Affordable Web Design for Small Businesses

Define Website Hosting: What is Website Hosting?

2012-01-23T02:18:00.000-08:00

What is Website Hosting?
I've been getting a lot of questions from rookies asking "What is hosting?" To define website hosting, let's start with a simple analogy. You're leasing a small store that you've outfitted for your business. Think of the store's design as your website. Customer's visit it, check it out, and come there for products or information. You have a store because you lease it, right? To simply define website hosting, it is the lease you pay for your website to have a space on the internet.

That's the simplest way I can define website hosting. If you'd like to define website hosting in a boring, textbook manner:

"A website hоsting service allows individuals and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center."

Now you're prepared for next time your friends ask you to define website hosting. When they say, "What is hosting?" give them my simple explanation. Or if you want to sound smart, give them the textbook definition; your nerd points may go up, but your street cred is going to take a hit. KISS - keep it simple stupid.

Website Hosting Recommendations
Now that you know what it is, where do you buy it? Lucky for you it's not as expensive as a store lease (hence the popularity of eCommerce). Website hosting for a standard site should cost you no more than $10 a month. My website hosting recommendations are HostGator.com or BlueHost.com.

Important Tip: Do not register your domain name and buy hosting from the same company. If you purchase a domain name with one company (I recommend NameCheap.com), host it with another company. You don't want one company having that much ownership over your website.

Looking for someone to design your small business website? Check out my post...
Affordable Web Design for Small Businesses: 3 Companies That Could Help

YouTube Marketing For Small Business

2012-01-17T14:30:00.000-08:00

YouTube is one of the Internets undying sensations. There have been many other video sharing websites that have tried to compete, Vimeo being the main contender, but few have been able to match the almighty strength and longevity of YouTube. But why?

First of all, we need to all remember that YouTube is officially a Google property. And because Google is the number one search engine in the world, it's sister properties, by virtue of the transitive property, become equally relevant. What this means for small business owners is that they can harness the power of YouTube to further market their businesses and services. Here's a few tricks to be aware of.

YouTube Videos Are Easier to Optimize For Search

If you do your own SEO, you know how difficult it can be to get your website to rank for competitive terms. Well here's something I be you didn't know. It is significantly easier to get videos on YouTube to rank on search engines for specific search terms. Instead of optimizing your website and building links to it, you simply employee the same methods on your YouTube video page. There is a strong correlation between the ranking of a YouTube video on YouTube's results page and Google's results page. If your video ranks number one on YouTube for a given search term, then the chances are good that it will rank fairly high on Google for that same search term.

YouTube Videos Show Up On Google Way More Than Any Other Video Sharing Site

Is it really a coincidence? YouTube videos make up the percentage of videos that are displayed on Google's search engine results page.

The Conclusion: Affordable Web Design For Small Business

Go out and make a video for your business. You don't need to hire someone to do if for you. You can do it with a web cam or a powerpoint presentaion. Then, build out some powerful backlinks to your video and utilize the power of YouTube to generate more leads for your small business.

Affordable Web Design for Small Business: 3 Companies That Could Help

2012-01-15T21:44:00.000-08:00

Everyone could use affordable web design for small business. The trick is actually getting it. A lot of people promise a low price or affordable monthly fees, but a lot of times there are down payments, update fees, hosting, and other charges you never considered in your initial quote.

Below are three companies that offer affordable web design for small business that will cover most of your costs if not all of them. They're each a little different in their approach and price. But if you're a small business looking for affordable web design, these three are a good place to start your search.

Homestead.com - For the adventurous do-it-yourselfers at the price of a lunch

This company's idea of affordable web design for small business lets you do it yourself. If you're not afraid of the computer and learning some pretty simple software, these guys have a website builder for you. The trial rate starts at $4.99 for the first 3 months, and it's $9.99 a month after that. You can choose from pre-designed templates and add your own pictures and content. They cover your hosting, and you can perform website updates yourself. The drawbacks include using templates that thousands of other people are already using and you're limited in how you can edit them. Your options and tools are sparse, and the finished product can often look amateur if you have no design skills. All the monthly payments are due up front, but it's still super affordable web design for small business owners, and your first month is free.

Web.com - Do it yourself, or get it done for you at an affordable rate

This company's affordable web design for small business solution carries a similar price tag if you're looking to build it yourself, but you also have the option of them building it for you. Templates, designs, tools, and functions are limited for self-made sites, but you can do the website updates yourself and keep the price cheap. If you're not crazy about computers and would rather concentrate on your business, they'll build your website for you at a rate of $94.95 a month. The price also includes monthly updates or changes as well as hosting. Although it might seem expensive, it's relatively cheap when you consider the thousands you might spend on having someone build you a custom website. Updates can also range from $20 - $60 an hour in most cases - these guys got you covered. The drawback is that they're a little more expensive than your Homestead options, but it's still affordable. Also, even though they don't list anything about contracts, it appears you may have to sign one.

SetMySite.com - A hands-off experience at an affordable hands-on price

This company has one of the better values I've seen when it comes to affordable web design for small business. If designing a website is not your skill these guys will get you going. They offer the hands-off experience you'd get from Web.com at a price that's similar to Homestead's options. They will design, build, update, host, and maintain your website for you at a rate of $29.95 per month. Unlike Homestead, you can pay your bill on a monthly basis instead of paying it all upfront. There's no contracts and you can cancel anytime. The drawbacks are that their eCommerce options are limited, but they do have them. If you want to edit things yourself the functions are limited, but their monthly price covers your major changes or updates. Either way, a custom website with full, monthly web team support is pretty damn good for thirty bucks a month; and the first month will only cost you a buck.

All three of these companies offer affordable web design for small business owners. Whatever option you choose, pick the one that fits your needs the best and look at other companies as well. Here are the links to each of the three companies if you didn't find them above: Homestead.com, Web.com, SetMySite.com.

A small business typically has a small budget. I hope this blog has helped you in your search for affordable web design.

A Great Resource For Small Businesses Looking For Affordable Web Design

2012-01-10T11:33:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard of Thumbtack.com? We absolutely LOVE this website. My consulting business signed up for Thumbtack about a year ago and it's been a really surprising source of leads for us. When it comes to affordable web design for small business tips and tricks, this is a must! Even though it doesn't have a lot to do with your own web design, it's an excellent resource for people trying to get more leads online.

Here's how it works: As a small business, you sign up for a Thumbtack profile. In your profile, you tell all other Thumbtack users about what you do and who you are. Thumbtack then awards you points by answering certain questions or passing certain "milestones" like adding a link to Thumbtack from your own website. Essentially, the more points you have on Thumbtack, the better you do in their search results. So, let's say you're a plumber in Seattle. If you have a lot of Thumbtack points, when someone searches for a plumber near your area of service, you'll show up at the top of the results.

So, who uses Thumbtack? Mostly business owners and individual sole contractors. That means, Thumbtack is extra good if you're a B2B company. BUT it still kicks ass if you're a B2C business. Let me explain. I used Thumbtack to find a photographer for my buddy's wedding. I created a "gig" and other photographers were allowed to bid on my gig based on my requirements. Each of the "bidders" pays around $6 or $7 per bid. That's how Thumbtack makes their scratch.

So all in all, it's a great resource for generating leads, and for finding local businesses as well. I highly recommend this service!