Every business is unique.

As such, every business has different marketing needs…but regardless of your business type, a website is a marketing must-have.

Companies that don’t have a website might not be taken seriously by potential customers in this day and age.

If you need to design a website for your business but have no idea where to start, don’t fret. Freedom Consulting is here to help!

Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right?!

In this Website Design subcategory of our Business Marketing Blog Series, we will discuss every step of the website design process so you can create a professional website for your contracting business and take your business to the next level!

We will start by thinking through how your business receives money, use that information to choose a hosting service, and decide on a domain name for your business.

Here we go!

Examine How Your Business Receives Money

No two businesses have exactly the same website needs, but very different companies can produce unique websites using the same guidelines.

Customization is all up to you. (That’s the fun part!)

One choice you should make before you start designing a website, however, is whether or not you intend to take payments through that website (or if you will receive money a different way).

How you receive money from your clients may seem unrelated to designing a website, but it can be an integral part of deciding which type of website you design. 

If you provide services to clients – like spraying foam or reading well logs – we recommend designing a website that is entirely separate from your money.  

A website, in this case, would serve as a platform for potential customers to learn more about you and your business, browse the services you offer, and contact you.  You may also consider adding a blog page to your website to help clients educate themselves before contacting you (which also increases your online reach. Yay, marketing!)

That’s it.

Separating your website and banking can be a good idea – especially if you prefer a more hands-off experience and don’t want to pay too much attention to website security after your site is launched.

Many online invoicing platforms – such as PayPal, QuickBooks, or Wave – operate completely independently from your website. Some of these options can even double as accounting software. Win-win-win!

If you are planning to sell goods or products using your website, however, separating your site and your money isn’t plausible. If that is the case for your business, you may need to invest in website security plugins, or choose a platform or hosting service known for its security measures for your site, like Shopify.

Online shopping is a HUGE deal in our economy.  It is perfectly possible to design a secure and stable website through which you sell goods and services. People do it all the time!  

However.

Selling goods or services through your website with as little risk as possible (without earning a programming degree from your couch) may cost you more than a website separated from your money.

It all comes down to your business needs and budget, right?

Money makes the world go ‘round. (Or so we’ve been told!)

Alrighty. With all that in mind, let’s move on to choosing a hosting provider for your website.

Choose a Hosting Service

Okay.

Nitty-gritty time.

Let’s choose a hosting service for your website!

You have many hosting options, as you’ve likely guessed.

If you’ve decided to design a WordPress website – which is what a majority of the world uses – then we recommend Bluehost for your hosting provider.

Their hosting plans are affordable, and their customer support is geared toward website beginners – always available and easy to understand. Plus, you get a free domain name for the first year.

Are we already speaking Greek?

Don’t panic! We will explain ourselves along the way.

WordPress (basically) is free software used to create websites by a good chunk the internet. 

You can build your own website from nothing, but that takes years of training in computer science. Using software like WordPress – and customizing it to fit your business needs – requires NO knowledge of programming. 

There can be some downsides to using WordPress – but it is common, versatile, and accessible.  As such, we will be focusing primarily on using WordPress in this website design blog series.

A website’s “host” simply refers to the physical location where your website resides.  

Even the World Wide Web requires physical storage space.

(It’s not actually housed in a cloud…)

A hosting service provides space for your website on their servers – so that you don’t have to do that yourself – and ensures that your website is visible to clients at all times.  

Even while you’re asleep…

Or riding a horse (with no name) in the mountains (or desert)… 

Or sipping pineapple juice from a coconut on the beach…as ya do.

The point is this: hosting is necessary to have a website, and Bluehost is a great place to start. (No, we aren’t sponsored.) You can always change hosting services later if you decide you don’t want to continue with Bluehost.

Now.

If you’re going to be selling goods via your new website, you might want to consider using Shopify instead of Bluehost.

Shopify is built for (money) security, and you can design an attractive online storefront without too much hassle. Shopify might also be a good option if you don’t want to customize every little thing on your site.

The downside to using Shopify is that most of the world uses WordPress…which means fewer free options for customizing and more difficult code decipher (if you are into that sort of thing).

You have to be willing to give the (nameless) horse its head much more when using Shopify. At the end of the design process, your Shopify site – while functional and secure and pretty – will likely not be glamorous without substantial financial investment.

All that being said, Shopify is truly a Godsend for small-business owners who sell things online and don’t want to worry about website security. Essentially, for a fee, Shopify takes care of all of the hosting and back-end security for you.

Shopify also has high-quality, easy-to-follow instructional videos for website design. They do a great job helping even the greenest of beginners feel capable of creating a functional and attractive online store.

After choosing a hosting service, the next step in the website design process is to choose a domain name for your site.

Choose a Domain Name

Your site’s “domain name” is the online “address” for your website.

Ours, for example, is freedomconsultingcorp.com.

A domain name should be short and sweet so your clients can remember it. Variations on your business name are probably the best option.

The suffix portion of a domain (such as “.com”) also plays a role in choosing a name for your site. Suffixes can help your business seem credible to clients.  For contracting services, we recommend securing a “.com” suffix, if possible – but other credible options are out there, so make the choice that fits your business best!

To secure your domain name, it has to be available for purchase.

If you choose Bluehost for your hosting provider, you get a free domain name for the first year, and you can use their site to figure out whether or not your desired domain name is available.  

If you decide on a different hosting service, you may need (or just want) to purchase your domain name separately. Connecting your domain to your hosting provider is relatively simple, although slightly different for each hosting service and domain seller.  

Domain names purchased separately from a hosting service generally come with easy-to-follow instructions describing how to connect the two. Sites like GoDaddy or NameCheap are popular for buying domains and are often reasonably priced.

One last thing to mention regarding a domain name: once you own one, you can create an email address that points back to your domain – like todd@freedomconsultingcorp.com.

This isn’t essential – but it adds a professional quality to your email address that isn’t possible without owning a domain name.  There are multiple ways of achieving a professional email featuring your domain name – but the simplest is purchasing an email hosting plan through Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. 

Just another way to take your business to the next level!

Conclusion

Running a business is all about persistence.

That includes stepping outside of your comfort zone to accomplish something you know you need…even if you’re unsure how.

YOU’VE GOT THIS!

You can absolutely figure out how to design a professional website for your contracting business.

And you don’t even have to do it by yourself.

Freedom Consulting is here to help you every step of the way. 

In the second blog post of our website design series, we will discuss the next few steps in the website design process, including creating a basic business logo – for FREE.

Until then, happy research….and don’t panic! 





P. S. – 

If you’ve gotten through this post and already decided website design just isn’t for you, we can help you with that, too.

Give us a call.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way…even if that “way” is investing in a website designer’s services for your business.