Start a Website Business

Starting a website business can be a great way to work creatively in a field that you are passionate about, sell a unique product or offer a special service. Of course, there are millions of web businesses out there. The challenge is starting one that is user friendly and will resonate with people. The key to of course starting a business is offering a marketable skill or product, followed by creating a website and advertising.

Steps

Creating A Business Model

  1. Think about what product or services you want to offer. This is going to be number one on your list for starting a business website. [1]
    • For example, you might want to start a website to sell a craft item, beauty product, tool, or other product that you make.
    • You might also be offering a service, such as dog walking, lawn service, house cleaning, or law consulting.
    • Depending on what type of business you want to start, your target customer will be different.
  2. Consider your target audience. Think about the age group and gender of the customers you are likely to get. [2]
    • For example, if you are selling beauty products for women you will want to target your business towards women and teen girls.
    • If you are offering a service such as lawn maintenance or house cleaning, your target customer will likely be adults that own their own homes or property.
    • The model of your website and how you advertise will depend highly on your target customer.
    • You will need to target your product and hours of service to your target customer. For example, if your target customer is likely to be working a typical 9-5 job, it might be beneficial to offer your service on weekends etc.
  3. Make sure you have any licenses you will need to operate your business. Do some research about this if you aren't sure. [3]
    • For example, if you are starting a contractors business you will need a contractors license.
    • If you are operating a house cleaning, lawn maintenance, or other service business you might need insurance.
    • Make sure your business doesn't require a permit to operate in your town. Even though your advertising and customer communication will probably all be online, if you are offering a service you might need a local permit.
    • Check with your local municipality or city for this information.
  4. Think about what type of start-up funds you will need. You might need to secure a small loan or have savings to start your business. [4]
    • Write up a spreadsheet of expected costs. This is the best way to estimate how much money you will need to start your business.
    • Once you know what type of web-hosting service you will use, you will need to calculate how much this company will charge in monthly fees. These are usually very affordable and many free web-hosting services are available.
    • Estimate how much you will need to purchase materials to make your product and how much shipping costs will be for you.
    • If you are providing a service, factor in the cost of transportation within your area of operation.
    • For example, if you have a grass cutting business and are offering landscaping and grass cutting services, you will want to estimate costs for your equipment (lawnmowers, trucks, weed trimmers), maintenance on vehicles and equipment, transportation costs (mileage for work vehicles and cost of fuel in your area of operation) etc.

