Is your business trying to operate without an online presence?
Without even a website?
Now that more Americans use the internet as the first place to
look for information, rather than the phone book, your business has
to have a website. You know it. Your marketing people know it. And
maybe when you discuss it, you look glumly at one another and sigh,
because you don't know how you're going to get that website up
without making mistakes you'll regret.
How will you find someone qualified to build you a website in
the first place? Can you just go to Google and type in "Fargo
website"? (If you do, we'll be there, but the City of Fargo is the
first choice for that search.) How can you tell who to call, what
kinds of services you need, what they should cost, and what steps
you ought to take? Where, in short, do you start?
It's enough to make you ask your sister's kid to do it for you
-- didn't he once take a computer class in school?
It's not that bad. Here are the basic steps involved:
- First, register a domain name. Your domain name is the main
address for your web site. Ours is Onsharp.com, because our
business is Onsharp. Since we own that name, no one else can take
our web address from us. If your business name -- YourBusiness.com
-- is available, then choose it. If not, you'll need to look at
other options. Your choice of domain name can have an effect on how
easy you are to find online, so get some help with this step. Then
register your domain name as quickly as you can, since it's first
come, first served. You can register for a year or for longer,
whether you're ready to get your website built right away or
not.
- Next, design your website. Even if you're good with graphics,
you'll be wise to have a professional web design firm take care of
this for you. There's a lot of technical knowledge involved in a
good web design, and a good web design is always more effective
than a poor one. If you want to be able to meet directly with the
designer, then you'll want to choose a Fargo web designer. This can
make communication easier and keep you comfortable. You'll need to
provide information about your goals and your company, but a good
web design firm can help with images and content -- you don't have
to be able to do it all yourself, and you won't be expected to have
a lot of technical skills, either.
- Now you need a web hosting firm. This is the company that
actually gets your website up onto the internet where people can
see it. Again, you can choose a Fargo web firm to do this for you.
There are national companies that offer low-priced or even free
hosting, but you know there's no such thing as a free lunch. You
pay for your "free" website by running ads for your hosting
company, or in downtime and trouble. You may also have slow loading
times, which causes today's impatient web visitors to click away to
someone else's site. Since professional hosting is inexpensive --
Onsharp's hosting begins at $15 a month -- there's no reason to put
up with anything less.
- Once your website is launched (that means it's up and ready for
your customers to visit), you'll want to maintain it. Keep track of
visitors, encourage more visitors, keep your information fresh and
updated, and you'll have a successful website. Onsharp can build
you a website with a content management
system so you can update it yourself, or help you with web
strategy and web marketing if you have limited time.
These are the steps to a successful web site for your Fargo
business. We at Onsharp want to work with you to create a
successful online presence for your business. Call us at
701.356.9010 and learn how easy it can be. If you're not in Fargo,
the steps are the same -- and Onsharp can still help you. Contact us at info@onsharp.com.