Starting a Website

The web is an excellent way to bring your product or service to the public. It is like publishing a brochure where you have complete control over the content and it's relatively inexpensive. If you are technically savvy in the ways of the web, a website can be created in no time. But if you are not, don't worry. There are plenty of web designers out there that can give you a hand.

Step 1: Getting a Domain Name

You want to get a domain that will represent your business and/or your website. People will associate the domain name with your website, so it should be memorable. For instance, it's better to have a name like hirealawyer.com than say billandersonandassociateslawfirm.com. The latter may be more available than the former, but still there is more likely a better fit out there. Keep looking. You will no doubt go through many different names before finding one that you like, that is easy to remember, and that is available.

At www.GoDaddy.comyou can enter into their search box on the front page the domain name you think you may want. It will tell you whether it's available. If it is, you can claim it by registering. If not, try some other ones. Eventually you'll find one that suits you.

Do remember, however, to avoid names with trademark issues, especially of well known brands. You can lose the domain and your business and possibly get sued.

Registering a domain is like renting it for x amount of years. You can start as little as one and go up from there. In that time, you will own the right to use the domain for anything you wish, whether it's to resell or to make a website.

Step 2: Hosting

You will need a place to put your website. www.GoDaddy.comcan help you with that too. They even give good deals for a domain name / hosting bundle, as well as other services to help get your site up and running.

Most people tend to overestimate how much space and bandwidth they will need. A lot sounds like a great deal, but a lot may not be necessary. If you are going to host text documents mostly on your site, then the bandwidth requirements are not that high, but If you plan to host a lot of pictures, files, videos, then much more bandwidth is required. Most providers allow you to upgrade when you get near the top in traffic.

Step 3: Designing and Building Your Site

Technical know-how is required for this step, but don't get discouraged if you aren't technically oriented. You can find many different programmers and designers on freelance sites that are quite willing to help you build your site. A few things to keep in mind when hiring. What has the designer done in the past? Do you like what you see? Will you be able to update the site without knowing the inner workings? A good designer should create or install some system by which you can maintain the site easily.

This sounds expensive and in some cases it might be, but this is a representation of your business. Just like in real life, a website is judged on two things, usability and looks. If the site is user friendly (meaning people can get around on it and understand it easily), then the look is often secondary. But you do want it to also look as professional as you can. Imagine if this was your store front. You wouldn't want the door up three feet and trash all over the floor. The website must invoke trust for your customers. A talented designer will be able to create such a site.

Step 4: Getting People to the Site

Many people have the misconception that a new site will instantly be flooded with customers within minutes of being put up. The truth is in a sea of hundreds of thousands of new sites daily, people may never see yours. That is why marketing, like in the real world, is just as important. Advertising your site, trading links with other sites, word of mouth, and of course the search engines such as Google, will help your site flourish.

A point about search engines is that they love fresh content. Keeping the content up to date by adding new features or listings or whatever not only gives something for your potential customers to come back for, but also helps you in the rankings. Updating the site as often as possible is one of the leading ways to get eyes to see what you are offering.

We hope this gives you a rough idea of how to start a website and join in the global community of publishers.