Providing students with a way to turn their ideas into tangible projects is an important aspect of the learning process! Being able to make a business website is an awesome classroom tool that allows students a simple, fun, and free way to bring their business ideas to life. Teaching students how to create their own website can feel overwhelming, especially if you don’t have a background in web design, so we want to give you some easy tools to implement this project into your classroom without stress!
Questions We’ll Answer Throughout This Blog:
- How can students make a business website that actually represents their ideas?
- What content is important for students to include on their business website?
If you’re looking for even more ideas to engage your students and introduce entrepreneurship into your classroom, take a look at more of our FREE resources! Additionally, if you are seeking consistent entrepreneurial projects for your classroom, head to our “GET STARTED” page so we can help!
Why Students Should Make a Business Website?
Business websites make an idea feel real. They provide a place for potential customers to go to understand more about the product or service, decide if they want to buy it, and more generally help build an audience. Having this real-world experience provides a tangible skill for resume-building, and in this technology-driven age, digital literacy is invaluable. This project can also serve as something students can refer back to when creating a real business, working with a start-up, or really any future job! Some students may even want to continue with the idea they’ve come up with and turn it into a reality. Their website will be a helpful starting point for them.
Creating Content for the Site:
To start let’s take a look at a few templates…
This first one is a service-driven idea highlighting a site for parents to access when hiring babysitters. This template provides a general overview of what this page could look like, but any of this information can be swapped out with whatever innovative service ideas your students might come up with!
This product-based business idea highlights a new skincare line. These templates are excellent examples of pricing, purpose, competitive edge, and more!
**You can access these templates for free, and get access to even more for your students to utilize by visiting our free downloads page! **
Now let’s walk through the 6 sticky notes your students should complete before they make a business website!
“Why a sticky note?” you might be wondering…
This provides limited space for students to flesh out their ideas so that they do not overcomplicate them or write too much content. It is important to have just enough information so that potential customers can understand what is being offered, without being overloaded with information.
#1: Opening Header
This should include the business name, a slogan/phrase that represents the business, and a relevant picture, graphic, or logo.
#2: The Problem
This is a simple statement that highlights the problem the business is solving. This could be a question or scenario that demonstrates the issue or a statistic that shows the need for change, etc.
#3: The Solution
This section highlights clear ways that the company provides a solution to the problem. This can include specific offerings, such as prices and competitive advantages.
#4: How it Works
Here is where the solution is explained. Students can share exactly how their product or service was designed, how to purchase it, and how to use it. Using a step-by-step guide, you can be helpful for this section!
#5: Why You? (Competitive Advantage)
This should demonstrate why the student is equipped to drive this project forward and what advantages their business has over the competition. Students can do a direct comparison to another company or just list the advantages.
#6: Call-to-Action
The final section is one of the most important sections of the site. It should tell the audience very clearly, what they should do now that they’ve explored the product or service in its entirety.
Some options for a Call-to-Action are… purchase the product/service (link to where they can buy it), pre-order, fill out a survey, follow on social media, join an email list, etc.
Design with Site Branding
To create the physical website, check out our last blog post about how to create a Google Sites page!
When you make a business website it's important to create a brand. Consider each of the aspects below to maintain a consistent theme throughout the site:
- Pick a color scheme that best represents the business
- ensure to use the same 5 to 10 colors throughout
- Choose 2-3 fonts that can be used for headers and body text
- Add photos and other extra sections when needed
- a few free sites you can use for stock images are Canva, Vecteezy, and Freepik
- Add a Logo
- this one is optional for beginners, however, if you’re looking for a curriculum that outlines how to do this, check out our “Get Started” page, and learn in-depth tools about how to design a logo!
We hope you enjoyed this project-based idea, which will help your students feel more equipped to actually move forward with their business ventures! Now your students have something real that shows the progress they’ve made in your class, and the tangible skills they’ve acquired.
For more FREE DOWNLOADS like this, check out our other classroom resources.
If you are looking for support implementing entrepreneurial projects in your classroom, head to our “Get Started” page; we would love to help!
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Check out the full page of resources below, and share it with a friend or colleague who might be able to use them
