Getting your Start Up Business on the Internet – A 5 Step Guide

1. Establish a purpose for your start up website

It’s not enough to say ‘because everyone has one’ or ‘to make money’. Websites on their own, without a thought out business plan, will not generate significant business. Your website should be integral with your marketing & business plan. Most websites complement a business, they represent a business presence online. Some reasons for having a website include:

• Make your business available 24/7 (through email, website bookings and instant payment systems etc)
• Selling your products or services online
• Facing up to competition
• Establishing a place where customers can see you as a credible business

2. Decide on what you really need for your website

Take into account your start up budget. This is vitally important as you may be spending on functionality you don’t require for your specific business. Extra features can always be added later, as and when required. Some examples may include: online brochure of products/services, booking facility, shopping cart facility, photo gallery, staff structure, blog, reviews, customer testimonials, FAQ page, staff profiles, about company/history.

Part of the role of a business website is to create familiarity with your visitors. If a visitor can find your business online, and find in depth information such as above – they’ll be more inclined in doing business with you. Your website may even be passed around through referrals!

3. Getting the tools you need

A Domain Name – This is the website address that people use to find you eg:www.petersplumbing.co.uk. Most companies that register/sell domain names also sell web hosting. Domain names vary in price depending on what you require. ‘.co.uk’ is one of the cheapest, you can expect to pay up to £5 every 2 years. Take note of how your address will look, will it be relevant and clear to your business? e.g: www.thebusinessspecialist.co.uk, not everyone will type those three middle ‘s’ characters. Once bought, you cannot change it (unless you buy another domain name)!

Website Hosting – This is the ‘space’ online you need for your website content. If you only have a domain name, you can ‘point’ the address to any web hosting space you or your Web Designer owns. There will be a monthly/yearly fee involved, depending on what features you require.

Something More – If you need a large website to sell many products/services (such as a shopping cart) you’ll need a hosting package which includes a database such as MySQL. This database will hold all the information about your products. In order to receive payments you will also need an account which accepts online payments, such as paypal.co.uk. This is known as a ‘payment gateway’ or ‘merchant account’. Whoever you choose to accept payments, you will be required to pay some kind of fee so bear this in mind. Other payment gateway/merchant account providers include:

• www.multicards.com
• www.cybersource.co.uk
• www.skypay.co.uk
• www.securehosting.com
• www.paypoint.net
• www.rbsworldpay.com
• www.nochex.com

For security reasons it’s NOT recommended to keep customer credit card details stored on a database. Give your customers peace of mind by using a trusted, secure payment gateway. It will also add credibility to your website by having a logo of your chosen payment gateway displayed on your website. Please note that your customers don’t need to have an account to make payments (including paypal), all they need is a normal valid credit card.

4. Gather your content

Write content for your intended pages and put together a library of images you want to use. Make notes of specific sthings’ you want your website to do, in terms of functionality. Check your spelling and grammar! Make sure your content and images are original and haven’t been ‘borrowed’ from another person or website. Again this is important to get right, you may need to hire a savvy copywriter if your writing skills aren’t up to scratch. The more information the better, your chosen Designer will better understand what you require. Remember, this is about presenting your business in the best possible light.

5. Find the right Web Designer

There are many options available, consider some of these carefully.

THE DIY APPROACH
This is not so much a cash investment, but an investment of your time. The amount of control you have depends on your own ability. You have to trust your own judgement on your websites effectiveness and security, and keep your finger on the pulse all the time. You’ll need to weigh up where your time will be best used, tinkering with your website or managing your start up business.

Sometimes website builders are bundled free with web hosting packages. Most of the website building process is automated for you and you only need to add content through some kind of control panel. You can be limited to using preset templates for its overall look. And they can obviously look ‘templatey’. If you decide to move your website to another host, you might lose any features you had with that previous host. Ultimately, if things go wrong it is your responsibility to get right.

HIRING A FRIEND/FAMILY MEMBER/WORK COLLEAGUE
What is their track record with building websites? Are they a professional? Would you trust them with handling such an important business investment? In another context, would you trust them to handle your business accounts, or fix your car? What is their reliability when you need website changes? Will they be around in 6 months, 1 year? Your website will represent your business online. Your business is your livelihood, It’s important to get this right.

HIRING A DESIGN AGENCY
Usually larger agencies will expect you to have a much larger budget, and includes services such as graphic design, branding development and online marketing expertise. Ideal, if you have deep pockets!

HIRING AN INDIVIDUAL FREELANCER
Make sure they have terms and conditions of service, so you both know what is expected out of the deal. Having some kind of written contract is also important. Check their track record with website building, testimonials, check their website. I personally would be suspicious of hiring anyone who can only be contacted via a website ‘contact form’. A Deposit will sometimes be required. This is to ensure both parties are committed to a project before work commences.

JMC Website Design has a package specifically for the start up business website check it out!

Download the Online Business Essential Checklist