In fact, many people are even asking question whether they should have a website. Whether you are a consultant, florist, designer, builder, architect or a doctor, consider many advantages a website provides:

1. Make money – Set up an on-line store or get paid for advertising from other companies

2. Save money on advertising – Instead of paying for large ads, simply advertise your website

3. Be flexible in your message – Change content as your business changes. No need to re-print expensive brochures.

4. Exposure to new customers – You will reach more local clients as well as interstate and global markets

5. Having more professional image – Keep up with times and your competitors

6. Save time – Don’t spend hours on phone, direct customers to your website

7. Keep your business open 24/7 – Provide customers information when THEY need it. If you don’t, someone else will.

So what does it really take to get your website set up?

Step 1 - Register your domain name OR not.

The big question is whether you need to register a domain name or not. The simple answer is NO, but a better answer is YES it is a good idea.

What is a domain name?

The purpose of a domain name is similar to that of a street address or telephone number. The domain name directs customers to you on Internet. The domain by itself is not your email or web address. The domain does form base from which these addresses are derived.

For example: Company Name: QikPhone Domain Name: qikphone.com.au Web Address:www.qikphone.com.au Email Address:sales@qikphone.com

Do I need to register a domain name to have a website?

NO, you don't need to have your own domain name. Your website can be created and hosted without it. Your website address will look something like this: www.web4business.com.au/JBCleaning OR www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning

The only advantage of not registering a domain name is that you will save yourself A$70 per year (it costs approx A$140 for 2 years to register a '.com.au' domain name).

The disadvantages of NOT having your domain name include:

1. If you decide to change your Webhosting company or if that company goes out of business, you will lose your website address. Your website can be transferred to a new company, but your address will change. And that means re-printing stationery and re-doing all your advertising, notifying all your customers etc.

2. Website addresses that contain information other than your company name are long and hard to remember and do not appear as professional. Compare these two and see which one you are more likely to remember: www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning OR www.JBCleaning.com.au

So it is a good idea to register a domain name, even if it is just to protect yourself for future. Say for example, your business name is JB Cleaning and you decide not to register your domain name for now. Along comes Joe Bloggs who opens his own cleaning business and registers JBCleaning.com.au domain name. After a year you decide you want to have your own domain name, but since Joe Bloggs already owns it, you won't be able to register it. Not to mention your customers who know your business as JB Cleaning may visit his website, thinking it's your web address and instead hire Joe Bloggs Cleaning.

Step 2 - Plan your website.

Planning your website is a two part process:

(a) Decide on website design (colour schemes, buttons, special effects etc). This is your website designer's job. However, you may have a preference for a certain colour or look. To help you choose a design, you may wish to check out other people's websites or work with your web designer's pre-set templates.

(b) The content. There are many items you may wish to include on your website. The most common ones include:

1Product/Service Details 2.Contact Information 3.Pricing 4.Testimonials 5.Frequently Asked Questions 6.Response Form, such as "Join Mailing List" 7.On-line Magazine or Newsletter 8.Resources & Articles 9.Guarantee 10.Survey 11.Events Calender 12.Search My Website Form 13.Refund Policy 14.Privacy Policy 15.About Us Information 16.Site Map 17.Copyright information 18.Useful Links 19.Media Information 20.On-line store 21.News 22.Directions to Your Bricks & Mortar Premises

Step 3 - Choose a Web Hosting Company.

What is a Web hosting Company?

A Web host is a company that provides server space for your website. You can think of a web host as a commercial building. The web host provides space for your website just as a commercial building provides space for your shop or office. You can build your own building and you can host your own website, but because of cost and expertise required it is easier to rent space.

Let's look at some of Pros and Cons:

Mini Sites

Pros

1. Easy to set up - you don't have to be a programmer these days to create a mini site. Web site templates or software allow most of work to be done already. 2. Little time - you could create a mini site within one day if you have your entire content ready to go. 3. Laser focused on selling one product or service - a mini site can simply be one long sales page with an order button at end. 4. No distractions - customers are distracted by other options on web site. With no banners or links to other sites, customer can be directed to purchase immediately. 5. Inexpensive to create - if you use a free hosting account (not recommended), you would just pay for registering a domain name. Paid hosting services for a mini site can be acquired for only $30/year.

Cons

1. Difficult for search engines to spider - a web site containing many relevant pages of content will tend to rank higher in search engines than a one page mini site. 2. Lacks pages of content - mini sites often lack in-depth information about their product or service. 3. Difficult to increase link popularity - getting links from other web sites increases your link popularity. Webmasters form other sites want to link to a web site which contains valuable information that expands their visitors experience. 4. Less traffic - less pages means fewer chances for people to find your site in search engines, thereby limiting amount of traffic your web site receives.

Content-based web sites

Pros