Now don't panic, for many businesses, you don't need a big- production web site. You may only want a small stop on Net where customers and prospects can find your basics: your list of services and products, your rates, and your contact/order info. Quite often, less is more in this market.

You may be thinking, "But I don't know first thing about setting up a web site! This is going to cost me a million dollars!" Don't worry, you don't need big savings or Internet savvy to set up a web site. There are several companies out there that will do it for you for free!

One of easiest online web site builder's is AOL Hometown's 1-2-3 Publish at:

http://hometown.aol.com/hmtwn123/index.htm.

You don't even have to be an AOL subscriber to use it.

Just choose type of page you want to build, then type or paste your info into templates and you're done. This service uses all latest template design technology, and resulting sites look quite professional.

If you want to go even more high-tech, check into Netscape's SiteCentral at:

http://www.netscape.com/sitecentral/index.html

In addition to basics, this service offers headlines which are automatically updated throughout day, and a bar chart you can customize to report your sales information.

The web site is first impression a customer has of your business, so it had better be good. Now of course you want your site to be attractive and professional looking, but that's just start. Quite often a fantastic looking web site can sink itself with bad copy. The clarity of your information is crucial. It is imperative that your web site follows a logical structure and has clear and complete product information, a clearly stated offer, and easy to follow ordering instructions, all written with impeccable spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Using a professional web designer is great if you can afford it, and it's not even too expensive these days. In last few years, competition among web designers has become fierce, and hence driven prices down. You can get a pretty good job done for very little money if you just comparison shop a bit. You might even find a web design student who needs portfolio material and is willing to set up your site for free. Just remember, a web designer is just that, a designer. They set up all links, graphics and fonts, but copy is up to you. Most designers just plug in what you give them without even a cursory once-over. The clarity and correctness of your writing is your own responsibility.

One of main flaws I find in poorly written web sites is confusion created when I can't find what actual offer is. The home page maybe has all sorts of slick sales copy and even a testimonial or two, but where is offer? A good web site should introduce product or service and clearly state offer right at beginning. You can follow up with a second paragraph of sales copy describing benefits of your product, but make sure that your offer is stated first.