websites for small businesses

1

Devcorp North

Websites for Small Businesses

2

Welcome

• Introductions• Background• Expectations• Goals

3

What We’ll Accomplish

• Web Host• Email• Website• Web Tools• In short: A Web Life

4

Web Hosting

• Find the right web host for you• Learn about the features and lingo of

web hosting• Evaluate various plans and choose

the right one for you

5

Web Design

• Use inexpensive web publishing tools• Build an easy-to-use website in• Learn the basics of HTML and CSS

6

Email, Marketing, and Search Engine Optimization

• Set up email accounts• Learn tips for using the internet to

find customers• Create compelling content that

appeals to search engines

7

Web Publishing & Maintenance

• Stay on top of new tools you use to improve your site cheaply

• Learn about e-commerce and other advanced techniques

• How to buy your own URL

8

Methodology

• 3 weeks• Cover each of the 4 main areas• At first in a shallow/ sign-up/ get-feet-

wet fashion• Then each time deeper and learning

more; optimizing and expanding

9

Success for Tonight

• Learn how to sign up for services• Obtain a domain name• Obtain a web host • Sign up for Gmail www.gmail.com• Get to know each other• Give me a detailed idea of your

overall goals for end of our three weeks

10

Learn how to sign up for services

• Quickly• With minimum information• Use the HELP button• Size up a service quickly

11

Obtain a domain name

• www.godaddy.com

• Cheapest ($8/ year)

• Easiest to use (domain mapping, DNS management, etc.)

12

Detailed Instructions

• Choose DOMAINS > Register New • Enter Domain Name you want and click

SEARCH• Choose the domain you want and click

CONTINUE• Complete account form• Careful-- they try to sell you a lot of stuff

you don’t need-- just keep clicking through

13

Obtain a web host

• Which one? Depends on your needs

• Ehostpros is very inexpensive and powerful

• Perhaps we could pool resources?

• Let’s talk

14

Obtain a web host?

• Other options:• Yahoo Geocities• Free webspace like

Blogger• Maybe no website at

all• Again, the purpose of

tonight is to hash through all of this

• There are many approaches

15

Why GMail?

• Good for the beginner (easy to use, lots of space, gateway to other features)

• Good for the advanced users (manage multiple email accounts, maintain email groups, etc.)

16

One-on-one Discussions

• Let’s spend our remaining time together developing a detailed, custom plan for you

• What you’ll have at the end of this course• It may include phone or email conversations this

week, so as not to waste other people’s time (one of me, many of you)

• But I think we can get a lot done in very short discussion bursts

17

Next Week

• More detail on everything• Managing a web host• Managing a web life• Better email• Better searching• Better file management

18

On Your Own

• Customize your Google homepage http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en

• Download Yahoo! Toolbar http://toolbar.yahoo.com/

• Download Google Desktop http://desktop.google.com/