Getting Started with Small Business SEO: Part 3 – 228

But again, you really want to focus on speed, security, customer support — all those great things. Speed is really amazing for SEO. So if you go with cheaper hosting, you risk having a slow server and that bounce rate of people getting to your site. It’s not loading quick enough, and then they leave. So definitely keep those things in mind when you’re choosing a hosting provider.

Hey, welcome back to Local SEO Tactics. I’m Taylor with Intrycks, and I’m going to be continuing our multi-part series, Getting Started with Small Business SEO. So, part one, Bob talked a little bit about the foundational steps, such as choosing your business name and assessing your market.

And then Ben walked you through, in part two, how to set up your Google Business Profile. So today, we’re going to be talking about a big one — getting your website up and running. A lot of businesses get stuck at this part of the process just because there are so many options out there. It’s a little confusing. You’re probably wondering, “Should I DIY this? Should I hire someone off Upwork? Or should I reach out to that one guy I met that one time who said his cousin builds websites?”

So, I kind of wanted to give you my perspective as somebody who’s been building websites for a little over eight years and let you know what route you should take and the recommendations I have, just knowing what I know now. Hopefully, I can save you some time in the long run.

Alright, so let’s go ahead and start with step one, which is choosing your domain name.

Let’s take Jack’s cabinet business, for instance. He wanted to do Custom Cabinets Twin Cities. So, you’ll want to go ahead and type that into GoDaddy or Namecheap, which are probably the two biggest domain registrars. This is where your website will live.

We typically use GoDaddy just because it’s the most common and notable, and we like the freedom of having our domains separate from our hosting provider or CMS.

If you’re going with an all-encompassing CMS, such as Squarespace, a lot of times they’ll provide the domain. But again, you’re locked into Squarespace. So, let’s say a couple of years down the road, you want to move away from Squarespace. Your domain will have to be transferred away from them.

I like the option of having my domain separate, so I can pick and choose where I point it.

So, going to GoDaddy or Namecheap to choose your domain name — they’ll give you a search bar at the top where you can type in a couple of options, see if it’s available, and how much it is. A lot of times, if it’s a shorter name or a more popular name, it’ll be more expensive, but it shouldn’t run you more than $10 to $20 a year.

Definitely play around with the name placement. If Custom Cabinets Twin Cities isn’t available, maybe flip it around to Twin Cities Custom Cabinets or throw an MN on there. A lot of times, they’ll suggest options if your first choice isn’t available.

A couple of things to keep in mind: keep it short, easy to spell, avoid hyphens or numbers, and always go with a .com because it’s the most trusted and recognizable.

Once you have that domain name locked down, you’ll want to move on to choosing your hosting provider.

Now, this is different from your domain registrar. Think of hosting as the land that your website house is built on, while your domain is your address.

Your hosting provider is where your website files will actually live.

Some platforms, like Wix, include hosting for you, which — again — I’m not a huge fan of because if you want to switch hosting providers down the road or upgrade for better speed or more space, you don’t have that freedom.

So definitely look around at the options out there.

Again, GoDaddy has dedicated web hosting. A couple of other popular options are WP Engine, Bluehost, and we actually use SiteGround within our own agency because we really like the speed and reliability.

They also have great customer service and security. So, definitely shop around and learn what options work best for you and your company.

But again, speed is amazing for SEO. If you go with cheaper hosting, you risk having a slow server, which can increase your bounce rate because people land on your site, it doesn’t load fast enough, and they leave. So, definitely keep those things in mind when choosing your hosting provider.

Alright, so step three is choosing the right website builder for you.

There are a ton of options out there, right? I’m sure you’ve seen the ads for Squarespace, Wix, and Shopify, and you might be feeling a little overwhelmed.

A lot of these ads make it look super easy — “Oh, I’ll just generate a site really quickly.” And now, with a lot of AI tools integrated into these builders, it seems even simpler.

But coming from someone who’s been building websites for a really long time, I can confidently tell you that WordPress is the most used, the most popular, and it really sets you up for future growth.

Within WordPress, you have a ton of options for your theme or your builder. You’ve probably heard of Elementor, which is a really popular page builder.

Other options include WP Bakery, and at Intrix, we use one called Avada, which is really easy to use, has a one-time fee, and comes with a lot of built-in templates.

Other builders include Wix, Squarespace, and ShowIt. The list goes on and on.

But here’s the thing — think about the future of your business. Are you going to need e-commerce capabilities down the road? Are you going to need a membership platform or custom functionality?

With WordPress, you have access to thousands of plugins that allow you to add basically any feature you might need as your business grows.

If you’re just getting started and want to throw up a quick Squarespace site, that’s fine.

But a couple of months down the road, when you start adding SEO and want to build out more pages and optimize your site, you’re going to hit a wall. And switching platforms mid-business can be a huge headache, super time-consuming, and a money suck.

So, I recommend starting with WordPress from the beginning because it sets you up for future success without having to switch platforms later on.

You can DIY your site, hire a freelancer from Upwork, or work with an agency like Intrix to help build your site with SEO baked in from the start.

So, just to recap —

1. Register your domain
2. Choose your hosting provider
3. Select your website builder

In the next episode, we’ll dive into SEO optimization strategies for your site.

If you found this helpful, subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and check us out at Intrycks.com or LocalSEOTactics.com.

Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time!