how to start a website?

[Rosie]

I'd like to start a website, where I would sell a service. Does anyone know how I could go about doing this? What are the steps? How do I get traffic to my site? Thanks I really appreciate any help on this subject.

[codefreeze]

Hi Rosie, well, you ask one of those open ended questions that could take a few years to answer.

To a certain extent it depends on what type of site you have in mind.

Perhaps the question is how best to get started?

I notice you are selling a service rather than a product. There are two options that readily spring to mind.

1) Go over to Wordpress.org and get yourself a free blog. You can create a blog about your service and add static pages, info etc. It's pretty easy - I was recently helping someone set up a blog there and after a few minutes they were driving by themselves. later when you get more experience you can get a domain name etc.

2) You could get a free website at freewebs.com You can build a site quickly and easily without technical skills. When you've had a good play (for free) you can upgrade your account to add domain name, and other features. The site promotion, stats, blog, forum etc are all built in and very easy to set up.

Either of these (and there are many more such sites) should be enough to get you started - then you can come back and ask more questions. Also - check out some of the forums on the net that are dedicated to creating websites.

Hope that helps,

Tony

[Rosie]

Thanks that really helped How can I get some payment option on my site, so that I may sell my service?

Also, there are millions of blogs, so how will people know about my site? Isn't it easier to get traffic if I have my own domain name?

Thanks guys.

[AndrewJ]

I suggest you do get a domain and your own hosting account instead of going the free route. A domain name is your brand and you can get one for less than $9 and hosting for less than $5 per month.

There are some coupons at the link in my sig.

As for traffic, the easiest way to start is to add a link in your forum sig, write and distribute articles for free, and submit your site to web directories.

Andrew

[AndrewJ]

For payment options you could use Paypal or 2Checkout.com or both.

[mellom]

Hi Rosie,

I would recommend three things to get started:

1.) A Free Blogger account
2.) A PayPal account (also free)
3.) A domain name from Godaddy.com (around $10.00)

Feel free to check out my site (in my sig) to learn more. Hope this helps get you started.

[codefreeze]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

I suggest you do get a domain and your own hosting account instead of going the free route. A domain name is your brand and you can get one for less than $9 and hosting for less than $5 per month.

Andrew

I should point out (I probably didn't make it clear enough) that with freewebs you can upgrade your account to a non-free account at any stage. That allows you to add a domain name - either an existing one or newly purchased one. Also, the Freewebs has built in e-commerce facilities for processing on-line orders - all you need is a free PayPal account to go with it.

This route requires no technical skills at all really - which I assume from the original question applies in this case.

Also - the free Wordpress account can also be upgraded to support your own domain name. A friend just did it and it worked well.

I personally think the Freewebs hosting route is the cheapest, quickest and easiest route - because it's free if you don't like it nothing lost - it allows you to determine whether it's going to meet your needs *before* you upgrade.

Hope that helps,

Tony

[AndrewJ]

Ok thanks for explaining that!

Andrew

[codefreeze]

Yes the name freewebs is a bit confusing - it is free, but you can pay if you want more goodies

[skye]

you get traffic to your website by link building and advertising,