How to Start A Website

Learning how to start a website doesn't have to be complicated. Even building your own website is not as hard as you may think. Not having a website now is like not carrying your business cards ten years ago. A website is an extension of your business’s image. On your website, you can add information about your company, yourself, show a portfolio of your work, add detailed descriptions of the services you provide, and so much more than what you can fit on a business card.

Here is some information and tips on how to start a website:

Register Domain Name

A domain name is what your website visitors type in the find your website. For example my website domain name is virtualassistantbusiness.com

You want to choose a domain name that is descriptive. It needs to let your visitors know what your site is about and it should be easy for people to remember and to spell.

You should try to avoid hyphenated domain names unless your domain consists or three or more words.  It has been said that search engines read longer domain names better by hyphenating them, especially if you are using keywords and phrases in your domain.

.Com, .Net, and others

Your first choice for a domain name preferably should end with .com. This is usually what must internet users type in first. If that domain is not available, then the next preference would be a .net. Try to stick with either of these two options, if at all possible.

Domain Name Availability

To check to see if the domain name you want is available you can use Go Daddy. This is where I check the domain name availability and purchase new domain names. They have reasonable prices. Yahoo also has domains as low as $1.99.

Building a Website Yourself vs. Paying Someone to Design It for You

Deciding whether or not to build your website yourself or pay someone to design it for you can be a tough choice. Both options have their pros and cons.

You may be saying to yourself: I don’t know the first thing about building a website. There’s no need to worry, I didn’t know anything about site design either. With the wonderful advancements in technology and software, you can build your own website with little or no knowledge of HTML, or anything else for that matter.

Advantages of building your own website:

• Cost effective
• Complete creative control of the design and look of your site
• Freedom to maintain, update, and change content on your website anytime

Disadvantages of building your own website:

• If you are a beginner it may take you longer to build your site, but it can still be done.
• You are prone to making more errors building your website in the beginning, but practice makes perfect.
• You have to maintain, update and change content on your website.

Advantages to paying someone to build your website:

• Your website is done by a professional and the turnaround is usually pretty fast.
• The webmaster maintains, updates, and changes the content to your website.

Disadvantages to paying someone to build your website:

• Limited creative control of the design and look to your site
• When you need something changed or content added to your site, you may have to wait in line behind your webmaster’s other clients.

As you can probably see by now I am all for doing it yourself. I am going to focus on doing it yourself.

You will need website editing and/or building software such as DreamWeaver or FrontPage. I use FrontPage to build and edit my websites. I have also used DreamWeaver in the past, but I am partial to FrontPage. In my opinion, it is easier use.

Although the programs can be expensive, they are well worth the investment for your business. If you are on a budget then check out How to Create a Website in 5 Days. It teaches you how to build a professional website in a short amount of time using some free resources.

Site Builders

Site builders are for those who have little or no HTML knowledge. A Site Builder is software that builds your website for you. You simply plug in your content and it does all the HTML code, programming, etc., the “behind the scenes” stuff. Some examples of site builders are Internet Based Family, Site Build It, and XsitePro.

Internet Based Family provides a wonderful site builder that produces professional and quality websites with over 500 templates to choose from. It is very affordable and offers shopping carts, auto responders, message boards, and much more. It’s very easy to use even if you have never built a website and have no HTML skills. It makes building a website as easy as 1..2..3...even if you have never done it before. They have a free 10 day trial so you can check it out before you buy. Web hosting is also included.

Site Build It offers a little more bang for your buck. It is more expensive, but provides keyword research, search engine submission, auto responders, create your own newsletter or ezine, traffic stats so you how much and where your traffic is coming from, track your pay per click (PPC) campaigns, and so much more.

My favorite and the one that I used to create this site you're looking at is XsitePro. XSitePro is a total website management program. No website building skills necessary. You can create professional websites with all the bells and whistles in literally a few hours. It is a fool proof way to build highly optimized websites.

These site builders do have their limitations, so you will have to decide which the best is for you. Some web hosting providers provide their own site builders as well.

Templates

If you do decide to build your website from scratch rather than use a site builder then check out Template Monster. This will take care of the design, look, and feel of your website. Then you can just duplicate the template for each webpage. You can also purchase a template that is a full site. If those don't fit your budget, I recommend Basic Templates. The templates are professional and only $5.

As I mentioned earlier, you will also need a website editing and/or building software, such as Dream Weaver or  FrontPage. I've used FrontPage to build and edit my websites. Neither of these is cheap, but both are worth the investment in your business.

Remember, you don’t have to start off with the latest and greatest. Start with what your budget permits. I recommend How to Create a Website in 5 Days if your funds are limited. It teaches you how to build a professional website in a short amount of time using some free resources.

Web Hosting

Side Note: If you choose one of the site builders mentioned earlier then you can skip this section. Web hosting is included in those site builders.

There are so many web hosting companies out there, it’s unreal. Choosing the right one takes time and research. I personally use HostGator for most of my websites, and I am satisfied with them.

Make sure the hosting company you choose has excellent customer service and tech support, preferably 24 hours. If you are going to build your website using FrontPage, you will need to make sure the web hosts you choose has FrontPage extensions. If not, you will not be able to publish your site to the worldwide web.

Determining how much space, bandwidth, and data transfer you will need is another issue. If these terms are unfamiliar don’t worry. I didn’t have a clue when I first started about any of this stuff. I found a useful article that might help you understand a little better. Check out http://www.hosthelp.com/sizematters.php

Start with the basics and just remember you can always upgrade later if necessary. Make sure you choose a web host that will accommodate your needs as you grow.

Free vs. Paid Web Hosting

Don’t get steered in the wrong direction when it comes to free web hosting. It might look attractive because it’s free, but free is not always better. Most free hosting companies require their advertisements to be on your site. Also, most free web hosts have pop-up ads that can annoy your visitors causing them to leave your site. They also give you a ridiculously long domain name that you or your visitors will never remember. For example: www.xyz.com/12345/this-is-riduculous/e25f6578/more-numbers/yourcompanyname. It doesn’t give your business a professional presence.