How to Design Your Own Website for a Store

Develop a simple online website for your existing brick-and-mortar business.

In today's market, developing an online presence for your product or service business is a core aspect of business marketing and advertising. A simple website design can be developed in-house, requiring minimal experience, if the business does not need more complex website features such as shopping carts or online credit-card processing. There are a number of service providers in the market that assist in developing an online business presence for an existing store.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Internet service
• Domain name
• Website host provider

Instructions

1. Outline the major components of the store website. How do you want to use the website? A website can be used to provide basic store information such as street address, phone and fax numbers, store hours and types of products or services offered. Additionally, a website can be monetizedin a number of ways to process online orders or with advertising from other businesses.

2. Secure the domain name for the store's website. Check for domain name availability from the assortment of online domain name search firms, such as GoDaddy.com or HostMonster.com. Securing a domain name is a fee-based service; fees are commensurate with the number of years your business enterprise seeks to hold the website domain address.

3. Draft your website's text content. This should include general information about the type of products or services offered by the company and all of its contact information. The website can also be used to include the store's calendar of events or to highlight certain products or services.

4. Prepare photos and images for uploading to the website. This may include photographing a product or the storefront. For stock photos or images not in the public domain, remember to obtain copyright clearance for commercial use.

5. Contract with a website host provider. There are a number of popular website host companies that also provide access to basic website templates. In the article "Choosing the Right Web Host" by Chris Kevlihan reporting for "Entrepreneur" magazine, a number of insightful tips are provided for those new to choosing a web host provider.

6. Select a basic website design. Website templates are available from most website host providers. Select a web design that complements the company's culture and target market. The "bells and whistles" website design features are best for younger target markets, such as retail or entertainment industries.

Tips & Warnings

• This article is for information purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for legal or tax advice.

References

• "Choosing the Right Web Host," by Chris Kevlihan

Resources

• Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS; Ian Lloyd; 2008