Your website is your storefront for the entire world. While many businesses have chosen to stick to social media to promote their services, they could be doing so much more with their own website.
This series will show how easy it is to create your own website tailored to your business, whether you’re a hairdresser, a restaurant, a consulting firm, a photographer, or anything. With our recommendations, you can have your own website up and running quickly, easily, and ready to get customers in.
Today, we’re focusing on making a site for consulting firms and industry experts — companies and individuals with plenty of knowledge and experience just waiting to be shared with the world.
Getting Started
Before you start making your consultancy website, work out what you want to put on it. Think about how much information about your company and services you want to have publicly available, and how much you want to have behind a contact form or paywall. Then write the content you want on each page, focusing on what you want to promote.
Think about the key demographics for your business and what they require. Think about what your previous clients have asked for. Do they prefer one-on-one consultations with you? Or do you have a large collection of written materials? Do you do trial periods? Free consultations? Once you know what information and services you want on your website, you can build your pages around your business strategy.
With these things in mind, you’re ready to choose your web hosting package and get started.
Because this is for a single site, we recommend buying a good basic package, either our Essential hosting package or our Basic Managed WordPress package. Both of which will give you the space and performance you need without costing too much. If you choose Essential, you’ll need to install WordPress on your package, and if you choose Basic, WordPress will be installed automatically.
Releasing Content
If you’ve written white papers, e-books, learning materials, or want to create an exclusive space for paying clients, it’s a piece of cake to get your content online and selling through WordPress.
WooCommerce
The most popular and best-known e-commerce plugin for WordPress, WooCommerce has so many options that you’ll be able to find the right combination to work for your business. Sell e-books, book consultations, and more with this powerhouse of a platform. The initial plugin is free, but extensions, such as payment integration, will have additional pricing.
Easy Digital Downloads
If WooCommerce seems like too much, Easy Digital Downloads might be the right option for you. It makes it easy to sell and release online content, with a wide variety of extensions to make things even easier. The main plugin is free, but extensions will have additional pricing, and there are also tiered payment options for adding more features to the main plugin.
MemberPress
If you’d like to build a community online and release your content that way, MemberPress is a fantastic membership plugin. Build online learning materials, create paywall tiers, and much more. MemberPress starts at $279 a year but comes with payment and email marketing integration as well as a collection of great features.
Keeping Everyone Updated
Once you get people interested in your expertise, how do you keep them hooked? These plugins will help you build your contacts online, whether it’s a possible lead, a long-standing client, or an industry connection.
Jetpack CRM
With Jetpack CRM, you can build a detailed client database without needing to pay for additional software. Set up sales funnels, keep track of your contacts, invoice customers, and build those connections for free with the basic version, and there are extensions for even more integration for specific fees. Or you can go for the tiered payment options to add in particular extensions and helpful support.
Contact Form 7
Designed without all the bells and whistles of a full CRM or a complicated e-commerce platform, Contact Form 7 is an easy to use form builder that’ll give you convenient contact forms across your site. If you already have your own systems in place and just want a fast way for potential clients to contact you, Contact Form 7 is perfect.
WPForms
Do you want to run surveys? Application forms? Integration with your existing systems? WPForms gives you a lot of integration and features for a low price. With over 300 form templates, you’ll be sure to find the one you need. The Basic package is $79 a year and comes with unlimited forms, unlimited contacts, plus one year of support and updates.
Integrating Social Media
Once you have a well-built and organised website, you need to get the word out to all your potential clients, not to mention making it easy for existing and potential clients to share your expertise with all their connections.
Smash Balloon Plugins
Smash Balloon has produced separate plugins for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, giving you a convenient way to integrate specific social media accounts into your site. Each plugin costs $49 for a year and will give you a fast and smooth integration with your personal feed.
Social Share Icons and Social Share Buttons
If you want to make sure people can share your content online, this plugin provides quick and easy share buttons for several social media platforms. Set up your social sharing widget, place it exactly where you want it, and watch your visitors spread the word.
Blog2Social
Easily get your latest posts out to your social media accounts with Blog2Social. Integrating easily with plenty of social media platforms, the free version makes it easy to post your latest long-form content to your social accounts, and the premium versions add even more platforms, a calendar to keep track of your posting, and up to 100 posts per day.
Making Everything Look Good
Once you have everything set up, a good theme is the icing on the cake, giving your website the appeal it needs to draw in your clients.
Vandana Lite
Elegant, responsive, and built for search engine optimisation, Vandana Lite is perfect for coaches and consultants who want something a bit softer than your typical business site. With built-in social media integration, a specific place to put your newsletter sign-up form, and a variety of block options, the free version gives you plenty of features, and the premium version adds so much more for only $59.
Businesszen
Ready for business, Businesszen is a clean and organised theme perfect for showing your expertise. The free version comes with plenty of blocks to use on your site, including call-to-actions, a banner, and drop-down menus. The premium version provides even more customisation for $59.
Businesswp
Built to show off your business, Businesswp comes with a slider block, call-to-actions, and customer testimonials, with plenty of more customisation and features available in its premium version, which is $59 for a single-site license.
So there are some options for your website. Whether you’re a management consultant, SEO expert, life coach, or learning developer, having a well-built website is a great way to engage with existing clients, gain new leads, and show your expertise in your field.
If you ever have any questions about how a website can help your business, get in touch with us! We’re happy to help!
(Featured image by Ruthson Zimmerman on Unsplash.)
