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Startup | How to Build & Manage a Website For Your Resume Business

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What’s covered in this article:

  • 5 easy steps to building a website
  • Recommendations for domain registrars, name extensions, and hosting companies
  • Domain auction houses
  • Advice on how to plan out your new website
  • Example list of interview questions to ask potential website designers

5 Steps to Building a Website For Your Resume Business

Building and maintaining a website for your business is easier than ever, so let’s dive into the preliminary details you need to know about creating a website for your business. 

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Step #1: Secure a Domain Name For Your New Business

The first for most online businesses is to select a domain name. Your domain name (or commonly referred to as URL) is the online address someone will input to access your online business.

The domain name you choose will likely coincide with your business name.

Though, it’s worth noting that your domain address DOES NOT need to be the same as your business name.

So if you haven’t decided on a business name but want to start building a website, you can go with a non-business-name-specific domain name, e.g. excellent-resumes.com.

A. Should You Opt for a Keyword-Friendly Domain Name?

Another reason for not registering a domain name that matches your business name.

It’s been noted that websites can reach higher search rankings when prime keywords are weaved into the domain name.

For example, the following domains have the key phrase “resume writing” present: resumewritingbydonnie.com or resumeswritingonthemoon.com.

ADVANCED TIP: Darren Rowse from ProBlogger.net offers this bit of best advice on what to consider when choosing a domain name: “You want a domain that’s simple to read, simple to say, and simple to remember. It also helps if it’s easy to type.” 

We advise selecting a domain name that another resume writer can use. This way, you have a sellable asset should you decide to no longer write resumes. Also, try to pick a domain name that’s memorable, interesting, and discoverable.

B. How much will a domain name cost you?

Costs will vary a bit, depending upon the registrar you choose.

For example, a name secured at GoDaddy.com could cost 10-20 bucks per year. Securing a domain name will be one of the least expensive steps in your new resume business. You can also reduce the yearly cost for your domain name by paying multiple years in advance.

There are services such as DomComp.com that aggregate the cost of top-level domains across 30+ registrars, making it an ideal source to use BEFORE you purchase your domain name.

C. Does name extension matter?

The domain extension is something you should seriously consider.

There is a multitude to choose from, although .com, .net, and .co remain the most popular for for-profit businesses and .me and .name extensions for personal websites.

D. Where can you secure a domain name?

Start with a primary domain provider like GoDaddy.com. GoDaddy allows you to search names and extension availability.

Click here to use GoDaddy’s Domain Search feature [at top of page].

You have other options, too, including domain auction services. For example, you can visit GoDaddy auctions to find a career-specific domain being auctioned. Other auction services worth checking out include Flippa.com and Sedo.com.

There are a few benefits to purchasing a domain name from an auction house, one of the most being you can purchase an existing domain that may have an already developed website with established inbound links.

Another place for securing a domain name is eBay. Though, be careful purchasing a domain from this site.

To learn how many pages and existing links in Google that point to a specific website, input and customize these search strings into Google:

  • site:domainname.com
  • links:domainname.com

Escrow services can be used when handling a domain sale between two parties, including Escrow.com, Agreed.com, and SafeFunds.com.

When purchasing an already established website, tools such as Alexa.com and Quantcast.com can help you determine traffic levels. You can also use Archive.org (Wayback Machine) and WebsiteGrader.com.

E. Will your business be outside the US?

Up to this point, I assumed your business (and website) is US-based.

If you are based in the US but plan on building a business presence within an overseas market, you may wish to secure a domain name with a country-specific extension.

It’s worth noting that some countries REQUIRE a business presence in that specific country. So, a company that operates resume.jp will likely need a business presence in Japan to legally use that domain name.

Once you purchase your domain name, move on to Step 2.

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Step #2: Intro to WordPress

I recommend building your website using the WordPress platform. WordPress is most often used by the “do-it-yourselfer” because with a little ingenuity, anyone can build and launch a website using WordPress — making it the most cost-effective alternative for many of us.

WordPress is currently the backbone of nearly 20% of websites on the internet today. With the ease of installing and using WordPress and a growing list of free and paid WordPress plug-ins, you can have a basic website up and running within hours.

Though, there is some technical know-how involved with site development. For example, having experience with (or a willingness to learn) CSS can make building your website much smoother.

Be sure to check out this WordPress training here on RBIZ to help you navigate your WordPress site:

 

[Editorial Note: If you are a serious developer, and feel you will outgrow the ability to add WordPress custom functions, consider a more advanced website builder, such as Drupal.org]

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Step #3: Research & Select a Web Host

There are several hosting services to select from. For example, here are just a few top hosts to choose from:

Before you jump on the first hosting plan you see, there are a few factors you will want to consider.

Some hosts are better for WordPress sites than others. For example, we used GoDaddy hosting for years and had continuous problems with brute force attacks and other service outages. Of course, this was years ago. Maybe GoDaddy’s added WordPress hosting services provide the back-end infrastructure to ensure sites hosted today don’t experience what we did.

Do you need a cost-effective alternative?

Since most websites built today are built on WordPress, GoDaddy could be a viable, cost-effective hosting option for you. GoDaddy offers hosting plans, starting at around $4/month and reaching around $14/month for more advanced users (developers).

Also, know that you can lower the per-month fee by selecting a longer service period, e.g. pay by the year instead of by the month.

Are you more concerned about performance and less about hosting costs?

