Having a website is not always about having an online store to sell products. A website can perform many sales-boosting functions without e-commerce and often requires little effort once it's created and set up for you.
A website provides information to your customers. It maintains interest in your brand, it builds trust, acts as a point of contact and attracts new customers.
You don't always need to spend big money to have a website in place, it can be as simple as a single page website if that is all that is needed. A single page website can be as short or as long as you need and can include your company name and logo, an introduction about the company, what it provides, etc. Your contact details can come next with a telephone number that mobile users can press to call, a Google map showing your location and perhaps a form so people can contact you with enquiries. For example, if you look at Crosby Midiskips or Guesthouse Liverpool you'll see each website includes useful information tellig you exactly what the business does, where it is, who it's aimed at and how they can be contacted. If you'd like something similar, read about this single page website design & hosting package. Prices start at only £49 for the 1st year then £15 for each additional year you need the website.
If publishing regular information is a requirement, you'll need a website that allows you to do that. The free Wordpress CMS software is a popular choice, with many "website designers" using it as a solution for their clients. What is Wordpress though? Wordpress started out as simple blogging software enabling a website owner to add articles and visitors to comment on any of them. Years on, there's now a huge choice of Wordpress templates or skins which change how a Wordpress website looks and functions. Premium templates can include e-commerce functions allowing products to be added and sold and payments taken via the website. Templates can alter the design so much that sometimes it's not obvious a website has been created using Wordpress at all.
If you want to have a go yourself, you can get a completely free Wordpress site at https://wordpress.com/ There's a simple guide that walks you through the process and you can choose from hundreds of template themes available.
Unfortunately, despite the variety of Wordpress templates available, lots of websites made with Wordpress, specifically those with an e-commerce function, look empty with an abandoned kind of feel. This is when there's been no thought for any content other than the e-commerce side. No introduction, no contact information, nothing. When you come across a website consisting of a small list of products, a payment button and literally nothing more, you go elsewhere.
Before hiring a website designer, make sure you have a good idea of the information you want to have on your website. If your website doesn't include helpful information and leaves your visitors wondering who you are, where you are or how to contact you, they may lose confidence and look elsewhere.
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