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 Want to start an Internet business? Great! Lets get started
quickly by looking at five simple and necessary steps to
getting your Internet business off the ground.
1. Select Your Domain Name - It is very important to
select the proper domain name for your business. Why? Its
how customers will find you online. A couple of simple
pointers: shorter is usually better, Id stick with a .com
name - not one of the other top level domains. It can also
help search engines to list you higher if your domain name
contains some of the keywords you want to be found for.
Believe it or not, there are still a huge number of domain
names that have never been registered. Sure, the so-called
dictionary and common single word domains have all be
registered long ago, but there are strategies to circumvent
this issue.
Why not simply add a modifier to a word in order to create a
compelling domain name? For example: lets say that you sell
bicycles and bicycle parts online - here are some domain
names that come to mind that are almost certainly taken:
bike.com
bikes.com
bicycle.com
bicycles.com
bikeparts.com
bicycleparts.com
So how can we modify these common names to create names that
are available? Lets try adding some simple descriptive terms
either before, or after the main word. For example:
Deluxe
Premium
Best
Superior
Cheap
Discount
Online
Universal
I'm sure you can think of many others that apply to your
products and business. If you simply add this short list of
modifiers in front of the original short names, you can
create multiple new names that are available right now!
You can search to see if your domain name is available here:
www.dotster.com.
2. Hire a Web Designer - Ask around to locate a great
designer that someone else has used. The design of your site
can make you look professional, or like an amateur - its
clear which way you will want to look.
An alternative that can be very cost effective when compared
to a custom designed web site is to use pre-formatted
templates - either put together by another company, or
filled in with data yourself. For example, Affinity
Internet, Inc. offers a professional web design product
through its ValueWeb brand that is billed out at a low flat
monthly fee. According to the ValueWeb website the ReadyWeb
product offers the following advantages: A professional web
designer will set up a consultation with you to better
understand your business and online goals to ensure your web
site is not only impressive but successful.Our web site
professionals will make updates to your website on a monthly
basis as needed. ReadyWeb includes two hours of maintenance
and updates each month at no additional charge. You can
learn more about the ReadyWeb product at: www.valueweb.com/readyweb/readyweb_learn_more.htm.
Alternatively there are do-it-yourself templates available
at sites such as www.templatemonster.com.
3. Choose Your Web Hosting - Every small business
that sets up a web site online will need to host it
somewhere. According to industry expert Tamara Field,
President of Apollo Hosting (www.apollohosting.com) these
are the top three things to consider when selecting your web
hosting company.
* REAL Live Support - Call their tech support number NOT
their sales number, and see if you can talk directly to a
technician. Or go on their live chat and see if you are able
to talk to a technician. How long did it take for you to get
someone on the phone or live chat? That's very important.
Just because they say they offer live support, doesn't mean
they really have people there when you need them.
* Guarantees - Money back guarantee, price freeze, uptime,
and a guarantee of a refund on unused portions. There are so
many hosting companies that don't offer money back on unused
months if you cancel early! If you sign up for 1 year,
believe it or not, many hosting companies won't give you ANY
money back if you cancel 3 months later. A money back
guarantee is important as is a prize freeze guarantee. But
these days, look for the refund on unused hosting. Many
companies don't mention it because they don't offer it.
* Upgrade Path - If you see your business growing, and you
might want more products/services in the future, then you
will need an upgrade path. It is a real hassle changing
hosting companies. Just getting lots of bandwidth and
storage is not the answer. Many customers don't use near the
amount of bandwidth and storage that many hosting companies
are offering. This is really just a marketing technique for
a lot of hosting companies. Look for extra products that
they offer. What about ecommerce? Do they offer the best
ecommerce products, SPAM/Virus filtering, marketing tools
etc. Remember that these days hosting is not just about
storage and bandwidth. It's about a whole lot more. Don't
settle for just space on a box.
You can easily compare web hosting options by looking
through web hosting directory sites as well. These sites
offer information about multiple hosting providers, and
special offers and product information. Several of the more
useful directories are: www.websitehostdirectory.com,
www.cheaphostingdirectory.com, and www.tophosts.com.
4. Set Up Your Email - It may seem like a no-brainer
to some, but you simply cannot adequately conduct business
on the Internet without an email address. Your email address
will let your customers and potential customers communicate
with you, and give you valuable feedback on your web site,
products, services, and ordering processes.
You'll also need a way for you to communicate with vendors
and others who can help you market your web site. Each
hosting provider has different protocols for setting up your
email account, so you'll have to look to your provider for
help with your specific account. One other important note:
be sure to include a signature line at the bottom of every
email that includes your business name, URL, and a brief
description of your products and services. This idea alone
can increase your business.
5. Promote Your Site - There are so many ways to get
traffic to your web site that it would require several
separate articles to cover the topic. Here are a couple of
basic ideas. Try to educate yourself about, and get listed
on search engines. A few basic steps can go a long way
towards traffic driving in this way. A great step-by-step
manual is at www.searchenginewatch.com.
If you have a budget to advertise, you may want to try
Google AdWords as a method of reaching the search engine
keyword market. Information is available at: www.google.com/ads.
Alternatively, if you simply want to pay someone else to
manage your online search engine advertising campaign for a
flat monthly fee, you could check out ValueWebs ValueTraffic
program. ValueTraffic costs $100 per month, and guarantees
traffic and impressions to your website. You can see further
details at: www.valueweb.com/online-marketing.htm.
Of course, you should print your web address on all of your
existing marketing materials such as: business cards,
stationary, brochures, newsletters, product sheets, etc. You
may find that driving qualified traffic to your website is
as easy as releasing information on where to find it in your
company promotional materials. Customers are always eager to
utilize faster and more convenient forms of communications
with companies.
Good luck with your new site, and remember - it takes a
while for any great project to get real traction - the same
holds true for your website.
About the Author
Derek Vaughan has been actively marketing on the Internet
since 1995. His extensive online marketing experience
includes serving at the Walt Disney Company as the online
marketing manager for ecommerce at ESPN.com. In web hosting,
Mr. Vaughan served for over 4 years as Senior Director of
Marketing for Affinity Internet, Inc. and Vice President of
Marketing for Aplus.Net. He now consults for
www.cheaphostingdirectory.com, and runs
www.webmastersales.com.
Written By: Derek Vaughan
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