If yes, consider WPengine for your website hosting needs. This website is hosted using WordPress Engine (WPengine). WPE is more of a financial investment.

We manage several websites, which makes WPE a great fit for our business. And, we don’t have to worry about whether our sites are up. We’ve been using WPEngine for over 5+ years and have had ZERO problems with them.

However, one caveat of WPEngine is that the service DOES NOT offer email services, so you will need to use another service to handle the email processing needs if you choose WPE as your website host. GoDaddy offers an inexpensive email service that’s worth checking out.

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Step #4: Think About What You Want in a Website

Hands down, this will be the most time-consuming part of your new journey.

Once you’ve purchased your domain name and selected a web host, the next step is to begin planning your website.

The BIG QUESTION you need to answer at this point is whether YOU will handle the site development on your own or do you need to HIRE a WEBSITE DESIGNER.

Answering the above question will come down to how technical you are. Certainly, the accessibility of done-for-you WordPress themes and plug-ins makes any knowledge of HTML and PHP coding unnecessary.

Now, let’s talk about the website features you want…

Start by investigating what competitors are doing, and then identify what site features you like and dislike about those sites. You don’t want to “borrow” competitors’ ideas; however, you do want a thorough picture of the possibilities that are out there. Do yourself a favor by visiting websites outside the career industry as well.

Beyond basic pages like home, about us, resume samples, and services, decide upon deeper website functions.

For example, here are a few advanced features to consider:

  • E-commerce Integration (e.g. CamCart)
  • Contact/Quote Forms (e.g. GravityForms)
  • Membership Functionality (e.g. Memberium)
  • CRM Integration (e.g. ActiveCampaign, Infusionsoft)

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Step #5: Research & Select a Website Designer

Some designers simply design a basic site hosted with your provider and hand that over to you with some training to help you navigate and make minor changes. Others, however, provide all-inclusive website design services where you rely on them for updating, hosting, and monitoring the website for you. For the latter option, expect higher per-month fees — maybe 80 to 200 bucks per month. And, you may not be a priority to these all-inclusive firms and may wait for even the tiniest of changes.

This is the reason we advocate folks build and manage their websites.

Once you learn WordPress, managing your site becomes easy-ish and much more cost-effective.

What To Consider When Hiring a Website Design Service

First, avoid letting the website design firm secure a domain name on your behalf. You must OWN and have full rights to your domain name. Giving someone else controls over your business can become a liability for you later.

Second, ensure the website designer creates your website using WordPress or another development tool that can be easily updated and maintained. Avoid a designer that manually codes your website. You’ll become a prisoner to that website designer — and his ongoing updating and maintenance fees.

Third, professional web design firms typically run their servers to house client websites, so be sure this is what you want before you give the go-ahead. The better option is to secure independent hosting services and have your designer set your website up with said service.

Finding a website designer…

Website designers are all around you. Choosing a local website designer allows you to support a local business. That’s a big win!

Contact local Chambers of Commerce for a list of area website design firms. Another resource includes print or online yellow pages/directories.

If the locality of your website designer is unimportant, search:

  • “Website Designer” or “Professional Website Designer” using your favorite search engine
  • LinkedIn Services Marketplace for an approved provider
  • Upwork.com or another talent marketplace

Whether local, across the United States, or on the other side of the world, select someone who will explain the ins and outs to you of website design; offer advice on writing effective copy; and provide advice on optimizing your online presence.

Another important aspect for today’s site designers is their knowledge of search engine marketing (SEM) and optimization (SEO); therefore, pick a designer that’s very knowledgeable of both if possible.

To verify your website designer’s knowledge level, ask these interview questions BEFORE you make your selection:

1. What major website design projects have you worked on?

2. Do you have experience integrating online calendars, e-commerce capabilities, forms, and other website functionality?

3. Based on what I’ve told you, how long do you forecast my project will take?

4. What can I expect from you should my site get hacked or “break” somehow?

5. Will the site you develop be mobile responsive?

6. Who will ultimately own the domain name and website?

7. Do you follow optimal SEO rules or techniques when developing a website?

8. How do you handle technical support questions from clients?

9. Will you custom code the website or use a pre-made WordPress theme?

10. What type of website management can I expect?

11. Will you or someone else be working on my website?

12. How many finished pages will your service include?

13. What do you need from me to get started?

14. Will I have input on the initial design?

15. Can you provide references?

Website Design Elements to Have “Above The Fold” of Your Website

  • Your Value Proposition: Any value proposition you use should specify EXACTLY what your service offers and why your brand is worth their attention and consideration.
  • Social Proof: This is accomplished by including testimonials, statistics, and other endorsements that prove your services work.
  • Contact Information: Using a contact button is perfectly acceptable, yet you could also include a phone number, physical address, and/or email address in its place.
  • Navigation Bar: A navigation bar helps site visitors navigate your site and provides Google with a hierarchy for the structure of your site to help with search engine results positioning (SERP).

Think About Selling It Before You Build It

Yeah, sounds crazy. But, this is important to consider because you want to build a sellable asset.

There are many considerations, though the following list is probably the top 5 areas on which you should focus your promotional efforts to build a valuable website worth selling:

  • Great Domain Name
  • Professional, Effective Website
  • Lots of Inbound Links (IBLs)
  • Nice Traffic Levels
  • Age of Domain Registration
  • Optimized, Updated & Keyword-Rich Content