There are a number of reasons why people want to build a website, but the majority of those looking to build a website fall into one of the following three categories:
- Create a family or hobby information website.
- Build a website as a profitable online business.
- Corporations looking to create a successful eCommerce website.
Since I wrote this article to help the average person who wants a website, I won’t even talk about corporate websites. Those types of sites should be left to the high priced web designers that abound on the internet.
If you need to create a simple website in order to connect with your family and friends, there are many free options that will fit your needs perfectly. You will need a hosting account to host your website and most web hosts offer free website builders as part of the hosting package. You should be able to find a template in your library that is sure to please you.
To update your website, you will need some knowledge of the html language. This is the case with every free website builder I’ve seen. You can get free basic help with the html language at various sites on the Internet. These sites will most likely give you enough guidance to allow you to update this type of website.
In the case of this type of site, I strongly recommend that you investigate Social Networks such as Facebook, My Space or others. They are completely free and will serve your needs well.
However, if you plan to build a website and sell various products online, you’re talking about a different animal. Now, you have probably seen various sites on the internet that offer you a method to build websites starting at $5 per month. The catchy words in this sentence are “From“.
Most, if not all, of these sites will lure you in with a small initial price and immediately begin offering various small upgrades. Before you know it, you’ll be paying $15 per month, but you’ll think it’s worth the extra to get the premium service. While the premium service may just be the key for some novice users, this will not be the case for most first time website owners. There are factors involved in website promotion and maintenance that you will need to be aware of and these sites will do little or nothing to help you with this.
The first thing you need before building a website is a niche that you can monetize and that has enough interested searchers that you can sell to. Without any of these, your website will just be a waste of time and money.
Websites should also be designed for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as well as being attractive and useful to your visitors. Search engines send targeted traffic to your site, so you need to appease them. Make sure that any web design offering you choose provides you with basic SEO features. Professional SEO companies can cost up to $2,500 per year.
Now, if you’re like the vast majority of people thinking about building a website, you don’t have a huge budget to work with. Professional website design services are outrageously expensive. So let’s see what you can do to build a website that fits on a small budget and allows you to update and promote the site without being a programming language guru.
- There are some affordable freelance designers who do good quality work at a price that will be very nice for a small budget. If your budget is small (around $200-$300), you can get a good design with the help of website hosting and promotion.
- You could buy a web design program for around $200 that will allow you to create as many websites as you want. Most of these programs are WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) programs, which means that you actually see the design as you build it and the necessary programming is done automatically as you build the site.
- You can build a site through drop and drag site builders, but the fees for these services will become your worst nightmare and you’ll be left pocketing when it comes to promoting your website.
Building a work from home or small business will take time and money. There is no such thing as a free website, product or service. The word FREE is used loosely on the internet and on television today. It has become a method for advertisers to grab the attention of their viewers. Unfortunately, it works at an alarming rate and the poor innocent people fall victim to this false advertisement.
My advice would be that; If you don’t plan on investing some money to start your business and time to promote it, don’t even think about starting one. You will only waste your time and money on any of the fool offers.