Small Business Website Example
Thumbnails of the many sites we've designed
The story behind just 1 of our hundreds of small business websites
Over the past 20+ years, our small business clients have included everyone from an archeologist to a pizza-ologist, from a mortgage banker, a printer, a clothing retailer and a health insurance broker to an organic farmer, a celebrity chef and multiple health food stores. We've even helped a magician and a celebrity dachshund promote themselves online.
Many of these clients have become like family to us. And others didn't approach us directly but were forwarded to us as freelance work.
So we've chosen to not publicly post a gallery of our clients' sites or their contact information. However, we're happy to share sites that we feel may be of interest when you contact us to discuss your small business website project.
But I want to see an example of real-life small business website you've built?
We certainly understand! And, in fact, you are visiting one right now: our Joe Web site design website.
1. This site is attractive and easy to navigate -- both on desktop monitors and mobile devices...
2. This site is secure. All sites we build take advantage of https (secure server certificate) technology. This assures that content gets passed safely between the site and its visitors. To test any site, click the small padlock in your browser's toolbar or visit an SSL verification service such as this...
3. This site accomplishes everything it needs to do within our standard five-page package. (However, clients can purchase additional pages.)
4. All of the pages on this site load quickly -- and that is critical. Slow loading pages get penalized by search engines and are often abandoned by visitors who get impatient waiting. Just how quickly our site loads is illustrated in following test results from Google Page Speed Insights and GTMetrix...
5. The code behind the pages on this site is rock-solid. Since many client sites require special features that can introduce errors, we don't guarantee that the code for all sites we build are 100% error-free -- even 3rd party features like Facebook widgets or Google tools can trigger error warnings. Plus, over time, some currently valid code gets depricated (outdated.). But, fortunately, our website is valid...
6. Including "Structured Data Markup" (commonly known as "schema") helps Google better understand your web pages. But it is not always simple to install correctly... and flawed schema can harm rather than help a site's search enginge rankings. Fortunately, ours passes with flying colors...
7. This site shows up well in the search engines
for our desired keyphrase: Small Business Website Designers in Asheville.
For us, being specific pays off:
- we prefer dealing with local rather than national clients.
- we find it easier and more profitable to service small business clients rather than large companies that often come with highly specific programming requirements.
- we know that a site that shows up at the very top for a slightly less popular but tightly focused niche attracts a lot more business than a site that's ranked lower for a hugely popular but very general and highly competitive phrase.
So how does Joe Web show up in the search engines? Very well, we're proud to say...
8. This site drives plenty of traffic and keeps our phone ringing.
In fact, we may just happen to be in the office at this very moment, waiting for your call: 828-551-9761.
Does your small business have an existing website? If so, and you are curious to know how it compares to ours on the "website health tests" conducted above, here are the links to visit:
- Tests for Mobile Friendliness at Google Mobile-Friendly Test and Think With Google
- Secure Server (SSL) check at SSLLabs.com
-
Google Page Speed Insights
or
GTmetrix Page Speed Tool - W3 Markup Validator
-
Google Structured Data Testing Tool
or
Schema.org Testing Tool - Google Search (Enter your desired key phrase)
- Bing Search (Enter your desired key phrase)
Other free, easy to use web development tools that we like and work with almost daily:
- TheHoth Free Google Rank Checker: Identify high volume keywords you can boost to page one.
- Schema Markup Generator : Creates very basic schema quickly and easily.
- Validating Open Graph (for Facebook) and Twitter Card (free Twitter account required) meta tags.
- Ubersuggest : Keyword planning tool for generating web page content.
- Ryte's robots.txt tesing tool : Validates that you aren't blocking Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook or other important search engines or social properties from visiting your site.
- TextRazor NLP (natural language processing tool) : Reveals how clearly you are communicating the intent of your web page to search engines.
- Moz Link Explorer : Helps identify potential sources for building back links to your website.
- SEO Small Tools - Backlink Checker : Another good tool for finding backlinks.
- SEO Small Tools - Keyword Rank Checker : Identify high-ranking pages of your site.
- W3 Link Checker : Locates any broken links in your website.
- Page Element Caching (to improve load speed)
- Content Compression Test (to improve load speed)
Free tools that we like for help with content generation:
- Unsplash (high quality, free use photos).
- Bing Chat and Microsoft Designer (free ai image generators) .
- Chat GPT and Google Bard (free ai text generators).
- QuillBot (spelling and grammer checker).
- CopyLeaks and GPTZero (to make sure you aren't overly reliant on ai generated content).