6 Steps to DIY Your Professional Business Website (as a Total Beginner)
Hey, welcome back to the campfire! 🏕️
Don’t freak out, you can do this.
Building a professional business website used to be something that only experienced web developers could handle. But with the rise of user-friendly page builders and beginner DIY website software options, it’s now more accessible than ever for small business owners and entrepreneurs to create their own professional-level site.
At first, it might seem pretty daunting to imagine yourself building a complete income-earning website that actually looks professional… but it’s not nearly as hard as you might think!
The great news is that these days, there are plenty of tools out there designed to make the process as simple as possible. In this article, we'll go over some of our favorites so that you can get started building your own site today!
This is will be one of our more extensive and technical articles, but don’t let it all overwhelm you! You can definitely do this.
Our first recommendation is to take it step by step.
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Here’s how to DIY your biz site, and actually make it look professional:
1. Plan it out
Before diving right into building, it’s important to have a very detailed plan in place. This includes thoroughly researching and deciding on the structure, design, and functionality that you want your website to have.
Start by looking at other websites in your industry and take note of the features and elements that you like and would want to incorporate into your own website. Do you want a simple and clean design or something more flashy and eye-catching? Would you like to have a blog, contact form, or e-commerce functionality on your website? These are some of the questions you should consider while planning it out. (Hint: We definitely think most businesses should say yes to all three.)
PRO TIP: Blogs increase traffic!
While you’re conducting research, you’ll often come across the term ‘SEO’, which stands for ‘search engine optimization’.
In a nutshell, it’s the process of making changes to a website to help it appear higher in search engine results. By using specific keywords, writing quality content, and having a user-friendly website, businesses can improve their visibility online and attract more visitors, which can lead to more customers and business success.
This works by search engines scanning key aspects of websites across the internet and indexing them based on the keywords they find. Websites with a blog maximize SEO by providing rich content with keywords that are relevant to their target audience’s search queries.
**If you DON’T optimize for search engines, it results in poorly performing ads and not showing in search results.
Once you have a clear idea of what you want your website to look like and what features you need it to have, you can start thinking about the software or platform you want to use to build it.
There are many options out there, from beginner-friendly website builders like Wix and Squarespace to more advanced platforms like WordPress and WooCommerce. If you’re just starting out or intimidated by more complex options, you might want to begin with a simpler option and work your way up…
However, if you're looking for the ultimate control over your website design and either have more advanced technical skills, or you’re willing to learn—WordPress should be your go-to option. It offers limitless customizability, and with the help of page builder plugins like Beaver Builder or Elementor, you can design a professional-looking website even if you have zero technical experience.
I built this entire website myself with WordPress, WooCommerce, and Beaver Builder—and I learned how to do 80% of it through free YouTube tutorials. It might take you longer, but it’ll also last longer in my opinion.
Whatever option you decide to go with, remember that meticulously planning out your website will make the building process go as smoothly as possible and set you up for success in the long run.
Drop your name + email to get your FREE download of our Total Business Startup Checklist, which outlines every tiny little step you need to take before you launch your dream online biz!2. Create your assets
Now that you have a plan for your website, it's time to start creating and gathering all the necessary assets. These assets can include your logo, brand colors, images, and written content. They also include whatever offers you plan on giving through your site, whether it’s a free giveaway or a paid product or service.
LOGO → Your logo is an essential part of your brand identity, so if you don't have one already, now is the time to create it. Consider hiring a professional designer to create a logo that represents your business and resonates with your target audience. Alternatively, you can use online logo makers or graphic design tools like Canva to create your own logo for free.
BRANDING → Next, think about the visual elements of your website. Choose a color palette that aligns with your brand and creates a cohesive look and feel. Keep in mind that colors can evoke emotions and convey messages, so choose them wisely.
IMAGES → When it comes to images, high-quality visuals can greatly enhance the overall look of your website. If you have professional photos or product images, great! If not, consider using stock photos from websites like Unsplash or Pexels. Just be sure to choose images that are relevant to your business and align with your brand image.
