In our post Is Your Business Missing the Computer?, we talked about a lot of things your business may need, like a website, software, document storage, and marketing and advertising. I thought I’d take a moment of your time and expand on this theory a little more.

Websites

All good businesses today should have a web presence. It helps build your reputation, allows for you to be found by your clients, and most importantly, tells the world who you are and what you do. Now there is a big debate over website versus blog, but that is not our intent here.

A website is a must whether you have a site that says “here we are and here’s what we offer” or a more interactive site that allows you to have a conversation with your clients. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on a website or blog, but I highly recommend that unless you are a techie, you find a good web or blog designer (we recommend CreativeAce.com) that can get you set up as quickly as possible.

If you do have some technical expertise in web design or HTML, then you can setup your own WordPress blog in minutes. We do strongly recommend that you DO NOT use free blog sites like WordPress.com to run your business as their Terms and Services prohibit that.  If you are a new business or want to setup up a Business Blog then we highly recommend visiting GrowMap. They have done a lot of research and taking a few minutes to peruse the articles on their site will save you hours of headaches in the future and probably give you a lot of good ideas to boot.

If you want to save a couple bucks, but decide that you need someone to create and setup your web presence here are some things you can do prior to hiring that Techie.

Domain Name

The first step you need to take, is finding a good domain name. Your company name is usually a good place to start, however, if it is taken then do a little finger work. I recommend that you watch Andrew Rondeau’s video on how to use Google keywords that will drive traffic to your site. This information is good for researching a good domain name, as well as keywords that your SEO Techie will be needing to drive traffic to your site.  So think of it as killing two birds with one stone. It’s not complicated, but it is the best explanation in layman’s terms that we could find out there.

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So now you have a domain name and 6-8 keywords. What do you do with them? Well, now you need a place for the world to come find you.

Hosting

Don’t be afraid, there’s nothing wrong with hosting and it doesn’t have to be expensive either. There are a lot of recommendations out there, be we’ve been using Godaddy for a long time and couldn’t be happier with them, so obviously, we’re going to recommend them. They offer a lot of platform choices and self-help options.

Once you decide on a host, purchase a domain name and a hosting plan. After you have acquired these 2 things you can give your Techie the rights to set up everything. This should not cost more that $5 or $6 a month.

If you are unsure of what you want (i.e., website, wordpress blog, features), then talk to the Techie. Your web/blog designer should ask all the right questions, like:

  • Who’s your target audience?
  • Do you want to have a conversation with them?
  • Do you want immediate feedback?
  • Do you want to update your content? If so, how often?
  • Do you want to update all pages on the site or just your blog?
  • What kind of features do you want?
  • What type of graphics do you want?
  • Do you need an e-commerce site (where you sell products)?

The answers to these questions will dictate the type of hosting package you need. Don’t be alarmed, these are standard questions and a designer should be adept at helping you narrow down what you want so that the end result is exactly what you want your customers to see.

Do It Yourself

Now if you have some Techie in you, you can buy a domain name and hosting package with little to no outside help. In fact GoDaddy can walk you through this process and if you buy a Linux hosting package, they can even walk you through how to add and setup a basic WordPress blog on your site (WordPress is available on all Linux hosting accounts with no added extra fees). This is the easiest and quickest way to get a site up a running and you won’t need to know HTML. (NOTE: Be careful when adding Plugins to your site. DO NOT go hog wild. Some plugins are needed, but don’t play nice with others. If in doubt, ask a Techie).

If you have some HTML knowledge you could purchase a basic website template from DreamTemplate and you’re on your way. This is the quickest way to setting up a website as they come with all the files you need to include graphic files that can be edited. It will take a little longer than setting up a blog, but you can always add a blog later. A lot of websites do that.

If setting up a website or blog isn’t your thing, visit CreativeAce.com and they will get you up and running in less than a week.

PS:  They’re running a special of up to 5 web pages for $500 until February 14th. Tell them Max sent you.

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