How to Have a Website for Your Business

So you’ve decided to give your business an online presence? Now you want to know how to have or create a website for your business. Business, whether small or big, should now have their own internet portal, where their customers and other stakeholders can access anywhere online 24/7 in a single click. The world is innovating and our technology is changing fast. The crowd of people can already be found online, such as in Facebook and Twitter. If you want to succeed in your business and entrepreneurship, you should pay attention and take the necessary action to this. The following are steps and guidelines to put your business online.


1. Set your specific goals

What are your specific objectives? These can include targeting Internet users (prospective customers) in your local market, replacing other expensive offline advertising with cheaper online marketing, having an accessible store 24/7 online, building your brand online, and other goals you need to establish in your plan before you make your steps.


2. Choose your domain names

Whether you will create your website in your own or hire a website developer, you should choose the best domain name for your business. Domain name is the name of you website’s address or URL. This blog’s domain name, for example, is www.BusinessTips.ph. Choosing a domain may require your brainstorming, especially that most good domain names now are already taken and not available for registration. Your domain should be short, catchy and should represent your business trade name. Domain name registration for top level domains, such as .com, .net, or .org, costs only about $10 per year. Local domain extensions like .ph and .com.ph are more expensive and can costs around $70 for 2 years of registration. To check if your desired domain name is still available for registration and to purchase it right away, you may visit NameCheap.com, one of my most trusted domain registrars for top-level-domain names. For your payment, you need to have a credit card, debit card or Paypal account.


3. Hire a website developer or do it yourself

Although creating a website these days is easier than it is before, you may still don’t have an idea how to create one if you don’t have any background in website programming. Thus, you can hire someone to do this job for you. You can look for website developers in your area, or you can hire me – just drop me a message with your specific objectives on my contact page. Now if you have some website development skills and web programming (i.e., HTML, PHP, CSS, etc.,) background, you can follow the following tips and try it on your own.


4. Choose your web hosting provider

After you’ve got your domain name, you now need to reside it on an online server to have it running live online 24/7. A web host is your space on the Internet where your website resides. It’s like renting a commercial building space to reside your office or store. The host provides an interface or control panel for managing the web server and installing scripts (e.g., blog, forum, photo gallery, etc.,), as well as other services like e-mail. Web hosting services are usually paid monthly ranging from $8 for a starter package to $300 for a pro dedicated server. Most web hosting plans are upgradable so you can start from the starting plan and later upgrade when your website gets bigger. You can search for the top web hosting companies out there or you can try HostGator – one of the leading web hosting providers I recommend. You can also use the following coupon codes to avail discounts. Just copy and paste the following codes in the coupon code box in Hostgator’s order page.

Code #1:    BIZNISTIPS – 25% off on the first month
Code #2:    BIZPERSONS – $9.94 off on the first month
Code #3:    BIZNISTIPSPH – $24.95 off on Reseller Packages (first month)


5. Get your CMS

Your next step is to get and install your Content Management System (CMS). There are many open source and free CMS you can install automatically using the CPANEL of your web host. You can choose WordPress, Drupal or Joomla. But since I’m a WordPress lover, I recommend using WordPress, an award winning open-source CMS software that is now evolving from just being a blog CMS into a full website CMS script. WordPress capabilities are endless. You can use it to have an eCommerce website if you decide to have an online store. To automatically install WordPress, just log in to your Web host CPANEL account, then go to FANTASTICO. You will see several scripts there which are ready to be installed in a few minutes. Choose WordPress and click on new installation. WordPress has a default theme, but you can change it later to make your website looks corporate.


6.  Choose your theme

Before, website developers spend months to create a website. But thanks to the fast-changing web technologies, you can now build a website in a few days. Installing a theme is already as easy as 1-2-3. You only need to choose or buy the theme that you think will be the best for your business. However, customizing the theme may require your knowledge in PHP, HTML and CSS. To find professionally designed themes for your company, you can visit ElegantThemes or Studiopress. They offer corporate themes, which you can buy, download, upload and install to your website.


7. Create and publish your contents

This is where you put your business online. Customize your theme and put your own logo, slogan, title, description, keywords and tags of your business website. You also need to change the default pages to your customized pages. Typical pages include about page, contact page, product or services pages and other web pages you think will give your business a good online presence. You can also check out the website of your business competitors and ensure that you will create a website that is better than their sites. Finally, always check and monitor if your specific objectives in creating your business website are achieved.

Learn further by reading our next article titled “how to attract more visitors to your website or blog“.

Disclaimer: I have included in the articles links to affiliate programs where I have joined in. This means that if you will make a purchase on those products and services, I will earn some commission on those sales.