How to Build a Website – It Should be Easy, Affordable and Hassle Free

Your options are:

• Build it yourself using website editor software such as DreamWeaver, FrontPage or a step by step website builder provided by some hosting companies
• Have a web designer build it for you

Build it yourself?

Until recently creating a website for yourself was not an option unless you had the time to study to be a web designer, learn web graphics and the HTML language required to build a website. It is now possible to build your own website using step by step software and templates. If you feel you have the time and patience to build your website yourself then you can save yourself a considerable amount of time and money. You can then maintain your own website and save ongoing costs.

Drawbacks of building your own website:

• Can take a considerable amount of your time
• Can be a steep learning curve especially if using a website editor
• Results can sometimes be disappointing wasting your time and money
• If you choose to maintain the website this can be time consuming
• You may not have the experience in smooth site navigation to produce a site that is easy for customers to navigate

IMPORTANT POINT: You must build the website for your customer not for yourself. Take time to think about your customer, who they are and what they like. Good planning is essential in the building of a quality, successful website.


Don’t want to build the website yourself?

How to find the right Web designer:

• Try and get a word of mouth recommendation from another business owner
• Visit sites of other business owners in your field and if you like what you see contact their web designer
• Find companies that specialize in small business web development offering an affordable small business website
• Evaluate at least three companies and get quotes
• Check out their website and website design portfolio and make sure their designs suit your tastes
• Make sure you are going to get the result you want and in the time frame that you expect

1. Think about the purpose of your website. What kind of image do you want to present to your customer? What do you want your customers to be able to do when they visit your site?
2. Think about the design you would like your website to have. Do some searching on the web for businesses similar to yours and get some ideas on what you like and what you may need.
3. Gather together all the information you want on your website. Organize into subjects to give you an indication of how many pages you may need.
4. Make a list of all the functions and features you want your website to have. Will you need a shopping cart, a contact/enquiry form, and the like?
5. How many email addresses do you think you will need?
6. Think about the type of images/pictures you want on your site.
7. Think about and choose a preferred domain name that reflects your business.
8. Think about and list the words (keywords) that people may use in the search engines to look for a business like yours.
What are Keywords?
9. Will you write the content for your website or will you need assistance?
10. How internet savvy are you? Will you require assistance to maintain your website? Will you need to be making frequent changes to content? (Can be quite expensive if you cannot make these changes yourself)

Once you have answered these questions you will have a much clearer idea of what you need. The web designer you choose will interview you about your business and the design and features of your website. If you have given this some thought beforehand it will save you time and money.

Your web designer will take into account your business website needs and your budget. They should create a website plan for you, laying everything out that you will have on your site and give you a quote or bid so you can decide whether to go ahead with the project with them. Be highly suspicious of any web designer who gives you a price without any discussion of your business needs.

Next: Part 4c Small Business Web Development

Part 4c Small Business Web Development

Websites can cost any where from $100 to many thousands of dollars depending what you want and need. Some web design companies then charge a monthly fee to maintain your website plus a monthly hosting fee.

Part 5 About Search Engines

Part 5a What are Search Engines?

The purpose of your website is to find new customers and increase profits so you need to answer the question: What are Search Engines? They are very important to your Small Business marketing.

Part 5b What is Website Traffic?

Website traffic and a first page ranking with Google or Yahoo is worth a lot to your business. It is not an easy task and it is best to build your website from scratch with the search engines in mind.