Building a Website?

A business today has a lot of options in building a website site, and they all cost less, and do more than they did just a few years ago.  If you have not figured out how to put together and host your own site in the last 3 months, then this article is for you.

I should mention that we are about to cover the best way to make a non-eCommerce website for a typical small business today.  If you plan to sell online, or have "special" needs like advanced catalogues, than this is not the best solution for you.  This is the solution for a company that need to create a good website that they can administer themselves and they don’t want another SBA loan to get it.

The solution is simple, complete and cheap compared to building a custom site.

First I want to make sure everyone understands.  A small business today does not need a custom site built for them.  Having web design done is a great idea, and we’ll cover that, but having a web developer do more than "connect the dots" for you today is likely unnecessary.

Introducing WordPress 2.7

You might have heard of WordPress .  It traditionally has been Blogging software, and still does a fantastic job at it.  But recently, and especially since the January release of version 2.7, it is highly regarded as a tool for small business website content management.  Basically, this changes everything .  You can now have a site set up quickly that allows you to manage it yourself, and oh yeah, its free.

If you are not a tech savvy person, you will still need one to create your site, but it will take a 1/2 hour to set up and another 1 or 2 to configure, so not a big deal.

Getting Started

Let’s get started with the Step-By-Step run down of how to create an awesome Small Business website for 10% of what it would have cost to get the same thing 4 years ago.

1. Register a Domain. There are lots of domain registrars.  For the sake of keeping it simple, I suggest registering the domain with your hosting company.  The two hosts I recommend below include a domain in your hosting costs anyways so you can relax there.
2. Find a Web Host – This site will need to be hosted somewhere, and since we are talking about having a WordPress CMS, you will have to select a web host that can host WordPress installations.   I can recommend the two web hosts I use, Start Logic (for beginners) and Dream Host (for the techies).  Just sign up for the basic hosting packs and keep your log-in handy, if your not technical, you’ll need to share it with the resource who assembles your site.
3. Get the Site Designed – The best way to do this is covered in Crowdsourcing Web Design .  Just make sure you specify the site will be a WordPress Blog.  It will save you additional money if you can find a free theme that you like.  It takes some searching, but if you find a free theme, than you really just need a header image to be designed.  The place to start is 413 best free WordPress themes of 2008 from Elite Freelancing.
4. Get the Site Configured - Notice I did not say developed?  Basically you will need WordPress installed at your host.  That takes 15 min.  You’ll need to find a developer that is familiar with WordPress as well. If you have a developer who does not work with WordPress (yet), find a new one.  After WordPress is installed, instruct the developer to install the theme you have selected and to configure the site according to how you want it (you will have to have decided the layout of your site first).  The theme will take 5 minutes to install.  Configuration of the site (so the pages you need to work with are there) will take about an hour if routine.
5. Create Content – This is adding copy and images to your page.  The theme you use should keep the site nice and clean for you.  If you don’t like something about the look of the site after you start adding content, enlist a developer to "tweek" the site to your liking.

That’s the nutshell.

I believe this would suit about 90% of "brick & Mortor" small business website needs .  If you need more for your website solution, the next "step up" is Joomla .  If you need to get really serious content management, you will want to look at Drupal .  Anything more serious than that will involve custom development (if you go that route, stay with development within a couple of time zones of where you are, trust me, Newfoundland is about as offshore as you want to get for web development).

I hope that helps.  This is not "Secret Stuff", in fact, once you start digging, you will see there is a complete WordPress world out there ready to make your web world an easier one.