Blacktopian Citizen Laura Williams shares her web
development expertise with other members of the
Blacktopia Facebook Group for #MoneyMakingMonday /
#MotivationalMonday.
Take a look at this great, useful information she
has to share.
First and foremost if you are going into business of any kind you need a website. Doesn't matter what you are selling or trying to promote.....People today that are looking to buy what you're selling (whether it be a product, service or idea) will be looking for you online. Nobody uses the yellow pages anymore?
Think about it....If you want your nearest restaurant, nail shop, mall, plumber, beautician, barber...what do you do? You Google it.
So without a website, people that need what you're selling, can't find you.
So after I start any kind of business after creating the entity, deciding what it will do and dealing with the legalities..... Next thing I'm thinking....I need some business cards and a website.
TYPE OF WEBSITE
The type of website you need will depend largely on your budget $$$ and what you need it to do.
If you're a small startup that just wants to get your name out there and is selling a service (plumber, beautician, etc) then a basic site with a few pics would suffice.
If you are actually selling a product online you will need e-commerce and to hire a company that specializes in website design and management. You don't want your customers putting their credit card info into a system that is not secure. So a homegrown site is not an option if e-commerce is involved. You need a professional.
CREATING YOUR WEBSITE:
There are many options to create your website and again it will depend on your budget and what you want it to do.
WEBSITE DESIGN OPTIONS
1) Do it yourself. You can buy software for $99 that will walk you through the process of creating a site. Now it will be basic, kinda cheesy maybe but you'll have one for relatively no cost (Cost: SuperCheap$)
2) Find a company that will charge you $199 site and then $99 month for maintenance and hosting. This is the rent-a-center of websites. Can't buy furniture now, pay for it monthly. Can't buy a website now, pay for it monthly. Drawback with these...YOU NEVER OWN IT and as soon as you don't pay them that $99 a month. They disconnect you faster than Sprint does a Boost Mobile Customer. (Cost: Cheap $$)
3) Some websites sell templates and will let you purchase and download the template of your choice for a fee. Then you can edit it and add content. Problem with these is whatever software that template was created in, you will have to have on your home computer. So if they used Dreamweaver....you need Dreamweaver. If they used Flash..... You need Flash. So this can be pricey if you don't have the software already. But I say buy the template go to your local college library and find an IT student specializing in web development. Pay him $300 bucks and let him do. He probably already has the software you need to edit that template. (Cost: Low to Moderate $$$)
4) Hire a freelance professional. Someone that can do it, but may not have an actual business doing it. This person would have the software and probably is going to buy a sophisticated template off one of those sites I mentioned in example #3 shown above. But if you have $600 to $1000 he is worth it. Because you can tell them what you want and they take it from there. (Cost: Moderate $$$$)
5) Hire a full service firm
If you selling a product customers will actually buy from your website, or if you have live video streaming, podcasts, have a lot of pictures, need 360 video. You need a professional. Don't try it yourself. Don't let your homeboy around the way hook you up. So much can go wrong. Especially if you are taking customers credit cards. You need firewalls, high security, and a whole lot more. Don't play around. Hire professionally. (Cost: High $$$$$$)
I owned my own website design business back in 2007 and used a combination of the methods above. Hope this helps.
Will have to cover the need for Databases next week.
Til then. Toodles.
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