Frequently answered questions.....

Q. How do I get started?

A. The first step in creating a web site is registering a domain name (www.mybusinessname.com). Once you have your domain name, you need to select a web hosting company who will keep all the files required to run your website on their server. You can find links to some of the best companies on the Useful Links page.

 

Q. What if someone else has registered my preferred domain name?
A. If someone else has already registered your preferred domain name, you generally have two options: offer to buy it from them, or find another one. You could also wait until it expires, but this will only work if the current registrant doesn't renew the domain.

Although it's true that many great domain names are taken, with a little creativity, you might be surprised at how easy it is to come up with alternatives.

 

 

Q. I have seen some web hosting companies saying that they are free, is that true?

A. There are some free web hosting sites but they are unreliable and you will have to have their name in your domain address (www.heliohost.org/mybusinessname). They also get their income by selling advertising space on your website.

 

Q. Do I need a website before I register a domain name?
A. No. You can register as many domain names as you like without having a single website. Once you've registered your domain name, it will usually point to a placeholder page hosted with your web host or domain name registrar. It can stay that way for as long as you like.

Once you've created your website, you can change your domain name's settings so that it points to your new website. This is quite a straightforward process and can usually be done within minutes.

 

Q. What costs are involved when setting up a website?

A. There are three costs assosiated with building and running a website, 1. Purchasing and retaining your domain name which incurs a yearly fee.

2. Your website design which is a one off fee paid to the designer.

3. A monthly ongoing fee to your web hosting company.

 

Q. What can I do to keep my design costs down and speed up the process?

A. The web designer will require you to provide all the text and images that you think will help showcase your business. The designer can alter and arrange images in order to enhance the website but this is a time consuming procedure and so providing images that are internet ready will help keep the costs down. The more content you can provide the faster and cheaper the design stage will be.

 

Q. How do I know people will be able to find my site in search engines?

A. A lot of work is done during the design stage of the site that will help search engines direct people to your site, this is all included in the web design fee. Another helpful marketing tactic is pay per click advertising.  You basically bid on keywords you want to show up for in the search engines and then you set the maximum amount you'll pay per click.

So if you have the 2nd highest bid at 15p for the phrase "handy crafts" then you'll show up in the number 2 spot for that keyword search.  You only pay the 15p when your site gets a click.

Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter are two of the most popular.

 

Q. How do I get my site listed with the major search engines?

A. These days, the keys to getting your site listed and ranked high with the popular engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN is all about links.  You want to get other sites that are related to your theme to link back to you using the keywords you are targeting.

For example, if your site is about bowling balls, you will want to partner with other bowling related sites and get them to link to you using bowling related keywords.

This helps provide a "vote" for your site and the search engines start to see that your site must be worthy of a good rank if other people are linking to it using certain keywords.

 

Q. Should I pay for those services that submit my site to the search engines?

A. Absolutely NOT!  The best way to get into a search engine is to submit manually.  A lot of these services that charge for submissions are using some bulk submission software that is rejected by most search engines and directories.  Don't let these scam artists take your money.