Online Business Basics

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First, you need what's called a "domain name". They're cheap - usually only about $9.00 per year.

My choice is Namecheap. They are recommended by my coleagues and I am happy with them. Pick out something you like. There are various "dot" extensions available. .com, .net, .biz, .info, .org, .me, etc.

Next, you need a web hosting company. the best for an internet business is Kiosk. Pre-made sites, templates and other tools are: Here.

You should pick out your special area of products you will offer. What do you know a lot about? What are you good at?

Research your competition. Search the internet for what you are going to sell. Use lots of different search terms, or "keywords". Start a list of the ones you want to be assiciated with. (that's how search engines like Google find you) Gather ideas. Check out my Articles page.

Use a separate piece of paper for each page you want. Be very general at first but be sure to pick spots for ads, email sign-up, etc.

Either you will need to personalize your ready-made site, change your template that you downloaded or start from scratch.

Of course, if you contact me with any questions I'll try to help.

The easiest website editor I use is Kompozer. (see tools page) There are other programs you might need and they are all there and free. If you need something else, just contact me.

You'll need to change your "nameserver" settings. Kiosk will provide them and you change them at Namecheap.

Your website also needs two special files called "sitemap.htm" and "robots.txt". There is a free program on the Tools page to create a sitemap.htm and an example of a robots.txt. (make it with notepad)

With Kompozer you can upload your site to Kiosk. Let me know if you need more info on how to do this.

Once you have your business set up, website(s) created and online it's time to let the world know! Go to the Promotion Page. For even more info check out the Articles Page first.