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Ultimate Guide to starting a business in 2023

All about Websites for small business

The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Business in 2023

Angela S.

Owner &  Digtial Marketer

Posted Feb.16 2021

It’s 2023 & starting a business is more complicated than ever before.

There are a lot of things to consider, like how to start a website, branding, social media and how AI can help build your business. Luckily, we’re here to help!

What we will discuss:

  • How to get a modern website in 2023
  • Questions you need to ask your website design agency
  • What goes into the cost of a website
  • How to build a strong brand & visual identity
  • The 2023 Social Media strategy for Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and Tiktok
  • How to grow your business in 2023 with A.I.

How to get a modern website in 2023

Modern websites are made to be simple, effective, fast, and easy to use. Your website should immediately tell the viewer who you are, where to go and how to get there in as few steps as possible. This is called website optimization. Any website can be optimized with a little research.

So the question on everyones mind… 

Should you build your website yourself or should you hire someone to do it for you?

Website building is not a mystery; with research anyone can build and optimize a great website. However, small businesses often don’t have the time to research, learn a web builder and learn how to design a website themselves. Not to mention, with access to unlimited DIY website builders, there is an influx of homemade websites.

In order to stand out from your competition and look as professional as possible, hiring a website designer is the way to go. Hiring a website designer means you will get website that is beautiful, easy to use and functions how you want it to.

But, can you afford it? Will they help with branding and digital marketing? Those are the key things to look for when hiring.

 

Questions you need to ask your website design agency:

  1. “Will you work within my budget?” If an agency is flexible, they likely want your business and are ready to give you the attention you deserve
  2. “Am I able to add more pages and functionality to my website easily?” Some website designers are limited in their capabilities by the programs they use. Ask if your website designer is adaptive.
  3. “Will I be able to edit my website myself?” Some websites are made in a way that is too complicated for the average person to edit. How will your web designer help you?
  4. “How much would it cost to edit my site?” Create a dream list of future website edits and get a quote. That way you know how much you’ll need to grow the site.
  5. “Can you help me with other needs like branding, design, social media, article writing, SEO, ads and more?” A great agency will hook you up and provide a holistic digital marketing strategy and services. If they are too specialized it means you may be spending time down the road hiring, wasting your time and money.

A website will always add value to your business.

Speaking of value…

What goes into the cost of a website?

I’ve got a super simple equation for you!

Website Cost = Cost of Build + Yearly Fees + Maintenance + Upgrades/Marketing

A website built by Woot Woot Digital will cost you as little as $500 to build, $125 for hosting (free domain for the first year), and the cost of maintenance, upgrades and marketing is up to you.  That means you can have a fully functional website up and running for less than $700 CAD.

You’ve heard of the saying “if you build it, they will come”?

Erm, not so true with websites. You have to keep your website active by adding blog posts, pages, new information and more. So, after your website is built, keep in mind you (or someone you hire) should keep maintaining your website.

How to build a strong brand & visual identity

As time goes forward, having a strong visual identity (with branding for example) become more and more important. It builds trust and loyalty amoung your potential and exisitng customers.

Thankfully, we have an easy step by step guide to get started!

  1. Define your brand: Consider the values, personality, and message that you want your brand to convey. This will help you to create a logo and branding materials that are aligned with your brand identity.
  2. Research your industry and competitors: Look at other logos and branding materials in your industry to get an idea of what has been done before and to identify opportunities to differentiate your brand.
  3. Sketch out ideas: Start by sketching out a few different logo ideas. Don’t worry about making them perfect – the goal is just to get your ideas down on paper.
  4. Choose a design direction: Based on your sketches and research, choose a design direction that you think will best represent your brand.
  5. Create a digital version of your logo: Use graphic design software, such as Adobe Illustrator, to create a digital version of your logo. Make sure to save your logo in a variety of file formats, including vector formats (such as .AI or .EPS) that can be easily scaled for different uses.
  6. Create a branding document: A branding document is a document that outlines the visual elements of your brand, including your logo, color palette, typography, and imagery. Use your branding document to provide guidelines for how to use your logo and other branding elements consistently across different materials.
  7. Seek feedback: Show your logo and branding document to a few trusted friends, colleagues, or mentors and get their feedback. Use their input to make any necessary adjustments to your branding materials.

Overall, creating a good logo and branding document requires careful planning, research, and attention to detail. By following these steps, you can create a strong visual identity for your brand that effectively communicates your message and values.

Now that you have a strong brand & website, let’s talk about social media!

While Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn are still the top dogs of social media, Tiktok has made it’s way to the forefront. 

Why is that? The answer is simple: Video Content is King

But what if you are already struggling with creating content for your feed, now making stories and reels is overwhelming?

We have a simple & Straightforward guide to starting your 2023 Social Media Strategy!

The 2023 Social Media Strategy for Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and TikTok

  1. Create a beautifully designed feed for Facebook, Instagram & Linkedin. Essentially, make 9-12 posts that will live untouched in your timeline that showcase who you are. Think of these posts are a mini website. They are informative and precisely designed to your brand. 
  2. Leave your feed alone – start posting stories! Now that your feed is beautiful, keep your fans in the loop with daily check-ins on your stories. Video content on stories are shown to a much higher percentage of your followers than feed posts. 
  3. With your daily stories, make a weekly video. You can either make it on Tiktok and cross post to Instagram/Facebook and Linkedin, OR you can make it on a 3rd party app and post to all your socials. Either way, keep your videos short, fun and informative. They don’t even need to show your face (although thats the best) as long as your making videos, you’ll be happy. Video content like reels is pushed to be discovered by more people than feed posts. 
  4. Consider making social media ads. This way, you can break through the barrier of your reach and be seen by more people. With all the contnet you’ve been making, you’ll have an idea of what’s worked best and what to advertise.

How to grow your business in 2023 with A.I.

Let’s talk about something that more and more businesses will be taking advantage of in the upcoming year; AI.

 

 

There are many ways that AI can help grow your business, and we have a handy list!

  1. Content creation: AI can help generate website content, such as product descriptions or blog posts, using natural language processing techniques. You can even improve your SEO on your website with A.I. generated blog posts.
  2. User experience optimization: AI can be used to analyze user behavior and optimize the design of a website based on that data. This can include recommendations for layout, navigation, and other design elements.
  3. Personalization: AI can be used to personalize the user experience by showing content or offers that are relevant to the individual user.
    Image recognition: AI can be used to classify and tag images on a website, which can make it easier for users to find what they are looking for.
  4. Voice recognition: AI can be used to enable voice search and voice commands on a website, allowing users to interact with the site using their voice.
  5. Chatbots: AI can be used to power chatbots on a website, allowing users to get quick answers to their questions or concerns without the need to wait for a human response.
  6. Translation: AI can be used to translate website content into different languages, making it more accessible to a global audience.

Overall, AI can help improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and usability of a website, and can provide a better experience for users. P.S. this list was made with A.I. (how cool is that!)

 

Starting a business in 2023 should be exciting, not overwhelming.

I can say with certainty, the success of your busness is up to you! You can either pay someone to help or do it yourself, but either way, it is your responsibility to do what’s right for your business.

That might sound scary, but it’s really a good thing.

At Woot Woot, we want all the people I work with to feel empowered! To feel like they can have an awesome, kickass website, brand and digital marketing strategy. To feel that they are in control, like they made the right choice, with a 100% ROI and  value.

If you still aren’t sure about how or where to start, book a free meeting with Angela and she will answer all your questions.

 

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Angela