Building a website for your business

It is possible to make money online, running your business from home. But to be able to do this, you have to have a website. Most people starting up a home based business will try and build their own, that's fine if you know what you are doing but can reflect very badly if you don't. Home based business websites, need to be professional looking but not overly flashy!

It is possible to make money online, running your business from home. But to be able to do this, you have to have a website. Most people starting up a home based business will try and build their own, that's fine if you know what you are doing but can reflect very badly if you don't. Home based business websites, need to be professional looking but not overly flashy!

Some work from home opportunities include a website when you sign up but if starting a new business, consider either one of two options.

1) Pay someone to build your website for you. Look around you, websites can be purchased at low cost these days.

2) Use a Free template or paid for template. Website designers work from home too and are happy to work for low fees to get their own home business of the ground.

Make sure your website is consistent.

Your customers will want to see a consistent website layout. They don't need to know that you are working from home so a professional, well laid out easy to navigate web site is a must. Most users will make an impression of your site in seconds. The difference between a good looking site and a bad looking site is a potential lost sale.

If you run an e-commerce business from home, don't try and build the shopping cart yourself. Use a third party product like PayPal, particularly good for selling a few products and well respected. Payment processors like PayPal take care of your Data Protection requirements and leave you to get on with promoting your internet business.

Third party software

With a small investment, you can purchase a complete shopping cart or if you are on a tight budget, you could use an open source E-Commerce product. Either way if your home based business sells a lot of products, why try and re-invent the wheel!

Paid host or free host?

Don't make me laugh! A year’s internet hosting with your own domain name costs less then taking someone out for dinner. If you don't make this one investment, then why bother starting a business at home? Owning a domain adds professionalism to your business. How many www. mysite.myinternetserviceprovidername.com website have you seen, that are successful online businesses?

How much does it all cost?

Hosting your new web site and fitting it out with e-commerce might cost you less than $100 per year. This depends how many products you sell and how much of the work you are prepared to do yourself. But be realistic, know your limitations and know when to ask for help.