The Skinny On Websites. Do I Need One?

The internet. A vast world of information at the fingertips of consumers everywhere. A perspective client or customer will hear about your new business, and will most often head to their computer and search for your company info. Oops! You don’t have a site, but while searching on the internet, that potential customer found another business that had exactly what they wanted. Every customer lost is a dollar not earned. You do not want that to happen! When forming a business, an internet presence, in the form of a website, is an absolute necessity in your marketing plan. How do you begin the process of creating a business website? This article will outline the basic steps to take in putting your business footprint on the world wide web.

The first decision you will make is deciding if you are going to create the website yourself or pay someone to do it. If you decide to hire someone, conduct extensive research, both on the internet and through conversations. If you come across a website you really like, most often the name of the company that designed the site appears at the bottom of the homepage. Word of mouth referrals from friends, family or other business owners, or locating a designer on the services listings on Craigslist are other ways to find what you need. Ask to see a large portfolio from anyone you are considering. If they don’t have samples of their work to show you, hiring them is probably not a good idea. Designers can charge anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of dollars to set up a site, so you really should shop around. If you pay someone to do the work for you, some companies will also offer site maintenance and web hosting in a bundled package. Sometimes this can be a good deal, especially if you have little to no knowledge of html. Personally, I think it is a smart idea to learn basic html so you can change text and images yourself. It saves valuable time and most importantly, is free to do. Local libraries have numerous books and often, classes that teach the basics of html coding. You can edit the code in programs like Wordpad and Notepad, software that most computers come with.

If you are like me and want to save money while maintaining control over site content, creating a site yourself maybe a better option. You do not need extensive experience or expensive software to do this, although, if you have any of those things, it would be a great advantage. I won’t go into web design software in this article, but if you are interested in going that way, research the different software and read reviews and articles to select what is best for your business. I personally have purchased a website template and then edited the html code in Notepad. Templates are available all over the internet. I buy my templates from the site Allwebcodesign.com. They sell incredible templates, many with flash features and Paypal shopping carts already installed. Included with the template are detailed, yet simple instructions on changing text, images and customizing it to fit your needs. Considering most templates are under $100, and some as low as $20, the money you save will definitely be worth a little work.

Finding a web host is your next task when creating a site. Again, the internet is jam packed with companies who will provide this for you at varying costs. You can easily find a reliable company who will give you 24/7 service, unlimited ftp transfer of data, unlimited storage space, along with multiple email addresses for under $10 a month. Some of the more popular companies will even throw in one domain name registration for free. Companies such as HostMonster, BlueHost and GoDaddy are reliable and provide great service and terrific introductory offers. Search reviews of all these companies to find the one that best suits you.

When registering, you will be asked to select a domain name. Sometimes, the name of your company or product may already be in use, so you may need to be creative. Try not to use words that could easily be misspelled by potential customers. And keep it short. No one wants to type in a 100 letter web address. I personally wouldn’t recommend combining more than 4 words in a domain name unless absolutely necessary. Also avoid hyphens if possible, although I own a site that uses a hyphen in the domain. You may need to use one if the domain name you want is already taken and you really have to use those specific words.

After choosing a host and building your website, you will upload your site to the host’s server. While this may seem complicated, most hosts provide forums and instructions to assist in this task. Find out what resources a host offers when making the decision. Depending on your knowledge and comfort level, some hosts may be better than others.

Some of you may find your best option is paying a company to develop a site, while others may want to personally take on the challenge. From personal experience, creating a site myself has saved me thousands of dollars. A year of site hosting and a template probably will cost around $150, maybe less. Compare that with hiring out the work to a web designer and you figure the math. In this time of pinching pennies and tightening belts, the money saved can be applied to other business needs. There are many ways to grab that internet presence for your business, and hopefully, I have provided you with some basic knowledge to get you started. Whichever path you decide to travel, your company footprint on the internet will be one of the best marketing ventures you will make as a small business owner. And it will pay off!