With 200 million current active websites but 1.7 billion websites in total, not every website is a success. Internet users have a lot of choices where they can browse online and some websites don’t make the cut.
Startup websites also take a lot of hard work and trial and error to get off the ground. You can’t wing it when making a new website; you need to know what you’re doing.
But, the beauty of starting a website that becomes successful is that you have the potential to run it from anywhere in the world. You can be your own boss and have unlimited earning potential.
And when you know exactly how to start a website, there is nothing that can get in your way. Start your new website today knowing these key secrets that will make it a success.
1. Great Hosting Company
If you build a castle on quicksand, it doesn’t matter how beautiful the castle is if it gets sucked into the ground. And you can say the same for building your startup website with a bad hosting company.
They determine your website’s speed, how secure your website is, and how long/often it stays online so it’s important to pick a good one. There are a few different types of hosting, and these are the main ones:
- Shared
- Dedicated
- VPS
When you are starting a new website, shared hosting is more than adequate. But when your website has more than 100,000+ hits a month (don’t worry, it will happen!) then you can look at other types.
If you are serious about building one of the best startup websites, don’t stick with WordPress or another CMS hosting option for long. They don’t offer you the same number of services or flexibility.
You also need to choose a hosting company with servers nearest your website’s audience (or predicted/intended audience). For example, if most of your website visitors are US-based, then you should choose a hosting company with a server in the US.
It sounds like it won’t make a difference, but it will make a huge improvement to your site speed and traffic. Some good website hosting companies are SiteGround, A2 Hosting, and Bluehost.
2. Recognizable Brand Name and Domain
Every business needs a simple, catchy name that is easy to remember and describes what the business does. The same goes for startup websites, too.
Choose something short and check that the social media handles are available using a service like Namechk.
Having target keywords as part of your name will help boost your website’s visibility. For example, if you sell jewelry online then your name could be something like “Eliza Jones Jewelry” so it’s clear what your website is about.
3. Beautiful Yet Simple Web Design
There’s nothing wrong with wanting your startup website to look different from all the others and stand out. But when you are creating a new website, you want visitors to find it easy to use and navigate, so you might not want to reinvent the wheel too much.
There is a happy medium between websites with too many images, advertisements, and menu options and the ones that are all white with one dropdown. Use big, beautiful imagery and consider a visitor’s journey through your site.
If you have an eCommerce website, make the buying process as simple and uncomplicated as possible. Use software like HotJar to track your user’s experience to see if there is anything confusing them.
Don’t forget to make your website look good on both mobile and desktop devices. Mobile is king now, so put that design first.
4. Full SEO Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a toolbox of techniques you can use to help your website rank higher in search engine results pages.
No matter whether you have a blog, eCommerce site, or another type of online business, you should post lots of content. And that content needs to be SEO optimized.
Invest in a keyword research tool like Keysearch. Find relevant, high volume, and low competition keywords relevant to your website’s niche. Write content around these keywords and include them in strategic places like your content’s title.
There are tons of other SEO techniques you need to learn about and use on your website which will help you increase your traffic.
5. Clear Goals and Purpose
If you’re reading the words “website’s niche” and thinking “I don’t have one of those” then you need to get one! Your startup website needs to have a clear purpose and you need to know how it will make money.
This is easier for eCommerce websites because you likely already know what you want to sell and the purpose of your website. But you might need to niche down further.
Using the jewelry example, you cannot only be a “jewelry” store. You either need to be a budget online jewelry store or a luxury, minimalist, or vintage one, as examples. The clearer your niche, the easier it will be to attract loyal users, readers, and customers.
6. Measure Analytics and Keep Improving
The success of startup websites depends on a lot of trying new methods and seeing what works. Install Google Analytics on your website and track your success on a spreadsheet.
See which web pages get the most views, which don’t, the demographics of your audience, and how long they are spending on your website. Replicate your successes and learn from your failures.
Locate your 10 nearest competitors and attempt to measure their analytics too. How many times do they post a month and what kind of content? Is your website’s content better?
If not, then you have a clear idea of how to improve!
One of the Next Successful Startup Websites Could Be Yours
Don’t let the volume of new startup websites put you off from starting your dream venture. Websites have a low initial cost but huge earning potential, so you’ve got little to lose and a lot to gain.
All you need is to research your niche, put the hours in, and there’s no reason why you couldn’t have a successful, well-made website.
Need to get more business-savvy now you’ve started a successful startup website? Check out our website for tons of entrepreneurial and financial advice!
