Build Your Own Business Website Free

The great thing about the Internet is that there are so many services that enable business owners to create websites for free. Whether you're a professional website developer or a novice, there is a free service to fit every level. The trick is knowing where to go to find the free Web services. Some tools are already installed on your business computer, while other tools are free and readily available on the Internet.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Find a free Web hosting company. The easiest way to find a free Web hosting company for your business website is to spend some time reading free Web hosting reviews. Companies such as FTPplanet and 100 Best Free Web Space (see Resources) offer helpful reviews on the various free Web hosting providers.

2. Decide whether or not you want ads shown on your free business website. In order to provide free Web space, some Web hosting companies, not all, require that you allow them to place ads on your site. If this is not something that appeals to you, then you will have to make sure to find a free Web host that does not have the ad requirement.

3. Determine the name of your website. While a free service does not give you the opportunity to select your own Web address, you do have a bit of wiggle room in deciding the sub domain name. In other words, most free Web hosts provide the service for free because they own the domain and allow businesses to have a sub domain, which is a folder under the main domain. For example, the domain could be www.freehosting.com. Your Web address would be appended to the back of the free hosting company name, such as www.freehosting.com/mybusiness. You may not have the flexibility to change the www.freehosting.com, but you can decide what your business sub domain name will be.

4. Use the hosting company's control panel to build your own website. If you don't know HTML coding and wish to use the hosting company provided software, search for a free Web host that offers WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) Web editing. It allows you to create Web pages without the need to know HTML coding. With a WYSIWYG editor, you can see your website as you create it.

5. Create your business site on your own computer using free software such as Notepad and upload it to the free host. This option is for the more experienced coder. You can conceivably create an entire website using Notepad. You must, however, be extremely familiar with HTML coding in order to succeed at this approach.

Resources

• FTP Planet
• 100 Best Free Web Space Providers