**EXTRA POINTS FOR: When uploading images to your website, ALWAYS delete all unnecessary image data (like title, etc.) to reduce pageload time. Only fill in the image’s ALT text field, with relevant keywords that explain what the image represents on your site. Both of these practices greatly improve SEO!
COPYWRITING → No matter what your website is for, don't forget about the written content. Write compelling and engaging copy that clearly communicates your brand message, showcases your products or services, and convinces visitors to take action. If you're not confident in your writing skills, consider using AI or hiring a professional copywriter to help you.
OFFERS → Lastly, get together all of your business’s offerings. These are the things that will grow your contact list and bring income to your business. This means gathering any promotional photos or mockups that display your products or services, as well as any ‘freebies’ you plan on giving away as a lead magnet. Any of these could be a combination of virtual, digital, or physical products and even virtual or in-person services.
BONUS: Get together drafts for any workflows and email automations you plan on having!
PRO TIP: Use Email Automations.
NO MATTER WHAT TYPE OF WEBSITE YOU’RE BUILDING, YOU NEED TO HAVE A CONTACT LIST.
This helps your company collect people's information, like their email addresses, so you can stay in their inbox and send them important things like promotions, newsletters, and confirmation messages. By using email automations, the business can send messages automatically to the people on the contact list. This helps them save time and make sure everyone stays engaged and gets the right information at the right time.
Email marketing is one of the top things most online businesses use to generate leads, automate sales, and make money on autopilot.
3. Set it up
Now that you have your assets ready, it's time to set up your website. This step involves getting a domain name, choosing a hosting provider, and setting up your custom domain email. Then you’ll set up whatever website building platform and payment portal that you decided on in Step 1. Once you have all of this ready, we advise you also set up your analytics software.
While this might seem like a lot, you can get all of it done in a few hours of one day with no distractions!
DOMAIN → A domain name is your website's unique address on the internet. It represents your brand and helps people find your website easily. Choose a domain name that is memorable, easy to spell, and relevant to your business. Use domain registrars like GoDaddy or Namecheap to register your domain.
HOSTING → Next, you need a hosting provider to store your website files and make them accessible online. Look for hosting providers that offer reliable service, good customer support, and suitable hosting plans for your website needs. Some popular hosting providers include Bluehost, SiteGround, and DreamHost.
🚨 WHATEVER YOU DO, SECURE YOUR WEBSITE!!!
If you plan on taking payments through your website, this one is non-negotiable. It’s usually offered as an inexpensive add on when purchasing your hosting plan.
Even if you aren’t taking payments on your site, it’s safer to always encrypt your data. To do that, your website needs an SSL certificate that keeps user data secure, verifies your site ownership, prevents attackers from creating a fake version of your site, and gains trust with your visitors.
A lot of hosting providers also offer bundles and discounts with SSL certificates, plus accounts at many popular website building platforms. Make sure you check and see if there are ways to bundle your hosting, SSL, and web building software for savings. A lot of these include your domain name registration as well!
**If you’re just learning all of this, it’s smart to bundle everything at once—because they’ll usually already be linked together. Either way, most routes are really good about walking you through the setup process, no matter what you choose.
(For example, all 3 of my websites are hosted with SSL encryption through BlueHost and use WordPress for building software, also via BlueHost. I also have the option of adding more websites included in my account with them for free. I have domain names separately through Namecheap, GoDaddy, and Siteground.)
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CUSTOM DOMAIN EMAIL → Setting up a custom domain email is important for creating a professional image. Instead of using a generic email address like Gmail or Yahoo, having an email address that matches your domain name (e.g., <info@yourbusinessname.com>) adds credibility to your brand. You can set up custom domain email using email hosting services or by linking it to your hosting provider.
WEBSITE BUILDER → This setup will be slightly different depending on which site building platform you decided on using during your research in Step 1. But in any case, once you set up your hosting, you’ll be able to jump into building your website! Start your account with whatever platform you decided on, then follow the setup instructions.
