This is Part Three in a four-part series of articles designed to answer the question we get asked most often: How Do I Get Started on the Web?
Getting Started on the Web, Part III: NUTS AND BOLTS
1. Register a Domain Name
What is a domain name? Basically a domain name is like your business name, on the web. It allows users to locate your website by typing the URL (web address) http://www.yourdomain.com/. Although getting a domain for your website involves additional costs, there are some significant advantages to having one. First, it tells people that you're serious, much like having quality letterhead, business cards and other marketing materials. Second, it makes your website easier to access and easier to remember, simply because the user doesn't have to type an incredibly long string of text. But, perhaps the most important factor is that it makes your website portable. If you host your website with ACME Internet Service Provider under a standard business account, your URL might be something like
http://www.acme.com/yourbusiness/home.html
If you decide for any reason to move your site to another ISP, your URL will change, and any links to the old site, including those in the Search Engines, will result in a "Page Not Found" message. Bad for business. With a domain, when you move, your domain travels with you, and your URL remains the same. That's a BIG plus.
Domain names are registered on a yearly basis. Cost for registering a domain name varies somewhat, generally running between $15 and $35 per year. Most registrars offer discounts for paying more than a year in advance. You can sometimes find "specials" where a company is offering domain name registration for $5, etc. When choosing a registrar, looking for the best deal may not be the best idea. Look for included services, such as email forwarding, domain redirecting (where one domain name points to another "live" website), and privacy locks.
There are now a goodly number of Registrars in the U.S. A list of global Registrars can be found here. Some of our favorites are Network Solutions, Register.com, DomainMonger.com. If you want to register a domain name, but aren't quite ready to build your website, many registrars will let you register your domain name and "hold" it for you, or even forward to an existing website.
2. Website Hosting
Where to put your web pages? You will need commercial web space to advertise your business. Most Internet Service Providers (ISP) will give you a small amount of web space with a commercial/business account. Expect to pay anywhere from $35-$50 per month for a basic commercial account, and get between 50-150 mb of webspace to play with. OR, you can host your pages with a "Presence Provider", such as Hostway, or Verio. Internet Presence Providers generally do not provide dial-up access, but can host your website for a reasonable rate.
All ISP's are not created equal...
Before you shop for an ISP, take a serious look at what you want to offer on the web, both now and in the future. You may not care about secure commerce transactions now, but later it might be a critical issue. Compare pricing and webspace. Find out what services are offered to all their clients, such as: standard mail form scripts and counters, password protected directories, databasing, secure server, can you run your own CGI scripts, shell access. These are only a few considerations... If you have a good idea of what you want on your website, you'll be able to ask your ISP the critical questions. The services they offer vary, and it's important when host hunting to have clearly in your mind what you want your website to do.
A good place to start looking for an ISP in your area is The List. Although with high-speed dialup becoming the norm, most of our clients have their internet connection through a local phone or cable company, and their website hosted elsewhere.
3. E-Commerce
Many ISP's now offer a shopping cart software package. There are a lot of software programs out there now, ranging widely in price and functionality. If you want a good middle of the road package that you have some control over, check out the Miva Merchant package. Miva is one of the more popular packages, and you can find numerous add-on modules online that expand and extend Miva's functionality and customizability. You'll need to find an ISP that will offers Miva.
Some software packages are written in languages that are more portable, but less easy for the non-programmer to configure. Packages written in PHP or ASP can be nice because of their portability. You don't need anything special from your ISP in order to run these packages, except the right platform (Unix or Windows) and permission to run your own scripts.
Making the choice about E-Commerce software is a complicated task. If you only have a few products to sell, you probably don't need a full-blown shopping cart program. Read: Choosing Software for Your Online Store for some good tips.
4. The Costs Involved...
The costs involved in setting up a website, from start to finish, include:
- Domain name registration - renewable yearly through Internic or other registrar. Prices range from $15/yr to $30/yr.
- Website hosting - monthly fees payable to an ISP or IPP. Prices range from $20/month to hundreds per month, depending on what services you need.
- Connection to the internet - can be the same provider that hosts your website, but not necessarily. You can still get a basic dial-up connection through a local ISP, AOL or MSN for as little as $10-20/month. Digital high-speed connection to the internet can cost between $40/month and hundreds, again, depending on what you need.
- E-Commerce - If you plan to sell a product online, you'll need a special merchant account, and if you want your credit card purchases validated and processed online, you'll need a gateway and software interface. You may also need special shopping cart software, and a special hosting account. Costs vary.
- Marketing - Even if you plan to spend a good number of hours per month "working" your website, you'll still want to have a budget set aside for internet advertising.
- Website Development - The cost of developing a website varies greatly. Some website development companies charge enormous fees. One client came to us with an unfinished website. He had waited 6 months for the design company to finish it and had finally given up. But not before shelling out more than $10,000 dollars. Now, this was not a complex website. No database. No programming. Five pages, basic layout, and one small flash animation. $10,000??? His frustration was understandable.
Our design fees are low in comparison to many of our competitors. The reason? Low overhead, and a target market that doesn't have a lot of spare cash. If we had wanted to design for high-powered corporate clients, our fees would be much higher. But we prefer to work primarily with the small business owner. And because we ARE a small business, we understand the cost concerns of small businesses trying to get on the web without getting gouged. We will try to help you find the most cost-effective internet solutions.
But, before you invest, it's a good idea to get quotes from several different designers. Since there is no set fee, or limit, the cost is likely to widely vary. And if you don't mind working with a designer from across the country, get quotes from people in different areas. The reason? Design costs will be lower in a place like Tucson than San Francisco. Unless you really need to meet the person face to face, there's no reason not to seek and hire nationally. And working virtually (via email, fax, etc.) makes distance no problem at all.
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