How to Build the Best
Small Business Website
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T I P : Get Free Price Quotes on Website Design Describe what you need, we'll match you to qualified vendors, and you can compare different web design services at competitive prices to get the best deal! Try it Free

Step 1: Register your domain name

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Step 2: Choose a website host

Getting Started: When you compare hosting companies for your small business website, these are some important factors to keep in mind and why. Build Your Website in Minutes. Try it free! Reliability: Get a website that has 99.9% uptime. If your website is continuously "down" and inaccessible to your customers, you won't be selling much. Support: Get a website host that offers support 5+ days a week with a fast response time and look for phone support or pager support in addition to e-mail support. Having a good support system will save you time, and in a crisis situation you may not able to afford to wait for a solution. Ease-of-use: Spend your time doing work that you will get paid for. Using unnecessary complicated systems will end up making your business less profitable. How to build an income-producing website - watch free video: See how real people have successfully used *Site-Build-It* to make money online Web Hosting Companies We Like: Yahoo Small Business Websites about $12/month Yahoo Small Business won the 2008 PC Magazine's Editor's Choice Award, so you know they're good. Yahoo's hosting service is a good solution for people wanting a more professional-looking site, additional features that they can use as their business grows and a 24/7 toll-free support line. If online business "is" your business, I suggest taking a look at Yahoo's hosting solution. You can try a Free Demo here >> Yahoo Small Business Websites Tip Top Website starting at $1/month Tip Top Website keeps it simple. As you'll see from their home page, everything is very clear. If you want a simple site that you can put together quickly, click on the "Samples" link on their website to see what other users have done. They also offer a popular blog site option that's included free with each package. See how much you can get for a buck >> Tip Top Website Homestead Websites about $5/month Homestead, an Intuit company, has come a long way since when they first started. I personally think I like these guys best. They have an amazing collection of website templates that you can use (2000+), and they offer many of the features that the more expensive hosting companies have. Your can try out their service free, so it's worth taking a look. Step 3: Cool Website Design Tools & Tips T I P : Make More Money with a Talking Website Find out how to instantly add streaming audio to your website without expensive equipment or technical know-how. (A Telephone!) Let your website do the talking and make sales for you. More Tips Host Multiple Sites for 1 Low Price Web Design Software (Free Downloads!) Newsletter, Logo and Website Templates Accept Credit Cards Securely in Minutes with PayPal Avoiding "Bad" Web Hosts The Internet represents the most powerful communication revolution since the dawn of mankind. Its communication power can literally create business empires faster and with less startup capital than in all human history. Yet, with all this power at their fingertips, it amazes me that most businesses and entrepreneurs will put their business in jeopardy just to save a couple of bucks. Would you build a luxury home on a foundation made for a double-wide trailer? Would you mount a race car body and engine on a chassis built for a go-cart? If not, then why would you try to build a legitimate online business to support your family and contribute to your livelihood using $4 a month hosting? It doesn't make sense, but people do it every day and, unfortunately, the consequences can often cost you a hundred times or more of what you "saved." When you go to choose a web host, you need to think in terms of the purpose for your website(s). If you want a little family site or a non-commercial blog, then $5 a month hosting may be just what you need. If you want to host a basic, but dependable website to sell your own, or someone else's products, then plan on $9-20 a month, depending on how much hand-holding you need from your web host's technical support staff. If you want to host multiple sites to generate search engine traffic, sell your own products online, and get a moderate amount of traffic, then plan to spend $15-$50 a month, depending on which options you choose. If you plan to operate a serious e-commerce site and need the flexibility to grow, then a dedicated server for $100- $200 a month may fit the bill. When evaluating a web host, keep the following in mind. Will you run scripts on your website? If yes, then make sure the web host offers a cgi-bin and mysql database. Those allow you to run almost any kind of script you'll need on a basic to intermediate level site. Will you have your own "dedicated IP address?" All domain names correspond to an IP address, which is just a series of numbers. Just like a phone number dials up the correct phone anywhere on earth, each domain has its own number. However, depending on how your host sets up their server, your domain can actually share an IP address with dozens, even hundreds, of other websites. If one of those websites misbehaves, it can adversely affect everyone on that same IP address. My advice: pay a little extra to make sure you get your own dedicated IP. How much space will you need? Make sure you get at least 100 megabytes of space from your web host. Also, make sure you get at least 10 email forwarding accounts and 10 gigabytes of data transfer per month. Also, the hosting market is so competitive now that you should never pay a setup fee. If in doubt, shop around, compare and always ask someone you trust or check up on what others have to say about a specific hosting service by visiting sites like http://www.webhostingtalk.com The moral here? Understand that your web hosting account is literally the "foundation" for your online business, so don't skimp. You're only hurting yourself in the long run if you do. About the Author Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the creator of an amazing course that will teach you step-by- step and click-by-click how to finally create your own money-making mini-sites... "Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU to Painlessly Set Up Your OWN Moneymaking 'Mini' Websites... Without Being a Computer Geek, Buying Expensive Software, or Paying Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!" Click Here => http://www.MiniSiteCreator.com

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