The Best Way to Build a Business Website on a Budget

For many people, the thought of building a business website can be intimidating -- paralyzing, in fact. They start out with great intentions and great business ideas but freeze at the thought of building a website themselves and never go any further.

But while there are plenty of companies that are happy to build your site for you, we suggest that if you're planning a simple business website, you do it yourself.

Your offer, your salescopy, your navigation, and your overall layout will have a FAR bigger impact on whether or not your business website is profitable than fancy graphics, buttons, and logos — and doing it yourself is the best way to make sure you've got everything you need.

As your business grows, you'll initially be testing many different ideas on your web pages and changing your site frequently. You'll save huge amounts of time, money, and frustration if you can make at least basic changes yourself.

So where do you start?

There are three main ways you can build a website yourself. The one you choose will depend on how much elbow grease you're willing to put into it, as well as the complexity of the site you want to develop.

You can...

• Teach yourself HTML. Don't worry. Learning HTML is easier than you might think. Unlike most foreign languages (like Japanese, German, or Italian), HTML is pretty self-explanatory. For example, <strong> means "start bold" and </strong> means "stop bold." There are a ton of great HTML resource sites available for free, such as DaveSite. Just do a search for "HTML tutorial" and you'll get lots of options. You can even find sites that have sample pages or simple business website templates that you can modify to fit your needs.



• Use software that "codes" the HTML for you, such as Dreamweaver or KompoZer. "HTML editors" are programs that allow you to design a web page with little knowledge of HTML — and they are as easy to use as any basic word processor. These programs will make your job a hundred times easier. Provided you know the basics, the program will do the rest for you. For example, an HTML editor will allow you to take a document, highlight where you want it bolded, centered, etc., and it will automatically translate your requests into HTML code for you.



• Use an automated "all-in-one" business website builder, such as BeBiz. Another option you may want to consider if you're a bit intimidated by technology is an online all-in-one website builder, where a company provides you with all the tools you need to quickly piece together a website.
  
  These tools guide you through creating your own images, logos, and salescopy, and provide you with templates and add-on features like opt-in forms, "Buy Now" buttons, and more. You literally "point and click" to build your website, without knowing any HTML at all.
  
  For a first site, this can be a very quick way to get a professional business site up and running. You pay a monthly fee, and they give you the basics you need to build your website, host it, and automate it.

As you can see, if you want to build a website for your business yourself, you have lots of options -- whatever your budget. And being able to control the design and sales elements of your site is well worth any extra effort... so you can always steer your business to maximum conversions and sales.