How to build a website quickly for your business or organisation

Read time: 6 mins        Added date: 09/09/2024

GoDaddy shares how easy it is to launch a business website using their Website Builder, without the help of a web designer.

In collaboration with GoDaddy

This article is developed in collaboration with GoDaddy – one of the largest services platforms for entrepreneurs around the globe, offering website building tools. 

Website Builder from GoDaddy

How can I get more customers? It’s a question that all small business owners, from yoga teachers to private accountants, ask regularly during the course of their careers.

Some people may tell you to set up Facebook ads, others will advise to create a Google Business profile. But did you know that it can be just as easy to set up a website for your business? Today’s web design tools, like the popular Website Builder from GoDaddy, offer everything you need to build and launch a website. 

How to create a business website

GoDaddy’s Website Builder offers a free trial that lets you build and start using a personalised business website without paying upfront. 

Website Builder is surprisingly easy to use. In fact, it takes eight quick steps to launch a business website. We outline those steps below.

Step 1 – Start a free trial (30 seconds)

When you head over to the GoDaddy website, the words ‘Create your website for free’ are amongst the first things you’ll see. 

Just click on the ‘Start for Free’ button to begin your free trial. You won’t be asked to add any personal or payment details. You can just get started. 

Step 2 – Choose your industry (10 seconds)

Website Builder will ask you what industry you are in, so it can suggest layouts, photos, colours and text for your new website. For illustration purposes, we decided to set up a website for an independent hair salon.

Step 3 – Pick your name (10 seconds)

Simply enter the name of your business. We decided to call our fictitious hair salon business Good Hair Days.

Step 4 – Quickly select your site elements (20 seconds)

After you have entered your business name, Website Builder will ask you what you’d like to have on your site, including:

  • ‘About Us’ section where you tell your business story
  • A photo gallery 
  • Reviews from happy customers
  • A ‘Contact Us’ area with your contact details
  • Links to your social media profiles

Once you have selected the elements you’d like, Website Builder will create a website for you in a matter of seconds. You’ll also be asked at this stage if you’d like to take a quick 60-second tour of the Website Builder tool to get a better idea of how to use it. 

Step 5 – Play around with layouts, colours and fonts (optional)

If you’re not completely happy with the template Website Builder has suggested for you, click on the ‘Theme’ tab and choose ‘Try a new look’. You’ll be shown a new selection of layouts. Simply pick the one you like best. We decided to switch to a template with a large image and central ‘Book an appointment’ button.

Within the ‘Theme’ tab you can also play around with the colours and fonts of your buttons and headlines. This is a fun step, but if you’re in a rush to get your site live you can always skip it.

Step 6 – Add content to your site 

Website Builder’s templates are auto filled with photos, headlines and words linked to the industry you chose at the start of the process. For example, the Good Hair Days website was auto populated with a nice photo of a hair salon, the headline ‘Unleash your hair’s potential’ and sections of text on ‘Our vision’, ‘Our services’ and ‘Our philosophy’.

This content is good to go, however, you can easily switch it out for your own. The only things you really need to change will be elements like your opening hours and contact information. 

Good to know: Most Website Builder templates will come with a contact form built in, so potential customers can easily email you. If you do have a bit more time here, you can tailor your site further. You can add as many new sections of content to your site as you like by moving your cursor to the area of your site you’d like to add to and clicking on the round + button. 

Clicking on the + button will let you add everything from audio and visual content to a blog, an email signup form and a menu/price list. 

Step 7 – Check your next steps (30 seconds)

Website Builder provides a list of ‘Next Steps’ that you can follow to ensure your website is ready for publication. These are based on data GoDaddy has gathered from hundreds of thousands of sites built with them over the years. 

These ‘Next Steps’ can be anything from reviewing your ‘About Us’ information to adding your logo to your website (or creating one with their free logo builder if you don’t have one yet). Of course, you don’t have to carry out every suggestion. Just complete the tasks you want to.

Step 8 – Publish your site (5 seconds)

When you’re happy with the look, feel and words on your website and have checked your ‘Next Steps’ to make sure you’ve not missed anything, you’re ready to go live.

To publish your website to the world, all you need to do is click the ‘Publish’ button that’s in the top left-hand corner of Website Builder. You can also preview your site in the click of a button.

Why should you create a website for your business?

Millions of people use the internet to find local businesses and services every day. While you can have an online presence without a website, a website can make you look more professional.

This is because you can customise a personal website more easily than a social media business page. Plus, people generally know that websites take that little bit of extra effort to build, which can reflect well on your commitment to your business.

Yes, you can do it!

We’ve seen above that it’s possible to build a website from scratch without any technical web design skill. And the fact is, it’s cheaper to launch a site than most people think.

So, it goes without saying that a business website is an essential, affordable and easy-to-establish part of your marketing mix.  

 

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