Im starting a small business and I need help?

Question

I will need to build a website. I can easily afford the webhosting but I dont understand what all the options are, all I really need is a website that has email, payment options such as visa/mastercard & paypal and obviously a nice design. It is really a small business so its more for the exposure. Are these things all included in the monthly fee. I know HTML but not all that stuff about FTP, PHP, SQL, please help.

Answer 1

If you don't know how to implement the page yourself try emailing some web designer and asking for quotes. Don't get hosting before you have that settled because many will offer cheaper hosting with their services.

I don't want to discourage you from trying to learn PHP and SQL but, if the main reason you want the website is exposure then you must keep in mind that if your website does not look very professional and is not easy to follow and accessible people will be discouraged from coming back.

Also, people need to feel secure. Implementing a payment system by your self is definitely not a safe option. Worldpay is meant to be good, and they do give you instructions on how to add their code in your site but they charge a lot, so for a small, new company, I would not suggest it. Paypal offers a cheaper merchant account option and there you can accept major credit cards and paypal payments. If you find a web designer that offers a more expensive option, suggest it.

Another thing. Search Engine Optimisation is something you should keep in mind. If people can not find the website through the internet, you are not going to get any new clients from there. So, you should also do your research on that topic. Submit it to all major search engines, to other directories, try to find other websites that will have a link to your site... Most web companies will promote your website through other client sites and that is also very important.

I disagree a bit with getting free web hosting because a very important factor would be to have a simple and easy to remember URL leading to your website. And you definitely don't want ads and popups coming up.

Answer 2

FTP is file transfer protocol...it's used to upload your web pages to your site.
PHP is a different programming language..you're using HTML so you won't need it.
SQL is Structured Query Language...it's how you ask a database for data and also how you put data in the database. Like if you want to keep track of customers in a database, SQL is used to input new customers and find out stored data on existing customers.

Answer 3

If you intend to create more than 1 website, go for multiple web hosting where you could handle your websites in one account.

Following webhosting site is quite good.

Hostmonster http://snipurl.com/1512d

They offer hosting of "unlimited domains" and you will get massive webspace of 200000 MB (200 GB ). They only charge $4.95/month and they also offer "a free Domain Name" and installing service called "Fantastico". By using Fantastico, you may create own forum, photo gallery, shopping cart (e-commerce),your own auction site and your own blogs within few seconds. They also offer "Free Website Builder" as well.

Visit the site to check details.
Hostmonster http://snipurl.com/1512d

Domains
Following site is quite good to register domains as price is reasonable with free privacy. Some charge about $5/ year just for free privacy.

IPOWER http http://tinyurl.com/yk9h23

Answer 4

You first try with a standard web site providers. Microsoft (free domain and hosting for life) , Google (Googlepages, Blogger) , Yahoo (Geocities), Freewebs are some of the companies offering free websites with design tools . A list of free websites with features and links is available at http://tinyurl.com/lw7kp

Answer 5

you could start with researching options at the small business admin at sba.gov.