PAYMENT PORTALS → If you plan to sell products or services directly through your website, setting up a payment portal is crucial. Research different payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, or Square, and choose the one that best suits your business needs. Integrating a payment gateway will enable you to accept online payments securely.
If you choose WordPress as your building platform and you’re planning on selling anything through your website, you’ll also need WooCommerce. It’s a free plugin that offers selling capabilities with Stripe (and others) offering credit card payments, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, and more.
**Just head to Plugins>Add New>Search: WooCommerce to download + activate! While you’re there, you should check out the other plugins that WordPress recommends, and download them based on what you need for your site. Many awesome ones offer free and paid versions, and there’s quite literally a WP plugin for anything. If you ever find your website can’t do something—search for it in plugins and I bet you’ll figure it out! My all-time favorite is CartFlows, for its incredible landing page and funnel building capabilities. (5 stars!! 🤩)
ANALYTICS → Website analytics are integral to any business website. The information that analytics provide help the company understand how their site’s doing, like how many people visit, where they come from, and what they do on the site. It's important to set up your analytics right away so you can learn what works best for you and to make it even better to attract more visitors and customers.
Make sure these essential elements are set up and functioning properly before you proceed with the rest of the building process. It's important to have everything live and running smoothly to provide a seamless experience for your visitors and potential customers.
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4. Build!
Now that you’ve completed most of the technical setup, it's time to start building your website. If you chose a user-friendly website builder or platform, this step should go relatively quickly.
DESIGN → Follow the platform's instructions to add and customize your chosen template or theme. There are countless themes to choose from, some more advanced than others. WordPress users that are just starting out should really think about getting a page builder plugin like Beaver Builder or Elementor. I absolutely love both of these and use them on my own websites, and my clients’. It will make building your site super easy and honestly—downright fun.
**Basic WordPress includes themes and building software already, but it is a little more difficult and tedious to navigate. If you decide go the page builder route (or just want to learn more what they’re about), head to the “Plugins” tab on the lefthand menu and click “Add New” to search in the bar for Elementor, Beaver Builder, and more. You can click on them to learn more and download the plugin (there are free and paid versions). Once it downloads, you must activate it there or back under the main “Plugins” tab.
Follow the setup instructions for whichever you decide, but I’d start by creating the home page. Use your plans from Step 1 and have some fun building!! Make sure to incorporate your logo, brand colors, and images to maintain a consistent brand identity across your website.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION → Investing in SEO software like Yoast or SEMrush can greatly improve your website's organic traffic. These tools provide insights and suggestions on optimizing your website for search engines. Make use of features such as meta tags, keyword optimization, and creating an XML sitemap. Additionally, optimize your images by adding descriptive alt text, which not only helps with SEO but also improves accessibility.
If you get a plugin like SEMrush or Yoast, they’ll walk you through how to do these things, and point out what all needs improvement. To learn more about any of these tasks—it’s just a quick search on YouTube! Or you can schedule a coaching session with me and I can walk you through the details… click here to apply for a free consultation. 🙂
BLOG → Consider starting a blog on your website to attract your target audience and increase potential sales. Write relevant and valuable content that addresses your audience's pain points or interests. This can help establish you as an authority in your industry and drive more traffic to your website.
EMAIL MARKETING → If you plan to use email marketing to nurture leads and build relationships with your customers, set up email automations at this stage. Create automated email sequences for different stages of the customer journey, such as welcome emails, abandoned cart emails, or post-purchase follow-ups. Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp or ConvertKit can help you automate this process.
5. Test - test - test
Testing is a very necessary step to complete before official launch. It ensures that everything on your website is functioning correctly and provides a smooth user experience. Here are some important areas to focus on:
→ Monitor your analytics to track your website's performance. Use tools like Google Analytics or MonsterInsights to monitor traffic, user behavior, and conversions. Make sure your tracking codes are properly implemented and collecting accurate data.
