Owning your personal website can be a good investment if you need a place to host your portfolio, sell your products and services, or do anything you want to do. This is a good move, especially in Canada, where e-commerce is expected to rise in the following years.
Some people think that starting their own websites can be a hassle if they don’t know where to start. The number of technical jargon you have to read, processes you need to go through, and costs you need to shoulder might be too much for most people. Or so it appears.
It is actually easy to start a website of your own. It might look daunting at first, but when you approach the right people to do the job or use the right software, it is a cakewalk once you get the hang of it.
Here are the things you need to know about starting a website in Canada.
Steps on How to Create a Website
These are the basic steps to creating your own websites. Of course, it might vary depending on several factors. Still, these are the everyday things every website builder and developer has in mind.
1. Start by planning your website
Planning your website helps you focus on your actual goals, streamline the process, and provide a road map to follow throughout the process.
You must know first who your competitors are. Make a list of five or more similar businesses and search for their digital footprints using Google. Examine their websites as well as their social media pages. You want to get a sense of how active they are online.
What their websites look like can also help you stand out from the rest. As you browse their websites, pretend you’re a first-time visitor who has just stumbled onto the site. You must consider criteria such as functionality, text-based engagement, whether the website answers your inquiries, and anything unique about them.
Make a list of advantages and disadvantages. As you develop a new, fresh website, this list will provide you with a competitive advantage. You have a chance to win.
Focus also on how you can differentiate yourself from others. List what makes you different from the others. Think of the standout products, services, or other factors that can make you unique among so many competitors.
2. Identify your goals
What goals do you want to achieve in starting your website? Is your goal to educate people about particular goods and services? Do you aim to increase brand engagement or drive traffic to your website?
Whatever your goals are, you have to make sure that these would guide you in making your website. Let your goals be your compass in doing this project.
You should set benchmarks by creating both short-term and long-term goals. You may track your progress and achievement by determining what you want to accomplish and when you want to achieve it.
This will also assist you in identifying areas where you can improve. Always be realistic. Research is frequently the source of new ideas. For example, you may design the user experience you want by thinking about your site and the results you want from it.
3. Choose your domain name
This is an essential step because this is your address and identity as a website. This will serve as an identifier to help people find you online.
The most well-known option is.com, but it isn’t the only one. Consider a domain ending in .ca if your company’s primary goal is to sell services and products to Canadian customers. This geographic identifier will help locals remember your website and will attract Canadian traffic to it.
You do, however, have a variety of additional possibilities. For example, why not end your domain name with .shop your site’s primary focus is e-commerce?
There really are hundreds of new domain extensions available, including .quebec, which allow you to get a domain name that is closely associated with your company. Because these new possibilities haven’t been around as long as .com, there are many beautiful names to choose from.
4. Decide if you want to hire a professional or do it yourself
We live in an era where everyone can create a website. If you want to save money, there are various do-it-yourself (DIY) website builders to select from, including the widely used WordPress.
Those who don’t have the time or inclination to develop a website themselves can hire a web professional through the Do It For Me (DIFM) option.
There are many options to choose from, from using WordPress, e-commerce platforms, and other website builders. If you really have no idea what to do, hiring someone who can do it faster and more efficiently works the best for you.
5. Fill your new site with content
The material for your website will need to be created, gathered, or requested.
Written product descriptions, your company’s story and calls to action, high-quality photos of your products, services, and employees, videos such as How-to and unboxing videos, forms for getting in touch with you or requesting an estimate, interactive features such as an online booking scheduler or customer portal, images of awards you’ve won, and customer reviews are all examples of this.
You can hire someone to create content for your websites, such as copywriters, graphic designers, and video editors. Still, if you have the skills, you can do it on your own. It saves you money, and it also gives a personal touch to your website content.
6. Start selling online
Suppose you are planning to use your website as a platform for your goods and services. In that case, you should know and strategize how to put the items, advertise them, and make them accessible to everyone.
Your online store’s heart is made up of your products or services. As a result, your website must have high-quality photographs and compelling content. These two factors alone have the power to make or ruin an online sale.
You must discover a means of communicating your products and services to truly flourish. This is accomplished through attractive photos, product descriptions, and video.
Your products have a distinct appearance and feel. When writing descriptions, keep your company’s tone in mind and utilize words that will captivate your readers. You don’t have to be very detailed or technical.
Ensure the other details are set up before opening your shops, such as the shipping methods, payment methods, reviews and testimonials, and customer care. These factors play an essential role in making your website a successful one.
