It is easy to build a website for your small business .

Most consumers look on the internet before going to a store. Sometimes it is their only stop: they research, compare and buy online. It goes without saying then that for a small business to reach its potential market, it should have an internet presence.

Small business operators do not often have a dedicated IT person on staff – in the past this is the person who would be given the job of building a website. It’s great news then that there are now beginner-friendly website building packages on the market which are perfect for the small businessperson’s use.

If you can use a word processor you will be able to use most modern web site builders. You simply type on the page as you normally would when writing an email.

The tutorials provided with almost all software suppliers take the novice through the process of building a website in a non-technical, easy to understand way. Having completed the tutorial, one is equipped with more than enough knowledge to launch straight into a website build.

Not all website software programs are easy to use. Small business operators do not need fully blown web design industry solutions due to the steep learning curve. One feature to look for is a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor. This simply means you type on the page as you see it.

There are expenses involved in publishing your own website – you get nothing for nothing. Apart from the cost of the software (there are free web builders however they are more difficult to use or too basic in features), a small business (or an individual or a large company) will need to register a domain name (less than $10) and find a web hosting service (around $8 per month).

Setting up a merchant account with someone like Paypal (free)is something businesses should consider. Having a third party handle financial transactions is always reassuring for consumers and takes away an administration burden. As soon as an order is placed you will receive an alert from the merchant. You can then arrange shipping – or in the case of digital products – automate the delivery.

In any small business time is money, and the time spent learning a new skill like website building with easy to use software must be seen as a good investment. It is possible to build multiple websites so that you can have a website network feeding a central business. This is ideal for multi-brand retailers and multi-branch operators. Having the ability to be flexible with your online presence will be an advantage to the savvy business owner.

Because you have built and are managing your website yourself, you are able to instantly react to changing trends and new opportunities. Avoid delays by not having to wait for your webmaster to make changes. Fresh content on your website is highly desirable.

Some website programs are specifically designed to assist the business person become an internet business marketer, and as your knowledge of web design grows, the more you will value search engine optimization and site map generation tools. Having a correctly designed site map helps search engines easily match your site to search requests.

If you decide to look at other ways to earn money through your website without doing a thing, you will no doubt look at including on your site some affiliate marketing and advertisements from non compete companies.

Features to look for:

An active help desk to support you is important. Also you will need instructional videos to shorten the learning curve. Look for testimonials from other business owners to see how they have applied the software.

Getting started is the next step once you arrive at the conclusion that a website is no longer a luxury – it is essential!

Building a website is an often overlooked topic in the deluge of ebooks out there on how to start a business. 

But maybe you just want to build a simple website where you can put up a few photos and share them with your family and friends. 

Recently, a friend of mine needed a website to display his resume online. 

Or, maybe you just want to build a website to sell online and make enough residual income for a car payment.

With the right tools, building a website can be a step by step process and is much more simple than many people might think.  It’s definitely not something to fear any longer.  If you can get online and read this article, you can certainly build a website.  You just need a little instruction.

Here are a few tips for getting started.

* Have an idea on what you need the website to do.  Will it be for family photos, a resume, your journal entries, or do you want to put up products for sale, or work with affiliates and sell their products?  Keeping this in mind gives you an idea on how complex building the site will be. 

* Find an easy web building tool.  This step is key.  I’ve built numerous websites and have tried many of the tools out there.  Some cost big bucks, some charge monthly fees before you even begin building, but I’ve found that the best, and easiest tool, is actually free.  Tripod, owned by Lycos, lets you build your entire site before they charge you a penny.  If you don’t like where you end up, you can start over and try again, all for no cost.  If you like what you’ve built then the only cost is for a domain name (includes hosting fees) and removes any advertisements from your site.  Simple as that.

* Find people like you who can help get you started and that you can talk to along the way.  I didn’t have this chance when I got started, but it would have helped me drastically.  With the advent of social networking sites, you can easily find a community where there are others like you who are in the same position, or willing to coach.

Thanks for coming,

Audry Grant

If you have few web design skills or none whatsoever and want create an online presence, website templates are perhaps the best option for you. There are many services offering professional-quality website templates for free, enabling you to build your own, fully-functional site in just a few minutes. In most cases, these free templates have been designed by highly experienced professionals who appreciate the fact that users may want a design that is so easy to use, that all they would need to do is to drag and drop the elements to build their own free website. Essential tasks, such as the coding, design and layout are all taken care of, allowing users to concentrate on putting together an easy-to- edit, professional-looking website with no need to learn any complicated computer programming language.With free website templates, all you have to do is to select a theme, choose a name for your site, add your logo,  input your images and text and make your new website live. Yes, it’s that simple! A beautifully designed, professional-quality and easily navigable website, using free templates can take as little as five minutes. It doesn’t matter whether you’re hoping to build a website as an individual, a small business or a commercial enterprise, as long as you can customize a free website template, you’ll be able to get online and start receiving visitors or customers within a short time.As web templates are fully tested by experienced web designers before they’re offered to the general public, the chances of ending up with software bugs or errors in the computer code are very small. This would be a great benefit to anyone with no experience of HTML, PHP, CSS or any other programming language. The alternative to creating a website using a template is to get a professional designer to build one for you or to do it yourself. However, there will be cost or time considerations with either option. Some professionals may charge you hundreds or even thousands for a bespoke design, depending on the complexity of the website. A do-it-yourself approach by an inexperienced web designer could lead to a range of problems, including having the menu appear on the  wrong side of the page or the site not appearing online at all after supposedly publishing it to the internet! With web templates, you can see from the very beginning what your page will look like, plus there are thousands of varied layouts to choose from. Furthermore, if you want to modify a template design, it is easy to do, without the need to ask for someone else’s help. Web templates also help you to appreciate some of the design and layout techniques in a professional website, with the potential for you to perhaps consider going on a  training course in the future.Despite the instant appeal of free website templates, one thing to bear in mind is that they will not be personal to you. The basic design and layout of a template is highly likely to be accessible by other people, so there’s a real possibility that someone else may choose the same website template design as you. That said, a good website template, whether free or paid-for, will be flexible enough for you to easily rearrange or add features to make the site unique. With some website template packages, you have the potential to create literally tens of thousands of design combinations!Website templates are the perfect solution for people who have no web design experience or who can’t afford to pay a professional designer to build a site for them. Even if you do have a little experience in web design, choosing a website template could be a great opportunity to showcase your creative skills by customizing it to create a content-rich and user-friendly website with the potential to attract many thousands of visitors…/