The Internet is being used by millions worldwide with more and more connecting every day. The information you provide on your website is instantly available to anyone that can access it. This makes a website a very effective sales channel and a powerful marketing and promotional tool. Imagine, with a website you are now open for business 24/7/365 and potential customers can find out about you and your offerings even while you sleep.
So what are your excuses?
I don't know how to make a website.
It's too expensive. I can't afford it.
I say, "Hogwash! Would you like some cheese with that whine?"
Yes, you can go out and spend tens of thousands of dollars on a custom website. And for some of you, this IS exactly what you should do. However, for most freelancers and small business that's not an affordable or realistic option. It's simply not necessary. Today, utilizing the Internet is very inexpensive and there are more options than ever. Literally, there are new options emerging every day.
So stop your bellyaching and start simple. You can always change your site and upgrade as you grow and can afford a bigger and more sophisticated site.
Some suggestions and thoughts about what's out there . . .
For Mac users, iWeb is a great place to start. They have a manage-able set of easy-to-use templates. Each are simple to modify and customize. And of course you can design from scratch if you must have it your way. You may also link it to your existing website or just use your .Mac address, though I recommend you use your own URL to reinforce your brand.
Most web hosting services offer low cost web building and design though I find they usually targeted towards the PC user and lack the appeal and ease of use of other stand-alone services.
Increasingly popular are using blogging sites like Blogger.com and WordPress to create a website that's easily update-able through their proprietary blogging software. Blogger.com is the simpler-to-use of the two (this blog is a Blogger.com site). WordPress offers a ton of more customizable options though the learning curve is slightly steeper and increases as you make your site more complicated. Quite honestly, if you do a little research you'll find that WordPress has become wildly popular for website design. Loads and loads of top sites are WordPress sites. Clearly a sign of it's easy of use and customization options.
Many of the social networking sites allow you to create a custom page or site. You may already have a Facebook page. Did you know some people are using their Facebook book page as a website? While these might be good options for the faint-at-heart, personally, I think they are a little low tech and pedestrian. Still, it's better than nothing. If you don't like Facebook, there's MySpace, while you may think it's a little old school it is still hip among the music and indie film crowd. The teen and college set has been migrating away from Facebook back to MySpace, I've heard. No doubt a result of the pressure to accept friend requests from one's grandmother/mother/aunt on Facebook. While I use these social community sites myself to network I'm not a fan of using them as a businesses sole or primary website or web presence. I think you'll find they work better when augmenting your stand-alone website.
Recently I came across WhosCreative.com - a simple online website creation company where you can have a portfolio based site for free or low cost (under $8 bucks a month). They also have a professional level (under $50 bucks a month) for you ambitious folks. This service looks pretty good for artists, photographers and filmmakers and is definitely worth checking out.
Clearly, these are only a handful of possibilities. The point is this - With the web full of options at a cost appropriate for everyone, there's no excuse not to have a website these days.
