Small and medium-sized businesses have their task cut out while analysing small business website packages. Run a quick search on Google and you’ll realise that it’s not exactly a cakewalk. There are an overwhelming number of options to choose from. It’s not always clear what separates one service from another.

A business website is mostly a one-time investment. You want to make sure you get it right the first time. So, how do you go about choosing the best package for your small business?

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the factors to consider while selecting small business website packages. Keep on reading…

#1 – Select small business website packages that offer custom website design

The term ‘small business website package’ is often used to peddle ready-made templates. These templates can be good starting points. But they often don’t give businesses the flexibility they seek. You would want to create a website that represents your unique brand.

A website that’s representative of your business. For that, you’ll need to go for a custom website design. This can be more expensive. But it will be worth it in the long run. A custom website design will give your business the edge over the competition. You’re not a part of the crowd anymore.

It speaks your brand’s voice. Make sure to ask the web design company about their experience in designing custom websites. Do they have a portfolio of websites that you can take a look at?

#2 – Easy navigation and UX

Navigation is one of the most important aspects of any website’s design. It’s not merely a way for users to find pages on your website. Instead, it’s closely linked to the overall user experience. Clear and simple navigation helps users find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. It also makes your website look professional.

A good web design company will take care of the overall navigation in their designs. They’ll make sure that it’s easy to use and visually appealing.

Analyse the navigation in their existing designs. Is it too complex? Do they use the hamburger menu for mobile devices? Are the navigation menus interactive with visual media?

#3 – Niche-specific design is one of the key factors of small business website packages

We spoke briefly about pre-made templates. One of the reasons why we dislike them is that they are too generic. Often, templates don’t take into account the specific industry. A template that’s designed for a law firm might not be suitable for a medical supplies website. Yet, designers try to retrofit these.

This is especially true with cheap or budget-priced design packages. A good web design company will always design niche-specific websites.

At Rockstar Marketing, our team brainstorms on how to make your website as attractive and effective as possible. What are your goals? What are the niche-specific trends? How do your competitor websites look? Which elements will amplify the functionality of the site? Our small business website packages are comprehensive.

#4 – Designed according to Google’s recommendations of best practices

Google is the number one search engine in the world. It’s no surprise that businesses have SEO in mind even before the site is ready. For this, the website design needs to comply with Google’s recommendations.

There are several that are important. But we’ll focus on two primary ones. That’s website speed and mobile-friendliness.

Google recommends that websites are designed for mobile devices first, then desktop. This is because more people are using mobile devices to access the Internet. Not having a mobile-friendly website is not an option anymore. If you use a static website, Google will penalise you in the search results. But what’s worse is that you will lose out on a significant chunk of traffic.

Similarly, Google recommends that websites load in under three seconds. Anything more than that and you’re likely to lose visitors and rankings. A good web design company will be aware of these recommendations. They will make sure that their designs follow them.

At Rockstar Marketing, we take a mobile-first approach to website design. All of our designs are responsive and load quickly on all devices. Our sites usually have First Contentful Paint Scores of 1.5 seconds. Google’s recommendation is 1.8 seconds.

#5 – Easy to manage or management done for you

You’re not going to build a website and leave it unchanged forever. There will be updates, often frequently. You will want to add blog articles. There will be updates to existing content. You may want to add new features. So, it’s important that the website design company you choose makes it easy for you to manage your website.

This can be done in a few ways:

• Through an easy-to-use content management system (CMS) like WordPress
• By providing training on how to use the CMS
• By offering a managed website service where they update and manage your website for you for a small additional charge

Rockstar Marketing offers all of these services. WordPress is our CMS of choice. We provide in-depth training on how to use it. We also offer a managed website service. This is ideal for businesses that don’t want the hassle of updating their website themselves.

#6 – Secure

It’s a fallacy to think that website security is only for big businesses. In fact, small businesses are even more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Because they often don’t have the resources to defend themselves. 55% of UK companies experienced a cyber attack in 2019.

That’s why it’s important to select small business website packages that do not cut corners with security. Security protocols for websites need to be implemented at the design stage. Not as an afterthought.

At Rockstar Marketing, we take website security very seriously. Our team is certified in the latest security protocols. We use sitewide SSL (verified), SHA256 encryption, protect against SQL injections and DoS attacks. You can be assured that we have your back when it comes to website security.

#7 – Small business website packages that offer cross-browser compatibility

More people are using mobile devices to access the Internet. This means that your website needs to be designed with cross-browser compatibility in mind.

What this means is that your website needs to look good and function well on all devices and browsers. Google chrome, Microsft Edge, Safari, UC Browser, Opera and Firefox are the most popular browsers used today.

Rockstar Marketing offers cross-browser compatibility as standard in all of our website designs. This means that your website will look great and function well on all devices and browsers. We use Doctype, CSS reset, and cross-browser compatible web framework.

Further, we vigorously test our designs in all popular browsers.

#8 – Small business website packages should be affordable

We believe that small business website packages should be affordable. But you run this checklist by most web design companies. They will tell you that you need to spend a lot of money to get a website that ticks all these boxes.

That’s why Rockstar Marketing is different. We believe that small businesses should not have to break the bank to get a great website. Our website packages are affordable. They offer great value for money. They start from £1K for basic websites and £2-£3K for advanced ones.

#9 – Marketing ready

You need small business website packages that are marketing ready. Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Bing Webmaster Tools should be set up and configured from the start. The website design company you choose should also offer training on how to use these tools.

Rockstar Marketing offers all of this as standard. We set up and configure various analytics and webmaster tools from the start. We can also manage analytics for you since we are a full-service marketing agency.

#10 – Scalable technology

Your website needs to be scalable. What this means is that it can grow and change as your business grows. It’s important to choose a website design company that uses scalable technology.

This is particularly important for eCommerce websites. eCommerce websites have complex codes on the backend. There are multiple integrations. For instance, marketing tools, payment gateways, shipping services and advertising platforms. This creates the perfect recipe for glitches. Moreover, they can experience sudden spikes in traffic.

You might be selling just one product now. But that does not mean that you will never sell more products. A scalable website will make it easy to do complex things. If you’re looking to migrate data, it should be effortless. You should be able to add SKUS. Make variant changes. All of these without hassle.

Conclusion

Small business website packages are not one-size-fits-all. Every business is different and has unique needs. That’s why it’s important to do your research before choosing a website design company.

At Rockstar Marketing, we believe in offering great value for money. If you’re looking for a great website at an affordable price, then we should be your first port of call.

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