Tag Archives: free website

Article Writing and Blogs, Freelancing Opportunities

Starting Your Own Website-Business and Individual (Part 2 of 3)

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By: Merine Tulloch, FCCA

There is some basic expenditure that you incur to start your own website and these include:-

Domain Name: This is the right to use the name that you have chosen for your product or service.  Domain names cost approximately $13.99 per year.

Hosting Account: This account connects you to the World Wide Web and costs about $6.99 per month. You can always upgrade your hosting package at a later date and choose higher end packages with which you can create unlimited number of sites on one account.  You will see savings if you pay for both domains and hosting years or months in advance.

Auto Responder: This facility allows you to create a client list which will eventually be the source of your online income. The cost for this facility is approximately $19 per month.

Web Software: If you create your own HTML website then you need software. You could learn HTML and CSS and build your site from scratch with the help of templates.  Other options include purchasing web software such as Artisteer  which starts at $50 or Dreamweaver which can cost as much as $400. Artisteer is a designer tool most suitable for beginners while Dreamweaver is a well develop tool for someone who is into the complete mechanics of web design.   Buying domain and hosting as one package can usually get you free WordPress ebook/guide and tutorials and other extras.

Logo Design Cost: If you are thinking of getting a professional logo, you need to consider the value if investing in a logo design. This could be as low as $20 or as high as $500 depending on the expert that you hire and the quality of work that you need done.

If however you are launching an E-Commerce (business) website that offer tangible product consider the following:

Financial Transactions cost: E-commerce happens through payment gateways.  They connect your customers’ credit and debit cards to your bank. What is needed is a shopping cart solution and a merchant bank account that can process the payments. The up-front investment in shopping carts and payment gateways are usually low-cost but transactional fees can range between 1 percent and 5 percent based on usage volume.

Hosting and Security cost: The e-commerce site needs to protect privacy and personal information, as well as be online even when traffic levels fluctuate. You need to verify Service Level Agreements (SLAs) as well as prices before choosing a hosting company.
The Cost of Your User Interface and Architecture: Your site needs to be user-friendly- for your customers, manufacturers and designers,  administrators and customer service reps. A template-based e-commerce site can cost as low as $250 per month to service while the Enterprise edition (all-in-one solutions with customized programming) can be as high as $500,000 per year.

Your website is the face of your online business and the cost will depend on the nature of that business.

Please see part 3 for other considerations in starting your website.

© Merine Tulloch -2015
All Rights Reserved
No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.

You may share this website by any of the following means:
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Providing a back-link or the URL of the content you wish to disseminate; and
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For any other mode of sharing, please contact the author at the email: merine.tulloch@yahoo.com

Commercial use and distribution of the contents of the website is not allowed without express and prior written consent of the author.

© Merine Tulloch -2015
All Rights Reserved
No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.
You may share this website by any of the following means:
1. Using any of the share icons at the bottom of each page

Providing a back-link or the URL of the content you wish to disseminate; and
3. You may quote extracts from the website with attribution to www.merinetulloch.com.
For any other mode of sharing, please contact the author at the email: merine.tulloch@yahoo.com

Commercial use and distribution of the contents of the website is not allowed without express and prior written consent of the author.

Article Writing and Blogs, Freelancing Opportunities

Starting Your Own Website-Business and Individual (Part 1 of 3)

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A website is a virtual storefront that facilitates you in marketing and selling your products or services to a wide of customers. There are numerous types of websites, including the reselling goods, carrying out a service or providing information. Consequently, there are many markets for websites and the competition is extreme.  While an internet business using your own website may be easier to start and requires less start-up capital than the than the brick and mortar business, they require an equal amount of investment in time and effort.  Here is some guidance on starting your own internet business and website

1. What you are interested in will determine the type of website you decide on.

  • Blogs and informational websites can evolve into a business by allow advertising and incorporating affiliate programs.
  • Marketing you own products and services is another option and depending on the complexity of your products and services may have a very low upfront-cost
  • Reselling or retailing the goods and services of another business. The cost associated with venture tends to be high since you are purchasing and selling products through your website.

Regardless of the type of website that you are interested in you need to develop a business plan that clearly defines what you are trying to do.  The business plan will include an executive summary (summary perspective of your business), market analysis (research on your competition and market), a company description, your organizational structure and plans for management. Also required would be your marketing and sales management, your funding plans and budget.

2. Defining your online presence

  • Choose your domain name very carefully. It could be related to your interest or whimsical but it should also be search engine friendly.  This will make it easy to promote your business.
  • Select the most effective web host for your website. Research web hosts that have self-design options and E-commerce solution packages, such as Yahoo Small Business. The E-Commerce package is necessary should you need to process payments online where you are selling a physical product. This feature in the E-commerce packages will help you quickly set up a shopping cart and online payment processing options.
  • Be sure that the web host that you choose meets your requirements in terms of budget and features.

3. Design your website.

  • You can choose to design your website yourself or hire a professional to do it for you. The decision really depends on how much you wish to invest in starting your own website business. Just ensure that you do not infringe any IP (Intellectual Propriety) laws.
  • For large scale projects it would be wise to contact a web designer. The designers will be able to recommend compatible e-commerce shopping cart software best suited for your type of business.
  • If you decide to create your own website on your own the web hosting service’s design tools are always available

4. Website Promotion

  • If people are going to know about your business, marketing must be given the right level of importance. Search Engine Optimisation is the best way to accomplish this for your website.  Before starting your business you could try sites such as Google AdWords to make your presence known.
  • You can also market your website online through pay-per-click advertising, blogging, emails, social media, newsletters and even commenting on other sites.
  • You can also advertise your website business through regular advertising methods such as regional and local magazine and newspaper ads.

Please see parts 2 and 3 for other considerations in starting your website.

© Merine Tulloch -2015
All Rights Reserved
No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.

You may share this website by any of the following means:
1. using any of the share icons at the bottom of each page

  1. Providing a back-link or the URL of the content you wish to disseminate; and
  2. You may quote extracts from the website with attribution to www.merinetulloch.com.For any other mode of sharing, please contact the author at the email: merine.tulloch@yahoo.com

Commercial use and distribution of the contents of the website is not allowed without express and prior written consent of the author.