Build Your Biz Guide

Request an Ad Consultation	Advertising Websites
List Your Site - It's FREE	Advertising Services

If you are just starting your online presence, congratulations!  You are embarking on a great event, and we wish you the best!  We have compiled a quick guide for anyone that is either interested in obtaining an online presence, or is in the middle of doing it now.  We hope that these resources are helpful for you!

Choose A Business Name :: When you first think about choosing a business name, make sure that you do not have a name that is too close to others in the industry.  For example, if you build and sell computers, the name Delle may not be a good choice because it is too similar to Dell Computers, and if your business started to come into competition with them, they may file lawsuit stating that you took their name to build your business.  There are known lawsuits where people have registered AOL within their domain name, and AOL sued, and won.  It is very difficult to have a completely unique name because the keywording within the domain name is quite important.  You may want to take a look at similar websites, and see their names, veering away from names that are too similar.  Choosing the type of name that is easy to remember yet describes the type of website can be difficult at times.  Domain name registration, and trademarked names are taking many of the ideal names fast.  See below for further information on Registration of Domain Names. 

Find your "Niche Market" :: Let your visitors know what is going on with your website.  Monthly or weekly newsletters can be a GREAT place for announcing new updates regarding your site, and business.  Make sure and add other interesting and creative content as well. Having information ONLY about your website can be irritating if they signed for the newsletter in hopes of receiving interesting articles, recipes, and the like.  Also, you may offer solo advertising for those advertisers that want this advertising option.  Make sure that it is a double opt-in newsletter.  This means that they will subscribe with their email, and then, they need to verify their email prior to being added to the list.  This makes it so that people are not added against their will. 

Obtain a Domain Name :: When you are ready to check for Domain Name Availability, register it yourself. Sometimes hosting companies will register the domain names for clients, and if this is the case, make sure that it transfers to your name.  Never let anyone access your domain name panel.  Loss of a domain name, can mean loss of your website, and business.  Also, when choosing a domain name, try to stay away from difficult words that may be misspelled, or hyphenated domains.  People may have a difficult time remembering the hyphens and go to a completely different website.  Registering a domain name is a very easy task.  You can purchase domain names from around $8.49-$30.00/year.  If you want value, purchase the $8.49 domain name!  The $30.00 domain name is no different other than the price.  With either one, you are registering a domain name for a year.  Renewals are the same price range.

Build your site :: You have many options to choose from. You can have a professional designer design a website for you, or you may purchase software to maintain the website on your own.  Learning about websites and maintenance may be a time consuming task, however, having a professional build and maintain your website might be the perfect idea for you.

Obtain Website Hosting :: Each website that is placed online must "rent" space to get online.  A web host is a company who makes your website accessible through the Internet. Every website that is online needs website hosting. A web host does this by storing your website on a powerful computer, or server, which is connected to the Internet. When a web surfer wishes to see your website, the server sends them the information they requested.  You may find low cost website hosting, but again, you get what you pay for, and if it is cheap, you might suffer from downtime, and other similar problems, thus, not protecting your business, but harming it.  For your website hosting needs, we suggest WAHM Website Hosting.

Start Promoting and Advertising! Now, it is time to start your advertising and promotion!  Take a look at our Promotional Ideas and Contact an Advertising Consultant to start your perfect ad campaign!