Around 1995, I learned how to start a website. I was sitting in a strategic planning meeting with my employer, when someone said, “We need a website.” So, as the marketing director, I was off and running. There was just one problem. I’d never seen a website. I’d never even been online. I didn’t have Internet access at work or home. That night, I signed up for Internet access. I needed to see what the heck I was supposed to be doing.

If you're reading this, you may find yourself in a similar situation. You need to rebuild or start a website but have no idea where to begin. You do have one advantage. You're online reading this, which means you aren't nearly as "web impaired" as I was a little over ten years ago.

Learning to Build a Small Business Website

• Hiring a web designer is a logical choice. Before you approach a designer, make sure you know what you want on your site. Draw a rough site map and include samples of sites you like. Ask for a quote and a list of what is included. Does the price include content writing? Will the designer charge for site maintenance or is there a way for you to handle updates yourself?

  Request a bid from several designers, not just Uncle Joe who builds sites on the weekends. Ask for links to other sites the designer has done and look at them carefully. You can also ask for a one-page mockup of a possible design for your site. Consider cost, functionality and ease of navigation of this designer's sites. Also consider whether the "look" of his sites fits well with your company image. Keep in mind, the cost of site design is not the same as the monthly cost of web hosting. You can usually ask the designer to recommend a web hosting service.

• Another option is to purchase an online template, make some changes to it and upload it to a web host yourself. You can do an online search and find thousands of templates. Their cost ranges from "free" to several thousand dollars if you want to retire the design and prevent others from using it. If you purchase a template, you will need web design software. You will also need limited knowledge of HTML to customize or make future changes to the template. I won't spend a lot of time on this option. Since you're reading this page, I'll assume web design programs and HTML aren't what you're looking for at this point.
• My favorite option is an all-inclusive website designing, hosting and marketing program I found called Site Build It! Since the focus of this website is "do-it-yourself" marketing, I'll focus a bit more on Site Build It!

  When I decided to start this website, I realized that even as a full-time marketer, I knew very little about building a site myself. I'd managed the development of several websites, but a graphic designer did the actual work. I began to research. In one book I purchased, Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Start Your Own e-Business,” a web businessman mentioned Site Build It! It's the program I've now used myself (and still use), to build, host and market this website.
  
  

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  Your Total Website Solution

  For a reasonable annual fee, Site Build It! basically leads you by the hand and teaches all you need to know. They help you select and register a domain name. They enable you to build a site with their user-friendly, blockbuilder system requiring NO HTML knowledge or web design software. They guide you in writing content to rank higher at the search engines and draw more traffic. They also provide ongoing support, all as part of this one annual fee.

  If and when you want to go beyond a template design, Site Build It! or SBI enables you to create a custom design in Dreamweaver, FrontPage or GoLive and upload it. You can also add traffic-generating tools -- like a blog, web feed and ezine -- and all are included in one annual fee.

  There are other programs out there that claim to make sitebuilding easier, but I haven't found one that offers all of the extras and support for one price. Since I personally use SBI, and am very pleased with it, it's the solution I feel comfortable recommending on this site.
  
  

  Research It Yourself!

  If you want to find out more about starting a website with SBI, you can visit SBI For Local Business. You can also compare the total solution SBI offers to what you’ll get with other website hosts. If you still have questions, ask an SBI expert.
  
  Do your research, just as I did. Only you can decide which solution is best for your small business. Somehow, I have a feeling, that once you’ve done your homework, you’ll end up with SBI for the building, hosting and marketing of your small business site too.
  
  
  
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