a lot of time emailing back and forth and requesting revisions (which sometimes mean additional costs).

Essentially, if you can handle managing an outsourced freelance worker, you can have a good and cheap website design for a small business in very little time. However, if you don’t quite understand what you need, it’s better to go for an option that includes management of output and scope of work too.

Conclusion

We hope this sheds some light on how to design a website for a small business. While it is possible to create a website yourself, hiring a professional website designer can’t be beat.

Hiring a freelancer or web design company can put a pretty big dent in your budget. However, nothing beats ManyPixels when it comes to affordable web design for small businesses. 

Not only do you get a professional small business website, we’ve also got you covered for all your design needs including marketing materials, social media, illustration, presentations, and more. 

Sign up today and submit your request. Our team of designers will get working on your business website right away!

Still want to discuss some details? Book a free consultation with us, and we’ll be happy to answer any questions.