→ Check that your lead capturing systems are working correctly. If you have forms or opt-in boxes on your website, test them to ensure that the information is being captured accurately and that you receive notifications.
→ Test your payment portals to eliminate any potential issues. Make transactions using different payment methods to ensure a seamless checkout experience for your customers.
→ Verify that all links on your website are working correctly. Click through each page and navigate to external links to ensure there are no broken or incorrect URLs.
Once you have thoroughly tested your website and everything is running smoothly, you're ready to move on to the launch process. It's crucial to fix any issues and make necessary adjustments before going live.
In the next sections, we'll cover the final steps of preparing for launch, promoting your website, and ongoing website maintenance.
6. Launch! 🚀
Launching your website is an exciting moment, and it's important to make the most of it. Consider implementing a prelaunch period of about one month before the official launch. During this time, you can build anticipation and generate buzz around your website. Here's what you can do:
#1: Leverage your social media channels. Promote your upcoming website launch on social media platforms that are most relevant to your target audience. Share sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and teasers to create excitement and anticipation.
#2: Utilize email marketing automations. Make use of your email marketing automations to inform your existing subscribers about the upcoming launch. Send exclusive sneak peeks, early access invitations, or special offers to incentivize their engagement.
During the launch period, which can also last for about one month, your goal is to drive traffic, attract qualified leads, and convert them into customers. Here's how you can achieve that:
#1: Continue promoting on social media. Share regularly about your website launch on social media platforms to reach a wider audience. Consider running paid advertising campaigns to increase visibility and target specific demographics or interests.
#2: Engage your email list. Regularly send updates about your website launch to your email list and offer incentives for them to visit, such as exclusive discounts or content. Use personalized email marketing to segment your list and deliver targeted messages based on their interests or buying behavior.
#3: Offer exciting incentives. Create special launch offers, limited-time promotions, or exclusive bonuses to encourage immediate action and drive conversions. Make it compelling for your visitors to explore your website and make their first purchase.
Bonus #1: Use AI to Streamline the Process
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be game-changers when it comes to making the website building process easier and more efficient. Here are some AI-powered software options that can automate various aspects of your website creation:
* Content generation: AI-powered tools like Copy.ai or Frase can help automate content creation by generating blog post ideas, writing product descriptions, or creating ad copy. These tools utilize machine learning algorithms to produce high-quality content that saves you time and effort.
* Product generation: If you have an e-commerce website, tools like GAN (generative adversarial network), can help you create product images or even new product designs. These AI-powered tools can generate variations of your existing products or create entirely new ones based on your specifications.
* Ad optimization: AI-powered advertising platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads use machine learning to optimize your ad campaigns automatically. They can analyze data in real-time, adjust targeting, and suggest improvements to help increase the effectiveness of your ads.
By leveraging AI-powered tools, you can streamline your website creation process and automate certain tasks to save time and resources.
Click here to check out our Resources Hub and browse a long list of many different AI tools. You can learn more about what they can do for you there, plus browse over 100 other recommended tools and softwares!
Bonus #2: Landing Pages & Funnels
Landing pages and sales funnels are essential components of any successful online business. They are designed to convert visitors into leads and customers by guiding them through a predetermined sequence of steps.
Landing pages are standalone web pages that are created for a specific marketing campaign or objective. They are designed with one primary goal in mind, whether to capture leads, promote a product or service, or drive web traffic. Landing pages have a clear and concise call-to-action (CTA), and they're typically stripped of distractions like navigation menus and links that could lead a visitor away from the desired action.
Sales funnels are a series of connected landing pages that guide visitors through a process to convert them into paying customers. Funnel sequences are designed to move people from awareness of a product or service to a final purchasing decision. Each landing page in the funnel has a specific purpose along this journey and aims to move visitors to the next stage of the funnel.
These landing pages and funnels are essential for growing an online business in many ways:
* Improved conversion rates: Creating landing pages and funnels that are tailored to a specific offer or campaign can improve conversion rates because they guide visitors to the desired action.
