WordPress websites are your business’s best sales tool
Kirjoittanut Tapio Kauranen
Kirjoitettu: 21.7.2026 - Muokattu: 19.8.2026 Kirjoittanut Tapio Kauranen
Kirjoitettu: 21.7.2026 - Muokattu: 19.8.2026Sisällysluettelo
At best, a website is a company’s main revenue source. It can attract over a thousand visitors a day without paid ads, thanks to search engine optimization for relevant keywords. The problem of "too few customers" can turn into a problem of "too many customers."
At worst, a website is just an online "business card." Has anyone ever sold anything using only a business card?
It’s possible to get a free website, and for a new entrepreneur that’s often the recommended route.
The issue for a beginner is that they don’t yet have established routines and may not know exactly what they want from their site. Budgets are small, so you create the content yourself, and that can take many months.
Tips for your first website
If you want a free website, be prepared to accept a few compromises. For example, you might not be able to remove the provider’s logo, editing options may be limited, and the design is often the same as thousands of others.
So what — they’re free.
Here are a few places where you can get a free website:
If you can spend a bit of money on your site and are wondering where to find a reliable builder, I recommend using Google.
Search for “business website” and request quotes from a few different agencies.
I also build WordPress websites for a flat price of €3450 — read more at WordPress websites at Tapiokauranen.com.
Besides the options above, I suggest asking for recommendations in Facebook WordPress groups. Hundreds of experts hang out there waiting for posts like that, so expect at least 100 comments.
The main reason is that actually building the website is only a small part of the whole project. Most providers handle everything from design and launch to user training.
For some, building a basic website can take several hundred hours. For others it’s under 10 hours.
Below is my own estimate of prices and what they typically include
Under €1000
€1000–€5000
€5000–€25,000
€25,000+
Good websites are
Visitors should understand your site’s content as soon as they arrive. I think the homepage is a great place to write up to 300 words about your website, about you, or about your business.
Another excellent spot is the contact page. People are more likely to get in touch when they know who they’re dealing with.
Always try to think from the visitor’s perspective: what information would you want to see on the site?
This section is crucial if you want your website to actually deliver results. References speak louder than a thousand words.
At minimum, add a list of your clients’ logos, but I strongly recommend going further.
The easiest way to collect references is to include a reference consent clause directly in your proposal. That way you don’t have to ask for a reference separately.
You’ll get customer quotes most easily by helping the client with the request. Send your client an email like the one below (note: don’t use plural forms — keep the message personal):
Hi [client’s first name]
I’m doing a bit of research on my clients’ satisfaction. Would you have a moment to answer the three questions below:
1. What do you think of the service?
2. What would you improve about the service?
3. May we use your answer on our website as a reference?– Best regards, Tapio Kauranen
Tapiok Finland Oy
The message above works incredibly well. You’ll get much better responses than by asking something vague like “could you send a sentence for our website?”.
No sales pitch, however great, is as effective as recommendations from others.
Note: references don’t work if they aren’t personal. The psychology behind a reference is that your customer has personally agreed to give it.
One extremely effective way to drive sales through your website is video testimonials. Here’s an example:
For a small business, it’s enough to develop a color palette, a font and a logo.
Larger companies often define a “tone of voice” — the way they speak in all publications and customer communications.
Your brand is what sets you apart. One of the most effective ways to stand out is to tie your brand to your people:
Unknown visitors — potential customers — most often arrive from search engines directly to the content that interests them. They probably won’t even visit your homepage.
So don’t overinvest in the homepage.
A good homepage includes, for example
These are the pages that actually sell — not your homepage.
Think about what a visitor is looking for when they land on a content page. Try to answer that need as quickly and clearly as possible.
A good content page includes, for example
Even if you don’t use social media yourself or never post links, trust me: other people will share your pages.
Share links are especially helpful for mobile users. They spare visitors from having to copy a URL on a touchscreen and paste it into their social apps.
A good way to add social share buttons is to use this tool: https://sharingbuttons.io/. It generates the HTML for the services you want so you don’t need any external plugin.
Why?
Because Google scans your site and connects your pages to a specific location. That helps you show up better in local searches.
Example: You sell horse trailers across Finland. Your warehouse is in Tampere.
If you add your address to the bottom of the page, you’ll notice your visibility for searches like “Horse trailers Tampere” improves significantly and you’ll get more local customers.
Another useful addition is a phone number. If you ever want to add your business to Google My Business, verifying your company becomes easier because Google’s systems can call you directly instead of sending a postcard that can take weeks to arrive.
I have access to Google Analytics for over 100 of my clients, and that data shows—regardless of industry—more than 70% of visitors browse websites on mobile devices.
According to Google, 60% of the 5.6 billion daily searches are made on mobile devices.
There’s actually research on this. Typically people
Even if most contacts come from desktop, you can’t ignore mobile. It’s a crucial part of a customer’s buying journey.
Beyond customer satisfaction, mobile-friendly pages also boost your search visibility. Use Google’s test to make sure your pages meet Google’s standards: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
All too often websites make it unnecessarily hard to get in touch.
Do the following:
Add a clear call to action—an invitation to contact you—on every page.
Don’t ask for information on forms that you don’t actually need. If the sale or offer is handled offline, all you really need is a phone number or an email address.
I’ve deliberately left out asking for a name on my own forms because most people’s emails follow the pattern firstname.lastname@company.com
A secure connection (SSL/HTTPS) means the traffic to and from your website is encrypted.
A secure connection is the modern standard, and search engines penalize sites that still use unsecured HTTP with lower visibility.
If your site shows “Not secure” next to the address, it means you don’t have a secure connection installed. If that’s the case, contact me and I’ll help you set one up.