- 1). Plan carefully. Decide on the look and feel of the website. Think about the website's content as well as the message you are trying to convey to customers.
- 2). Use already existing content. You may want the website to serve as a large part of your business. You may just want to provide a simple website for your customers to refer to quickly. A basic website can help provide some essential information, such as a business location and a few pictures of items being sold or food available. If this is what you want to do, take pictures of the outside and inside of your store with a digital camera. Scan menus or special features into a scanner and download to a picture hosting website such as photobucket.
- 3). Choose a URL (also called a domain name) for your business. The URL serves as the Internet address of your business. You can purchase a domain name, but if you want a free one, you can use a subdomain name from a free hosting service such as webs.com. Some organizations or associations provide free subdomains for members.
- 4). Choose a hosting service and set up an email account. A hosting service is where all information on your website is stored. The hosting service webs.com is free. The hosting service allows users access to the content on your site. A good host will let you update information frequently, which is important if you need to adjust to current economic conditions.
- 5). Design your website. There are free tutorials on the Web that will lead you through the process of website design. All written material on a website should be vetted for errors. Check that all links work. Make sure the website's color scheme and background are pleasing to the eye. Access the site on several different browsers. A site may look fine in Explorer but have visibility issues when using Mozilla.
- 6). Promote your website. Help promoting a website can be found at websites such as apromotionguide.com. If your website is part of an existing business, have business cards made noting the URL. Make sure any ads in magazines or the Yellow Pages have the proper email address. If your website is a stand-alone business, use social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to promote it.
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