Are you in business but don’t have a website? If so, why not? Perhaps you are not sure where to start. A simple overview and step-by-step guide might be just the ticket. Learn how to get online is an excellent, short video from network solutions on what you need to do to get a website presence for your business.
Most people search the Internet for something they want. To ‘google it’ has become part of our language. So, if your business doesn’t have a web presence, you wont be found. It’s not difficult to create a website or online store for your business and you can appear as large or as small as you want. If it’s just you, nobody will know.
To start you need a domain name or web address (often called URL). This can be your business name. Choose wisely because it’s a part of your identity online. You can search for and register a domain name at godaddy, the Internet’s largest domain name registrar for just a few dollars. Then you need content for your website. This could be product data, photos, articles, videos, audio or any other form of information. You really need to compile what you want to say to your visitors before you design or build a website.
You will also need SSL certification, which protects your customer’s private data using encryption. Then you will need hosting. Hosting is where you rent space from an Internet hosting company. Hostgator is one of the Internet’s biggest, low costing hosting companies. Hosting can cost from as little as $5 a month. Hosting companies provide secure data centres to protect your business from power outages, viruses, hackers and boast 99% uptime. They can also provide domain name registration as part of the package.
You will also need an email address for customer support. The address should comprise your website domain name in order to look professional. You will need a shopping cart if you want to sell anything online. You can pay for shopping cart software or you can get free open source shopping carts. Brett from webtecker recommends the 8 best open source shopping carts.
Finally, you will need to promote your web business. And you can do this for free by optimising your site for the search engines, called SEO. If you don’t understand how to use SEO, you are better off using the services of SEO and search engine marketing experts. Take a look at the search marketing gurus website.
A web presence for your business is not difficult if you tackle it step-by-step and employ professionals where necessary. The small business blog thinks a web presence is a need for every small business. I have to agree.
