If you wish to establish an online presence, whether you are selling a product or simply setting up a blog, the first thing you need is a website. Here are five easy steps to help you get started.
Step 1: Register Your Domain Name
Registering your domain name need not be expensive. GoDaddy.com offers some of the best domain name pricing at under $10 per year. Should you register every domain extension (.com, .net, .org)? Always register the .com (dot com) extension first. Registering other extensions is a good branding strategy but probably isn’t worth the extra hassle or cash when starting out.
Step 2: Choose Your Website Template
Designing a quality, attractive website takes time and skill. If you have both of these you can do it yourself, if not there are templates out there. If you are setting up a blog then tools like WordPress provide basic templates for free.
If you want something a little more sophisticated, the following is a list of affordable, top-quality template sites, with varying payment options.
1. TemplateMonster
2. 101WebTemplate
3. BoxedArt
4. TemplateSystems
5. TemplateGuys
Look for templates you can adapt quickly to what you’re offering. Avoid elaborate and flashy templates. Is it easy to navigate? How long does it take to download?
Look at your niche. Would they find your site appealing? If it doesn’t appeal to you, it probably won’t appeal to your niche market either.
Step 3: Customize Your Site Template
This step does require Web editing software. To ease your dilemma, I recommend Microsoft FrontPage. It’s widely used, widely supported and inexpensive. If you absolutely abhor Microsoft, my next choice would be Macromedia DreamWeaver.
This package offers more advanced features that may not be available in FrontPage. But, it will cost you. Either way, you’ll open your template files with the editor and add your own business information.
If you are setting up a blog with a tool like WordPress, you simply have to add content through the content management system. There are many free skins available on the web that can be easily applied.
Step 4: Choose Your Web Host
After registering a domain name and choosing a design template, your next goal is to find a reliable host. If you registered your domain at GoDaddy, they have affordable hosting options.
For $4.95 a month, you can host a small site in a matter of minutes. If you don’t require databases, special scripting, or an elaborate e-commerce solution, the GoDaddy hosting menu provides good. P4Host.com is another reliable hosting provider.
Step 5: Go Live!
After you’ve chosen your host, you’ll officially put your site online. You will need an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client (check Ipswitch for PCs and Transmit for Mac). Testing is the key. Transferring files is easy, making sure everything works is easy too - just tedious.
I’ve made this step short intentionally. Because each hosting provider has a different process, I can’t explain each one in enough detail to make you feel comfortable to tackle the process on your own. I will say that if you decide to use GoDaddy as your domain registrar, they have a seamless hosting option. All you do is select the hosting option when you first signup and register your domain. They take care of a few, back-end details while you take care of uploading your files.
