Having a professionally designed website can be a game-changer for small businesses, offering an affordable and impactful way to reach more customers and boost growth. This is where small business website design packages come into play. These packages provide an all-in-one solution, combining custom website creation, SEO optimisation, and ongoing support, all tailored to the specific needs and budgets of small enterprises.
If you're a small business owner looking to build or improve your website, it’s important to understand the key elements of these packages and how they can benefit your business.
Why Small Businesses Need Professional Website Design
A professional website is much more than a digital business card. It’s your virtual storefront, open 24/7 to potential customers. For small businesses, having a well-designed website offers several key advantages.
First, it establishes credibility. In an increasingly competitive market, a clean, professional website signals to potential customers that your business is trustworthy and reliable.
Second, a well-built website makes it easy for your customers to find and interact with you. Whether they're looking for more information about your products, services, or opening hours, a user-friendly website ensures they can do so quickly and easily.
Third, small businesses with professionally designed websites can leverage the power of SEO to reach more customers through search engines like Google. This allows you to compete with larger companies in your industry, reaching new audiences without breaking the bank.
What to Look for in a Small Business Website Design Package
Not all small business website design packages are created equal. When choosing a package, it's essential to ensure that it meets your business’s specific needs. Here are some features to look out for:
- Customisation Options: Ensure that the design reflects your brand’s unique identity, not just a generic template.
- Mobile Responsiveness: The majority of users browse the web on their mobile devices, so your website needs to look great and function smoothly across all devices(external link).
- SEO-Optimised: A good package will include basic on-page SEO features to help your site rank well in search engines.
- Ongoing Support: Websites need regular updates and maintenance to stay secure and functional. Make sure the package includes support after launch.
- Affordable Pricing: Small business packages should offer great value for money, providing all the necessary features without extra costs.
Key Features of a Small Business Website Design Package
A small business website design package should cover all the essentials for a functional, high-quality site that can grow with your business. Here are the key features you should expect:
- Custom Design: Look for packages that offer custom designs tailored to your business, ensuring that your website stands out and aligns with your branding.
- User-Friendly CMS: A content management system (CMS) like Silverstripe(external link) allows you to easily update your website without needing technical knowledge.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Your website should be fully responsive, meaning it works perfectly on any device, from desktop to mobile.
- SEO Optimisation: Built-in SEO features ensure that your site is search engine-friendly, helping you reach more potential customers online.
- Security Features: SSL certificates(external link), secure hosting, and regular backups should be included to protect your site and data.
- Analytics: Tools like Google Analytics help you monitor website performance, giving you valuable insights into your visitors’ behaviour.
Custom vs. Template-Based Website Design for Small Businesses
One of the big decisions you’ll need to make when choosing a small business website design package is whether to go for a custom design or a template-based design.
- Custom Website Design: A custom design is built specifically for your business, reflecting your brand identity and ensuring a unique, tailored experience for your users. While custom designs can be more expensive, they allow for more flexibility and creativity.
- Template-Based Design: Template-based designs are pre-made layouts that can be customised with your brand’s colours, logos, and content. These are generally more affordable and faster to set up but may not offer the same level of uniqueness or flexibility as a custom design.
Both options have their pros and cons, so it’s essential to choose the one that aligns best with your business’s goals and budget.
Mobile-Responsive Design: A Must for Small Business Websites
In today’s mobile-driven world, having a mobile-responsive website is not optional—it’s essential. Mobile users make up a significant portion of internet traffic, and if your site doesn’t perform well on mobile devices, you’re likely losing customers.
A good small business website design package should include mobile responsiveness as a core feature. This ensures that your website adapts seamlessly to all screen sizes, providing a smooth and enjoyable experience for visitors, whether they’re on a phone, tablet, or desktop.
SEO and Performance Optimisation in Small Business Website Packages
To stay competitive online, your website needs to be SEO optimised. This means incorporating keywords, optimising page load speed, and ensuring that your content is structured in a way that search engines like Google can easily index.
Performance optimisation is just as important. A slow-loading website can frustrate users and cause them to leave your site, negatively impacting both your user experience and your search engine rankings.
Professional website packages will include essential SEO features, such as keyword research, meta tags, and image optimisation, ensuring that your small business is visible to search engines and can attract more traffic.
Support and Maintenance: Why It Matters in Your Website Design Package
Your website will require regular updates, maintenance, and occasional troubleshooting to ensure that it continues performing optimally. That’s why it’s important to choose a small business website design package that includes ongoing support.
Whether it’s updating plugins, ensuring site security, or tweaking performance, having a support team that can handle these tasks will save you time and reduce the risk of potential issues. Somar Digital offers comprehensive support packages that ensure your website stays secure, fast, and functional.
Somar Digital’s Small Business Website Design Packages
Somar Digital - Accelerator
What sets Somar Digital apart from the competition is the Somar Digital Accelerator – a game-changing website starter kit featuring a curated collection of reusable Silverstripe core components.
The Somar Digital Accelerator:
- Provides a standardised, reusable library of first-rate and accessible Silverstripe components.
- Eliminates the need to rebuild and rework similar components for each new website project.
- Accelerates us into development, freeing up time to focus on custom features and crafting a modern, captivating frontend experience.
- Upholds an exceptional level of code quality, ensuring a solid foundation for your project.
- Translates to remarkable time and cost savings, equating to a range of 1-2 sprints and savings of $40k - $80k, meaning that portion of your budget can be channeled into bespoke feature development or other work streams.
- Unlocks significant build efficiencies, enabling us to fast-track your website's launch timeline - we can take it to market and into the hands of your audience much sooner.
In essence, the Somar Digital Accelerator is more than just a tool – it drives efficiency, fosters innovation, and delivers significant time and cost savings, all while ensuring your project stands out from your competitors.
