So you have a great idea for a new business?
Do you think if you can only throw up a website the cash will come flying in through your computer?
Do you want to work from home?
If you have answered yes to any of those questions, you probably do need a website. Great! Now, let’s talk about what to do next.
- Find a domain name and register it. This may seem very simple but it may not be. If your name is too long it is probably a bad idea. Think about it, most businesses in the U.S. are two syllables. Wendy’s, Arby’s, Kmart, Walmart, Denny’s, and so on. You get the idea. So, what is your potential name? Okay, so you need to go to a registrar to see if your potential name is available. If it isn’t try another one. It may be a variation of your name. For instance, if you want “widgets.com” and it is taken maybe try “buywidgets.com”. My recommendation is still to try and stick to two syllables unless something a little longer describes your business or content better. Note: You can reserve your domain name for multiple years up front if you would like to but the typical registration is for a year or two. You can use a company like Godaddy.com to register your domain name. They also provide web hosting services if you would like to use them. You can also use other providers to register your domain name. Whois.com is a good provider to use. We will talk more about these type of companies in another post here.
- Choose a web hosting company. There are literally a ton of options for this service. Many companies will let you pay monthly. You can also pay quarterly, yearly, etc. Typically, if you pay for a longer term up front you will pay less overall. You should consider things like storage space, bandwidth, email accounts, and support when considering who to go with. Other customer reviews should also be considered here. If a company has good reviews, this could be a strong indicator of the level of service they will provide. You can always transfer your service to another provider later if you would like to. Many hosting companies will transfer your website to their service for free. So, if you choose someone today and decide down the road that you aren’t happy with their service, you can simply move. We will talk more about web hosts here.
- Build your website. There are many tools available today to the newbie. Many web hosts also have some free options included that will help you to build a basic website and for free. Hostgator for instance, has over 4500 free website templates that you can use. You simply make some adjustments and upload it to their servers. Cpanel also includes a code editor that may help you greatly. If your goal is to upload a website fast, this is an option. Another commonly used option is WordPress. WordPress is used by millions of websites around the globe. It is easy to install, easy to update and very stable. This website uses WordPress. WordPress also provides access to tons of plugins to make things easy and themes which can be easily customized to your liking. Themeforest showcases some of the many paid theme options that exist for WordPress users. We will talk more about websites here.
- Get listed in Google and other search engines. This is critical. If you are not listed in Google do you really exist? To get listed in Google, Bing, etc, we suggest a website called Attracta. This is a free service that will help you to get listed in search engines. They also provide some paid services but if you are on a tight budget, just use the free stuff. Remember though, that once you are listed, you will need to resubmit on a semi-weekly basis. This will not only help your search engine ranking but also will be important when you add or change some website content. I cannot overstate the importance of submitting and resubmitting your site to the search engines. Be careful though, if you do it less than weekly it may get you into trouble. This is one of Attracta’s best features to me. It helps to remember when you submitted last and when it is due. We will talk more about search engines here.
- Keep your content fresh. No matter what kind of website you have, you need to keep your content from getting stale. If nothing else, add blog posts, add new pictures or just redo the wording of your site. Look at your closest local competitor’s website and see what they are doing well. What do you like about their site that yours doesn’t have. Ideas are important. Clicks are very important to your search engine ranking. How can you improve the number of clicks to your site? We will talk more about content here.
We hope that these 5 simple tips will help you to get started making your fortune on the internet. The customers are out there. You just have to figure out how to get them to your site so they can purchase your goods or services. Happy selling and we will see you again soon!
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