Setting Up A Business Website

  1. Choose a web hosting service for your website. There are many to choose from, but each has their own features and costs. [5]
    • Google sites offers quick and free tools to set up your own website. Services through Google such as Blogger are widely available.
    • Other free web hosting services such as wix.com and weebly.com are also useful tools.
    • Web hosting services that offer low cost personal and business sites are Intuit, Yahoo, Bluehost and Ruxter.
    • There are pros and cons to each type of web-hosting service. Typically, the services which you pay for tend to offer a more professional looking product without annoying ads on your page.
    • Even once your choose a web hosting service, you should consider setting up a business profile on social media such as Facebook, Google +, Twitter or Instagram. [6]
  2. Learn HTML coding. While most web hosting services will have templates for creating your website without necessarily having to code, learning the basics of HTML is important. [7]
    • HTML is a simple and commonly used programming language used to create websites.
    • HTML tutorials are available for free online. Try tutorials such as HTML Dog and W3schools.
    • Most people can learn HTML in an afternoon by watching and practicing with free online tutorials. HTML is a very simple programming language that is very user friendly.
    • This language uses hypertext to link users to different pages.
    • Code is written in a specific syntax with tags to tell the text what to do. For example, a tag might specify whether a text is supposed to link a user to another page, be bolded or italicized, or indicate an image or caption.
    • You can write HTML code in a simple text editor like Notepad or Word and copy/paste it into your web developer software or site. Alternatively, you can use an HTML coding program such as HTML Kit.
  3. Create your website. Keep your target customer base in mind. [8]
    • If you have chosen your web service, use their templates to create your website. This will make sure it is usable, easily navigated, and that it looks professional.
    • Using the templates provided by your web hosting service can help you generate your website without necessarily having to know how to code.
    • Use clean lined blocks for text and links with a clickable menu that allows your customers to navigate your site.
  4. Make sure you have images of your product or services listed on the site. The purpose of your website is to draw customers to your business and provide them with information about what you do and offer.
    • Have your contact information listed in clear text in a visible spot on your page. Offer an email address and phone number for contact.
    • List all your products and services on your website under a page tab called "Products and Services". Make sure you are clear about pricing on this page.
    • If you are shipping your products to customers, be clear on your website about what company you use (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL etc.).
    • For example, if you are starting a grass cutting and landscaping business you should have a main page with photos of your work, another section with descriptions of the services you offer and packages with prices, and another section with your contact information and availability schedule.
  5. Make your website accessible from mobile devices. This is especially important now that more people are using smart phones and tablets. [8]
    • Regular website formats are difficult to navigate using mobile phones and tablets.
    • For example, web formatting allows users for your website to view different sections of your website from a drop down menu.
    • The text is larger, easier to read and easier to click on for linking to different parts of your website.
    • Most web hosting services allow you to make your site available in mobile format.
    • When you are working on your web hosting template, you should see a tab or button that you can check to make your website available in web format.
    • This doesn't really change your website content. It makes links, images, and text easier to read and use on a mobile device.
    • It might change the way your site looks to make it more user friendly for mobile devices.
  6. Make sure your website works with search engines. Google, Yahoo, and Bing will provide your business site with lots of traffic. [8][9]
    • Sites that don't work well with search engines often don't get a lot of organic traffic.
    • Remember, the first goal is to get potential customers to your website to view your products and services.
    • If you can afford it, you can hire a professional web developer to make sure your site is search engine optimized. Most web hosting services already have this built in, however.
    • To make your website most search engine friendly, have the most important aspects of your site coded in HTML. HTML is a coding language that works well with search engines.
    • Items that are in Flash, Java applets, and other languages might not work with search engines as well.
    • Check how your website works with search engines. You can use tools like Google's cache SEO-brower or Mozbar. These websites will allow you to check what content on your page is visible to search engines.

Marketing Your Website

  1. Create a social media page for your business. Link to your business page on this profile. [6]
    • Social media is a great way to get your business name, products, and services out there.
    • You can link to your business through your personal profiles to get friends and acquaintances to notice your page.
    • When you make a business page on social media, users can search for it and related pages.
    • Linking to your business website is a good idea, as social media profiles don't always offer the range of promotions, tabs, and photos a business website does.
  2. Advertise your website and business online. You can take out ads with search engines, put your business and link to your website on Craigslist and other online sources such as LinkedIn. [10]
    • Service providers tend to fair best with ads on Google and Bing. When you advertise with a search engine your ad will come up as a preferred page or advertised page when people search for the type of service you offer.
    • Craigslist is a great way to advertise your business locally. Go to your city or town's page and create a post about your services. Be sure to include a link to your full website.
    • Try LinkedIn to promote your services. Create a LinkedIn profile and describe your services, products etc. Make sure you link to your full website.
  3. Make business cards. Hand them out at events and at local businesses.
    • Make sure your website is highlighted on your business card, as well as what your product/service is.
    • Put these up on local bulletin boards.
    • Give your business card to friends, family, and acquaintances so they can pass the word about your business around.
    • Anytime you meet someone in person who asks about your business, make sure you give them your card. That can get them to look at your website to see in detail what you can do for them.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations=

  1. ↑ https://www.sba.gov/content/service-or-product-line
  2. ↑ https://www.sba.gov/content/market-analysis
  3. ↑ https://www.sba.gov/licenses-and-permits
  4. ↑ https://www.sba.gov/content/estimating-startup-costs
  5. ↑ https://www.sba.gov/blogs/how-start-website-free-or-low-cost-18-tools-consider
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/company-pages/company-pages
  7. ↑ http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/starthere/whatishtml.html
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 http://www.inc.com/guides/how-to-design-best-website-for-small-business.html
  9. ↑ http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/basics-of-search-engine-friendly-design-and-development
  10. ↑ http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239499
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