Have you decided to put up a website for your small business? Do you know that today, most people go online to research and then purchase products or services? Are you aware that over 80% of these potential customers use the internet to search for the best possible solution? If this is your first time in building a website for your small business and you find yourself overwhelmed and confused about how it all works, do not worry says Peter Decaprio.
We will simplify the process in five easy steps:
Step 1: Naming Your Business
Decide on a name for your business. It’s probably taken months (or maybe even years) of mulling over names before you finally decided on “Dracula’s Pet Pawdicures.” Now that you’ve finally decided, you need to decide how you want the name to appear on your website.
Step 2: Registering Your Business Name
Once you’ve determined what your business name is going to be, you’ll need to register it with the state or county in which it operates. You can do this by visiting your local Small Business Administration Office or County Clerk’s office and filling out a filing form. Depending on where your business is based, you may also have to pay a registration fee of approximately $30 – $50 per year.
Step 3: Setting Up Your Website Hosting Account
If a hosting account sounds like something that would keep an internet vampire up at night, don’t worry explains Peter Decaprio. In this case, a hosting account is nothing more than an online space where you’ll store all of the files used to build and maintain your website. Once you’ve registered your domain name with the proper authorities, it’s time to make sure that it’s available for you to use as a hosting provider. There are several companies that offer small business website hosting services, the most popular being GoDaddy and 1and1.
Step 4: Choosing a Domain Name Provider
Once you’ve determined which web host service you prefer, now it’s time to choose a domain name provider. This is the company that will be responsible for making sure your custom domain name is available for you to use, and will also provide the tools to manage your domain name registration.
Step 5: Getting Started On Your Website with WordPress
Your hosting account should come with a website building/management interface like cPanel or Plesk. If you’re not sure which one your host uses, just ask them when signing up. You can then log into that interface and install WordPress onto your website by clicking on the “Install” button in the left-hand column under “Software.” There are other content management systems out there besides WordPress, but it happens to be the most popular among small businesses because it’s easy to, requires little technical know-how, and is completely free. I
n addition to powering over 17% of all websites on the internet, WordPress is also used by bloggers from around the globe says Peter Decaprio. If you have ever been to a blog before, chances are that it’s running on a self-hosted WordPress platform. So if you’re unable to decide between other popular content management systems like Drupal or Joomla! Just go with what basically powers every other website out there!
Once you’ve installed WordPress onto your hosting account, go to your domain name provider’s website and follow their instructions for setting up your DNS settings so that when people type in your business’ URL, they end up at your new site. After that’s over, you can use the username/password info provide by your hosting account to log into WordPress and start building your website.
Part Two: Choosing a Web Theme Part Three: Creating Your First Post or Page? Part Four: Adding Images & Videos Part Five: Getting More Exposure for Your Site if you have any questions about this process, post them below in the comments section! We’ll be answering each one as quickly as possible says Peter Decaprio.
Conclusion:
Remember, Success Stories Start Here
Afterword: A Few More Successful Sites How do you feel about the five steps above? Would you change anything about them if you had to do it all over again? What are your biggest concerns when building your new site?
