The Best Way to Build A Website For A Small Business
Most businesses nowadays need a website. Whether you have a restaurant, a landscaping company or a salon, you benefit from a professional looking website so your customers can find you and see what you stand for. It feels daunting to set one up on your own and it is challenging to hire someone to do it for you without spending a fortune and losing your creative control. I have heard so many stories from small business owners who are dissatisfied with their options. The platform I use has solved those problems for thousands of small business owners. If you want to know the best way to build a website for small business I highly recommend this Canadian company with members around the world.
I stumbled on this company myself and I have a friend who is a general contractor and has used it’s web hosting for years. I focus on web based work with my own review websites such as this one as well as a pet website. My friend doesn’t have much time for a website and focuses on his local business with home repairs and remodeling. Either way, this platform can help you every step of the way to build a site and run it successfully. If you have a local business and don’t have time to dedicate to your site every day, that is fine! You can quickly get a professional website up and running and trust their hosting to keep it safe, secure and accessible.
Do You Need a Website? Why Not Just Use Facebook?
According to Maddie Shepard at Nerdwallet’s site Fundera, 97% of customers look online to find local businesses but only 64% of local businesses have websites. That was in 2020. According to Zippia.com the percentage of small businesses with websites in 2022 rose to 71% while 81% of customers research purchases online first and 85% look online to find local businesses first. Some small business owners think they can just use social media and some think their business is too small to worry about a website. Some think their type of business is not relevant for a website or they worry they don’t have enough time or experience to take on a website. I would point to my friend the contractor. He had no website experience, little time and his business is general contracting which has nothing to do with the online world. He already had customers but knew he needed the credibility of a real website so his customers could find him online.
Many small businesses to rely on social media but that doesn’t satisfy a large subset of customers. Social media is ok for some things but customers want an easy way to find your contact information and see exactly what you have to offer without scrolling through random posts that Facebook may reorganize. The want to see your contact information, see a way to click on a menu (both a food menu if you are a restaurant or a website menu for other businesses) and find information easily.
Here is a big one I didn’t know myself. If you want to show you are credible for something like a bank loan it is better and may be necessary to have your own website as well. A website shows stability and credibility.
What is the Best Platform For Building a Small Business Website?
Many cheap website hosting companies claim you can start a site for $10 or $20 but they quickly add on additional fees once you are already committed to a year or more. My contractor friend said he started with one of those popular hosting platforms and after a few months they said he needed to pay more and more to keep his hosting. He was totally disappointed and felt misled.
Wealthy Affiliate is very clear about the costs up front. There are a few different membership levels but once you pick one, no one will ever add on fees or surprises. The value of what you get with a Wealthy Affiliate membership is much higher than the popular discount platforms as well.
You could be a general contractor like my friend, a wedding planner like another person who signed up, a restaurant, coffee shop, salon, tire shop, florist…the sky is the limit! Or you can make a online business as an affiliate marketer, blogger, self published author and more. You will get the hosting, training, IT support, security and endless new ideas to build your business. Learn to use keywords the correct way (no more keyword stuffing like in the 90’s, that will get you penalized!) to secure top spots in the search engine results. Learn how to get the number 1 spot on sites like Google and Bing for free! You never have to pay for advertising!
With A Wealthy Affiliate Membership Your Business Gets These 8 Valuable Tools (and a lot more I won’t try to count):
1. Step by Step training that shows you how to set up your new website.
2. Over 1 million high definition images that are totally free and legal to use! No more endless searches to find quality photos or worrying about all the complex pitfalls of copyrights, royalties and plagiarism.
3. The ability to host multiple websites for the same cost. The only additional cost will be the cost of the domain name itself which is about $13 a year.
4. Top Quality Web Hosting which includes site security and behind the scenes monitoring to catch cyber threats. Web hosting at Wealthy Affiliate also includes 24/7 site support! You will not have to wait if it is the weekend or the middle of the night. In the 5 years I have been a member and used their web hosting I have only had a few instances where I needed IT support but I am not exaggerating when I say they fixed my problem in less than 5 minutes on multiple occasions and almost always in less than 10.
5. An endless supply of training. No matter how far you want to go in the online world, you can get the training here.
6. Tools to help you find great keywords that allow your posts to rank high in the search engine results (so you get seen)!
7. An amazing, worldwide community of supportive and friendly people who are building their own businesses. Some of these members have become millionaires right here using this platform and the training included! These members often create their own training and answer questions on various platforms.
8. A built-in platform to get interaction and comments on your site which helps raise your posts to the top of the search rankings.
And a whole lot more such as new tools and platforms being developed each year and included in the price.
Try It FREE For 7 Days!
You don’t even need to put in a credit card or billing info. This is truly free for 7 days with no catch at the end or surprise billing you have to cancel.
Take A Look Around Right Now with No Commitment!
- If you want to just see what it looks like, you can check it out anytime and have a free, starter membership for 7 days. If you are serious about running your business website you probably want to pay for a full membership but if you are unsure then just take a peek and check it out with No Credit Card,
- No Billing
- No Membership to Cancel
- No Strings
You don’t have anything to lose here since no one will take your personal info and use it to bill you. You are free to look around, build a free website, see what Wealthy Affiliate is all about and decide if you would like to pursue it.
