How To Buy A Small Business Website In Portland

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There are many things to consider if you want to buy a website for your small business. If you live in a town like Portland, Oregon, which has more than its fair share of web designers, buying a website can be overwhelming. This handy guide will help you with some of the basics.

There are five ingredients?that you will need if you want to create a successful website for your small business in Portland.
These are:

Hosting
- You'll need to find a hosting company that gives you a good price and allows enough bandwidth for what you want to do

Domain name
- Is your domain name already taken? In that case, how much does it cost to purchase it? Many small business names now originate from available domain names.

Planning
- You'll need to plan out the design for your website before you begin talking with a web design company or a web developer. The planning stage is crucial and it will save you time and money.
- Clearly articulate who the audience is going to be.
What type of website would you like to have? Your site can be informational like a high tech marketing ...
... pamphlet. It can also be an e-commerce storefront or a social networking hub. Or it can be a hybrid of several different types. There are no limits to what an affordable small business website can be.
- Make a list of your websites contents. Will it have video or will it use Flash? Will your customers be able to contact you from your site?
- Make sure you know why you need the website. Try to write down in two columns the features your business needs and wants from a website. A needed feature is one that you cannot continue without having. A wanted feature is one that you can postpone until phase 2.
- Make sure that you articulate how the website will look before you present it to a web designer. Browse other websites that you like, and feel free to draw sketches of your web pages. You can even draw a map of where the pages will be in relation to each other.

Promotion
This may be the most common stumbling point for all new website owners. It is not as simple as if you build it, they will come.?Just like a brick and mortar storefront, you have to promote it.
- Your website is where your brand lives in the online world. Take advantage of every opportunity to direct people to it from the physical world. Put it on your business cards, stationary, and marketing materials.
- There are many ways you can optimize your site for search engines as well. This is called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, and it is the crucial difference between getting zero visitor or millions of visitors. Many Portland web designers offer at least a minor degree of on-page SEO, so make sure your site is optimized for search, no matter what.

Maintenance
This would be the care and feeding of your website. Your website is not static like a neon sign. It is a powerful way to communicate with your customers. To make it work, it will take time and effort.
- Set aside time to post a regular blog, videos, and press releases. Your customers need a reason to visit your site regularly.
- Web developers can maintain your site, or you can do it yourself with special editing software.
- A Content Management System, or CMS, can also be used to edit your site without the addition of expensive software. Most CMS systems pay for themselves in the first 2 hours of use, rather than paying hourly rates for web designers.

Ask these questions and more to ensure you have a solid understanding of what is involved in setting up your website, and getting it found in the Portland, or Pacific Northwest抯 regional markets. Soon you will be on your way to finding a great web development company, and an outstanding deal on a website design.

Written by Howard Dinatale in cooperation with Forix Web Design, Portland's first choice in affordable website design and web development.