Building a website
Aug 26 2009
Not having a website is a bit like having a shop without a front door. You’ve got the merchandise, but there’s a thick wall separating it from your customers.
E-commerce is relentlessly speeding ahead of every other sector (latest figures show a dizzying 16.8 per cent increase from last year). If you don't have a sales-driven website, you could be missing out on a vital slice of revenue.
A lack of time and money are the most common reasons for the failure of businesses to connect with potential customers in this way. But the good news is: you can build an online presence quickly and for free.
Sites like Microsoft Office Live and BT Tradespeace can be a good starting point here. Microsoft Office Live offers a free basic package that includes a domain name and 500MB of space for your site. You can add photos, logos and text by following the on-screen instructions. You can also track the performance of your site to see how many people are visiting it and include online payments.
BT Tradespace offers a similar package, but also acts as a business community, where company owners can set up groups with similar or complimentary businesses, write blogs, post videos and include up to five product images. Click here to read more about building a website through these services.
But if you’d like more control over the process, doing it all yourself is easy too. Firstly, you will need to choose a domain name (sites like Godaddy and 123 Reg UK are a good starting point for this), a hosting company such as Hostgator, and install a Contents Management System from a site such as Wordpress. It sounds complicated, but it shouldn’t take you more than a weekend to get to grips with it all. For more help go to: How to build a website for free.
Once you’re up and running there are a few tricks of the trade which are also useful to know, such as how to get customers to your site through search engine optimisation (SEO), making your website effective and how to take advantage of social networking.
Get clicking and open your business up to a virtual world of opportunity.