By Elsie Whitelock - blogging, digital and social media marketing and Web designing 

Just started your new business? Now you want to get going with your new Web site? Does it all seem so confusing? Well here are the basics.

You will need:

◊ a Domain Name

◊ a Web hosting company

Don't be nervous. It's not as scary as it sounds. Let's get started.

Domain Name:

A Domain Name is what the Internet uses to find your web site. It works just like your name and address does with Canada Post or a courier i.e. Small Business Centre, 284B Wallbridge-Loyalist Rd. Belleville, ON. On the Internet the web address is www.smallbusinessctr.com.

Another example is www.yahoo.com or imageshack.us - does not need to have the WWW prefix. (The WWW simply means World Wide Web or sometimes fondly referred to as the Wild Wild West.) You want it to reflect what your business is and should be your business name or an abbreviation of it.

Some tips for choosing your Domain Name:

◊ Keep it as simple and as short as possible.
◊ Try to make it memorable. If your business name is quite long, don't use the whole name but a meaningful abbreviation or short form eg. Canada Citizenship and Immigration - www.cic.gc.ca
◊ It is best to not use digits or dashes in the name if possible

Your Domain Name is held by a Registry such as INTERNIC or by the hosting company that you use (more about that later) and there is an annual fee of typically around $50.00. You can also use the Internic site to do searches on Domain Names that you have come up with and see if they are taken. This site also makes recommendations of alternates for the name that you enter which is kinda' handy. Give it a  try. Just goto the Internic site using your Browser.  www.internic.ca

Web Hosting Company

Now you will need a place to 'host your Domain' on the Internet (just like where you live which has bedroom(s), kitchen, bathroom(s) and so on). That is what Web hosting companies provide, a place to host your business online on the Web. Prices range from $10/month ie $120./year and up but you should be able to get a good hosting company for less than $200./year.

So much like looking for a new place to live, where you want 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, etc. you should look for the following things in a Web hosting company:

• A trust-worthy company that has been in the business awhile (please stay away from FREE providers)
• Multiple types of pricing plans where you can start out small and move up if and when you need to
• 24 hours a day of good customer support
• An easy to use Control panel which you will use to access info on your site such as add or delete new email accounts, change passwrods
• Unlimited disk space to store your Web data
• Unlimited data upload/downlaod so you will not worry about how much data is being sent to/from your customers/suppliers including yourself
• Multiple email accounts e.g. one for This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , one for This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , etc.
• 99.9% uptime guarantee meaning that their systems stay up and running so your customers can access your site anytime from anywhere
• No contract and have the option of paying month to month
• Free templates that you use to easily setup and configure your web pages to get your quickly started

Hope this information was helpful and love to hear from you and your experiences in the online world.

Part two next month will cover What is a blog and Do I need one?

Elsie Whitelock

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or elsie@smallbusinessctr,com