This is Not An MLM (Multi Level Marketing)
No offense to MLM people who are legit but many people don’t want to deal with MLM. Wealthy Affiliate is not an MLM. You don’t get a percentage of anyone’s revenue. Many members do not promote Wealthy Affiliate and simply run their own business.
What If You Want a 100% Online Business?
Please check out my posts on building a blog or affiliate marketing business online here.
I Hope You Will Take Look and See What You Think!
Just to prove I am real and really do live and work online in Alaska, here is a photo from this weekend in July 2022, taken at beautiful Eklutna Lake about a half hour from my home. I hope you will check this out and see all the many reasons your website could be built, hosted, supported and profitable being hosted at Wealthy Affiliate.
Real Web Freedom makes use of affiliate relationships with merchants such as Wealthyaffiliate.com for monetization. This means when you click on links on this site and make a purchase, this can result in a commission that is credited to this site. This does not affect purchase price and you will not pay a penny more.
If you have any thoughts or questions please leave a comment below and I will respond!
Jessica
I like how you explained the importance of small businesses owning their own website in preference to relying completely on social media. You taught me something new. For example, it shows stability to a potential lender when a loan is needed. I can’t think of many businesses that can get by without a loan sometime in their existence.
Wealthy Affiliate definitely has what it takes to provide complete support for a small business website. Your list of benefits provides a great deal of confidence that this platform delivers.
Cheers.
Edwin
Yes, that is an interesting tidbit I recently have learned Edwin. I did not think about a business loan depending on proof of credibility in the form of a website.
Thanks for stopping by and for your thoughts!
Jessica
Hi Jessica, I am in search of a way to generate income and love being a part of the WA community. I’m from Detroit and have lived in California for the past 35 years and love it. I used to do mortgage loans and understand the struggle. Great job on your story!
Hi Mary, I agree. I love being a WA member, love the community and great platform.
Thanks,
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
I love the lovely picture of Alaska with you.
That’s great I will remember you and your post. I liked the wonderful way you introduced the web marketing platform and its importance in today’s world of business.
Everyone small and big business needs a website and a great hosting platform, the security of your site is vitally important and needless to say.
Wealthy Affiliate is a second-to-none platform where one can enjoy an all-in-one bundle of everything you need with a fee that is very affordable and the best in this competitive world.
Moreover, one can start and test-drive free for an entire week. Many of us have tried and saw the potential for success and upgraded to build our businesses.
Hello Anusuya,
A high quality website is vital to business and I don’t know of any platform better for creating websites that Wealthy Affiliate.
Thanks,
Jessica
This ’The Best Way to Build A Website For A Small Business’ article provides some good information about Wealthy Affiliate. Moreover, you can view WA as an all-in-one solution compared to a number of other platforms. It is true that you get a full gambit of tools and services for one low price. It is definitely worth a look.
Hello Canty,
I agree. The greatest advantage to this program is that you get everything in one place for one reasonable price.
Thanks for stopping by,
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
great post about the importance of having your website. Small businesses would benefit greatly from having one. Facebook will only work for specific audiences and unless you spend money on ads, you’ll struggle to get much traffic.
There is always a risk that a social media platform doesn’t work for you, and then you need to start all over again (remember google+?). having your website means you have a central location for all of your promotions and is a must-have these days…
Hello John,
I hadn’t thought about Google+ for a while. I felt like I wasted so much time when it went away since I had been using it. I agree. Social media can be fun but it can also be a massive waste of time especially when the sites change their rules or algorithms and suddenly your posts don’t show up or in the case of Google+, may get shut down entirely. Most social media posts are outdated a day after you post them also so you are chained to it forever.
Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
I am happy that I have found your article and discovered this new opportunity for a website for small businesses.
I am myself a member of Wealthy Affiliate and can firmly confirm what you have indicated in your article. Has it not been for WA, I would probably not have had my online business at all. It has been the training, the technical support and the community support that have helped me to create and run my business.
Tatiana
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for this article. It reminds me of how good the Wealthy Affiliate platform is and how the training helps me build my online business. I joined WA three years ago, and now I’ve made a stable online income from my website. I consider myself a small business owner. It’s not like a brick-and-mortar business but an online business. The good thing is that you only need a tiny portion of what regular business takes to build a website, especially on Wealthy Affiliate. I cannot run my business smoothly without WA’s help, and I hope my words also help your readers to make a better decision. 🙂
Matt
Hello Matt,
One of my favorite things about Wealthy Affiliate is that the training and support give us so many options for which direction we can go in business. With the same membership you could run a website for a local business or run an online business which could focus on dozens of business models like affiliate marketing, e-books, self publishing real books, selling our own products online, writing content for other sites and more. I am glad it is working out so well for you!
Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica
Many thanks for this valuable and detailed post about building a website for small business. In fact, I think that a business must have a website today. Also, today it is not as difficult as it used to be to create a website. I think wealthy affiliate is the easiest way to build a website. Also, you will get the best training and great help from that community. Keep posting like this.
Hello Dimanka,
Yes, I think if more small business owners knew they could get step by step instruction and support they would be more likely to build a website. It certainly is beneficial and in many cases crucial for success.
Jessica
You are right, everyone needs a website presence for their business, but most people end up outsourcing this as they think it is too difficult.
Wealthy Affiliate makes it so easy to set up and host your own website, and with all the training they supply, you can learn how to get to the top of the search engines so that people in your area can find you.
I have used Wealthy Affiliate for years now, both for my business website and for a few others I have started along the way, and all of them are bringing in profits each month.
Having a website is a very good way of promoting your business. Many local businesses, like hairdressers, bakeries, beauticians etc. often do not have a website to promote their services. And they invariably miss out on lots of marketing potential for their business if they do not have a website.
Joining a platform like Wealthy Affiliate will allow you to build a website and being found on search engines for small businesses. The best thing about Wealthy Affiliate is that you can try it for free and see how you can benefit from it.
It is very important the small businesses to have their own website. With so much competition these days, everyone is fighting for their own space in the online world. Social media such as Facebook I believe only show a small proportion and to a small audience unless you start paying for ads.
Wealthy affiliate is an amazing platform to create a website on and one that gets the small businesses noticed more, in time. Potential customers want to be able to find things quickly and with certain social media platforms, this can prove difficult if they’re trying to find certain information.
Whilst there are many companies that allow you to create your own website for a very small amount per year, that doesn’t provide you with the training that you need in order to have a successful website.
HI Jessica,
Great article! I loved how you mentioned the importance of a website. I recently stopped into a local store that carries custom-made furniture and ordered a table for my new small business that is opening this month. I also do online affiliate marketing and am a member of Wealthy Affiliate, so I asked the store owner if he has an affiliate program because I’d love to join and help him by advertising his business online.
I have been going in there for about 3 years now and he really has some very awesome furniture and also artwork, engraved wood pieces, etc. that are all hand and custom made. He told me he doesn’t do anything online because in his business it doesn’t make sense because everything is custom-made to order like the table I ordered.
I think a business like his, that’s truly unique, should absolutely have a website! I am a true believer in the power of the Internet and websites so the first thing I did for my new business is get a domain from Wealthy Affiliate to host and created a website that is fully hosted by them. My new business will be partially making handcrafted, custom-made items as well, like shirts, engraved photos, etc. I think making more small businesses aware of the power of a website is very important.
Thank you,
Chastity
HI Chastity,
Thanks for the real-life examples! I have thought of starting various small, local businesses myself and I am 100% sure I will be using a Wealthy Affiliate hosted website it I do. Why miss out on all the extra business a website brings! There is no reason not to take advantage of the easy exposure and confidence it inspires in customers. So many people want to find out something about a business before they walk in the door. They want to know where the business is located for starters! They want to know the hours it is open and see a phone number they can call. They may want to see a menu or list of items available or prices. Social media is not good at showing these pieces of basic information other than daily or maybe weekly specials. Customers want consistent information that is reliably available.
My husband and I picked food up a new restaurant today. I would have been much less likely to go there if they didn’t have a website with a menu I could see ahead of time.
I hope your new business thrives! I am sure your website will be the easy part!
Thanks for stopping by,
Jessica
I think that making a website is so easy these days that no matter how big a company you have you must at least create some short of exposure to the online world. Social media is also a must as almost everybody has an account is some of these so the chances of further exposure are there. WA is an amazing platform and has almost everything would need to make a start.
Hi Jessica,
A website shows stability and credibility and it is important for small businesses to promote themselves and enlarge their market reach. There is so much competition, with everyone fighting for their own space online , so visibility is important.
Many cheap website hosting companies are never fully upfront with you anyway and as you rightly explained quickly add on additional fees once you are already committed a year or so when they know your website is already established.
Wealthy affiliate is a great training platform to create a website and the program is quite attractive.
Ceci
I agree with you that Wealthy Affiliate is the best place to start and build a website for a small business as I have done this.
This is because they give you all the tools required for you to succeed which is super cool.
I also like the community that is helpful there.
Hello Thabo,
I agree! I love the support, training and great community as well. I am glad to hear you have experienced all that while building your business.
Jessica
Hi, Jessica, You are spot on the point when you recommend a website to anyone venturing into an online business. There are no shortcuts to this requirement. No serious customer will take you seriously when you sell through social media except if it is one of your other outreach avenues from your website. I agree with you, WA is the cheapest web hosting and training platform with no other hidden costs. Depending on the type of membership, you will get everything covered and no additions. Thank you once again for this post.
Hi Jessica
These days it has become important to have a website for small and local businesses. It has many benefits for businesses to grow and expand in an online community.
I agree with you that Wealthy Affiliate has quality hosting of your website and a helpful community as well. It is worth a try for the first seven days absolutely for free.
Thanks
Sujith 🙂