Not everybody needs a personal web site, but every small business does. The Internet is where you find companies, do research, and compare prices—even for stuff you don't typically associate with the Web. When I needed a roofing contractor recently, I solicited five proposals, but finally picked one of two companies with a Web presence. I certainly couldn't get a quote that way, but I got reassurance that I was dealing with a real company, an outfit that had a license and insurance.
For most small businesses, setting up a Web site has been exasperating and somewhat expensive. They've needed to find and hire a Web designer (something like picking a roofer) and pay regular fees for maintenance and hosting. That's what Dan Brown, a former colleague who is now a marketing and communications consultant, did eight years ago. But he found that his site drew few leads, and he chafed at paying recurring fees to keep the site running. He pulled the plug at the end of 2002.
Today, setting up a Web site for your business can be virtually free. And you can do it yourself, using Web design tools and Web hosting services offered by Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), and others. I rebuilt Brown's site using Office Live Small Business from Microsoft, which just released its first major upgrade since launching Office Live in late 2006.
I had never built a Web site before, so I was surprised how simple it was. Mostly, it's point and click, and then uploading pictures and graphics such as your logo. Working with the text from Brown's defunct site and templates in Microsoft's Small Business Web Design Tool, I put together a simple, professional-looking site that includes a home page, a brief history of the company, lists of its services, a few testimonials, and a "contact us" form. It took me about an hour. The site will give Brown reports on how many visitors it gets. I also gave him his own domain name, which will cost $15 a year, and 100 e-mail accounts. (See the result at TechniComm.org.)
Besides making the Web design tool easier to use, Microsoft has unbundled its pricing. Instead of choosing from the original product's three levels of service, everyone gets Office Live at no charge. You can then pick and choose any extras from an à la carte menu that includes additional storage or keyword advertising on search engines. Microsoft also has added features, such as a way to manage e-mail lists for newsletters and promotions. Most important, you can now run an e-commerce storefront on your Office Live Web site for $40 a month. Neither Yahoo! Small Business, which is aimed mostly at marketing and e-commerce sites, nor Google Apps seems as broad as Office Live. On Yahoo, business e-mail and a Web site run $12 a month. And it's tough to compare Google Apps to Office Live because Google mostly wants to replace Microsoft's software with online versions. You can, however, use it to create a Web site, but your URL will be something like yourname.googlepages.com.
Perhaps you already have a Web site, even if it's just a page on MySpace (NWS) or Facebook, and just want a storefront so you can sell a few things. You can use a nifty new software gadget called Cartfly. It takes about 15 minutes to build the storefront at Cartfly.com, which then gives you a line of code that makes the store accessible from any Web page that includes the code. It's free to get started; if you sell something, Cartfly takes 3% of the transaction. A similar embedded storefront is available at Shopit.com. They may not be free, but it beats hiring a Web designer.
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Larry Armstrong writes about personal technology for BusinessWeek SmallBiz. You can e-mail him at larry@larryarmstrong.net