What's the best advice for a basic, small business website?

I already know it doesn't need to be really elaborate, but what is some basic, general advice regarding what should go on there and the best ways to get it up and going?





Thanks.What's the best advice for a basic, small business website?
Hire a professional. Seriously, it will be more then worth it.





Anyone can create a simple site, but that really doesn't help.





Get someone that can create a great site, and more importantly get it to show up on related search terms in search engines and you will see real benefit.





Just creating a simple site is like photocopying 25,000 flyers and leaving them in a big pile for people to pick up, might help a little, people that have already taken a interest from another source might take one and it might help convince them to deal with you, but without distribution the flyers are useless.





Same goes for websites, you need someone that understands how to ';distribute'; your site, and create a site that gives a good first impression.What's the best advice for a basic, small business website?
Try reading this article http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Get-Started-With-HTML---Write-Your-First-Web-Page-Now





It'll help you recognise a good web designer.
Be consistent from page to page. Use neutral colors with small spaces of your main color, a color from your logo. A nice menu make sure every page is easily accessed. Make sure your content is well worded with no errors since they main focus is going to be on the text of your website.
You need a reliable web hosting service for your business website to keep running.





If you are serious about websites either for personal or your business, don't go to free web hosting as they are usually not reliable and you may end up losing all your hard work. Free web hosts usually put advertisements on your websites and it could be annoying.





I would like to suggest following webhosting which I use, they are excellent.





Hostmonster http://www.hostmonster.com/track/ryukend鈥?/a>





They offer hosting of ';unlimited domains'; and you will get massive webspace of 1500000 MB (1500 GB ). They only charge $5.95/month and they offer ';a free Domain Name'; and installing service called ';Fantastico';. By using Fantastico, you could create own forum, photo gallery, shopping cart (e-commerce),your own auction site and your own blogs within few seconds. They also offer ';Free Website Builder'; as well.


Visit the site to check details.





Hostmonster http://www.hostmonster.com/track/ryukend鈥?/a>








More the list of BEST WEB HOSTING sites visit





http://www.nicewebhosts.com
Consistency! 1st off, select a position for your navigation menu (links to pages, ie: Home, About, Services, etc.). The typical locations for navigations menus are:





1. Accross the Top (Above logo/banner horizontally)


2. Accross the Top (Under logo/banner horizontally)


3. On the Left (vertically)





Next you need to choose your color palette. The colors on your website should be pleasing to the eye, and easy to read. For example, dark colored backgrounds should have light colored text and vice versa. Make sure the colors are suitable for your industry (If your an accountant or a lawyer, pastels and primaries are out). If all else fail, choose neutral colors.





The content on your website should deliver a message that says ';WOW! I need to call these guys!'; or ';These guys know what they are doing';. Remember, your website is ultimately a sales tool. USE IT! Treat the content on your website like you would an actual customer. You want to be professional, informative and detailed about the benefits of dealing with your company. The basic pages/content that almost all sites need to have is: Home page (Needs to be attractive and inviting in order to draw the customer in to look around), About Us (information about your company and history), Services (what your company has to offer), Contact Info (address, phone, fax, email, etc).





If you feel at all overwhelmed, you should consider contacting a professional web design company that can do it for you.





Visit our website at www.multicolormedia.com for some examples of the design work we have done for our customers.





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