smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Whether you are new to the internet or just starting to consider getting your business online, there are a lot of benefits that can be easily achieved online.

For business use, the benefits include having a more professional image, company email address and website. You can also gain additional customers through website promotion

and additional sales revenue through an online shop.

Step 1 – Get a name!

The first step for all of the above is to register a web address, otherwise know as a domain name. With a hundred thousand domain names being registered each month in the UK, now is the time to grab your preferred web address before it goes! Handy hint – try separating double barrelled names with a ‘–‘ eg your-name.co.uk - not only is it easier for the eye to read, but search engines now prefer it too!

To check availability and register your domain name click here or this can be done as part of getting email or a website – see below:

Step 2 – Use your name for professional looking email

Now you have a web address, you can use it for personalised email – you can be simon@your-name.co.uk not joebloggs19843@someispprovider.net ! All email packages should now include spam and virus protection, and be run on highly secure servers in purpose built UK data centres – this will give you complete peace of mind that your email is secure and you will have access to it at all times. In addition, especially for people on the move, look for SMS alerts and also hosted exchange mailboxes. Hosted exchange has integrated and shareable contacts, diary, notes and all this is accessible via Outlook Web Access (thus any web browser anywhere), via Outlook Mobile Access (on most mobiles) or Outlook 2003 desktop client (your computer at home/office) – all of these access methods should be included free of charge with a hosted exchange email package.

For professional email, including domain name registration click here, or look to get both included with your website hosting:

Step 3 – Create your online presence

The last step in getting online is to choose the correct website hosting package that suits your needs and start building your website. All packages on the market should now include an easy to use site creation tool that does everything from a simple “business card” one page website to a full blown ecommerce site. If you’re looking to code your website yourself then you’ll need to choose the correct operating system – FrontPage and ASP.NET are better supported on Windows hosting packages - scripting languages such as PHP, Perl and Python are better supported on Linux hosting packages. Look for an online control panel for efficient management of your services from anywhere and at anytime, 24x7 support is also available from most providers for free. Web hosting packages generally include domain name registration and email.

For secure, reliable and scalable web hosting with domain name registration and email click here.

Note: for more advanced requirements, look for dedicated servers and multi-domain reseller accounts.

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