* Better lead generation: Landing pages capture visitor information such as email addresses or phone numbers, allowing businesses to nurture leads over time.
* Increased sales: Sales funnels help businesses upsell products or services to existing customers and help increase overall sales revenue.
There are various ways to create landing pages and funnels, including plugins like CartFlows to build custom ones on WordPress, or standalone software like SamCart, ClickFunnels, LeadPages, or Systeme.io to create them on another platform. No matter which tool you choose, creating landing pages and sales funnels is crucial to growing an online business and converting visitors into customers.
Bonus #3: Upkeep & Maintenance
Building a successful website is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring, analysis, and improvements to keep up with industry trends and meet the ever-evolving needs of your audience.
After launching your website, it's crucial to regularly maintain and update it to ensure it remains functional, secure, and up-to-date. Here are some maintenance tasks to remember:
UPDATES:
→ Regularly update your website's theme, plugins, and software to ensure you have the latest security patches and features. This helps protect your website from vulnerabilities and potential hacking attempts.
→ Perform regular backups of your website's files and database to safeguard your data. In case of any issues or accidental data loss, having backups allows you to quickly restore your website to a previous state.
→ Continuously monitor your website for broken links, errors, and performance issues. Use tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, or website monitoring services to identify and fix any issues that arise.
ANALYTICS:
Monitoring your website's analytics is vital to understanding your website's performance and making informed decisions for improvement. Here are some important metrics to monitor:
→ Website traffic: Analyze the number of visitors, page views, and unique visitors to understand the overall performance of your website.
→ User behavior: Assess metrics like bounce rate, time on page, and conversion rates to gain insights into how visitors interact with your website and identify areas of improvement.
→ Conversion tracking: Set up conversion tracking to monitor specific actions on your website, such as form submissions, product purchases, or newsletter sign-ups. This helps you evaluate your website's effectiveness in meeting its goals and objectives.
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OPTIMIZATIONS:
To provide the best user experience and optimize your website for better performance, consider the following practices:
→ Optimize website speed: Ensure your website loads quickly by minimizing file sizes, compressing images, utilizing caching mechanisms, and leveraging content delivery networks (CDNs).
→ Mobile optimization: With the majority of internet users accessing websites from mobile devices, it's essential to optimize your website for mobile responsiveness and usability.
→ User-friendly navigation: Design intuitive navigation menus and clear call-to-action buttons to help users find the information or products they're seeking easily.
→ A/B testing: Conduct A/B tests to experiment with different layouts, designs, headlines, and calls-to-action to uncover what resonates best with your audience and improves conversion rates.
→ Use and analyze heatmaps: Heatmaps provide visual insights into how users interact with your website by highlighting areas of high engagement and identifying potential bottlenecks or areas for improvement.
By regularly maintaining your website, monitoring analytics, and optimizing for better performance and user experience, you can ensure your website remains effective, efficient, and successful in achieving its goals.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, building a website can be a daunting task, but with the right approach and tools, it can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Remember to lay a strong foundation by defining your website's purpose, target audience, and branding. Choose the right website builder or platform that suits your needs, and integrate important features such as SEO, lead capture, and email marketing automations. Don't forget the importance of testing and preparing well for your website launch!
Definitely make use of the latest technology and AI-powered tools to save time and streamline the website building process. Finally, continuously monitor and optimize your website's performance to ensure it provides the best user experience (UX) for your visitors.
By following these steps and strategies, you can build a website that looks professional, engages your audience, and drives the results you want.
Good luck and happy building!
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As I’m sure you might know already, starting and maintaining a successful business—more than anything—is a complicated journey full of reroutes, twists, and turns. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for being a part of this wild journey with me… the most important part! <3
Stay hungry, my friends. 🍟
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MEET COCO
An ex starving artist and 13-year-bartender who finally decided to take a huge leap of faith, she opened her first business in 2020. Through a series of false-starts and what some would call failures, Coco learned how to finally get it right, and now coaches other business owners and hopeful entrepreneurs in the vast world of online business.
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