Title: 
Making Your Home Business’ Web Presence Count

Word Count:
506

Summary:
Today it is virtually unthinkable to run a home based business and not have a website. In a day and age where the local telephone book is rapidly being replaced with online directories, more and more consumers want to see what kind of products and services you are offering and what you can do for them before they will ever call you. Similarly, many a business mom or executive will not take the time to visit your store, call you, or otherwise query you on your services and you...


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Article Body:
Today it is virtually unthinkable to run a home based business and not have a website. In a day and age where the local telephone book is rapidly being replaced with online directories, more and more consumers want to see what kind of products and services you are offering and what you can do for them before they will ever call you. Similarly, many a business mom or executive will not take the time to visit your store, call you, or otherwise query you on your services and you will be wise to display your wares online so that at a glance a person can decide that your business fits their needs.

To this end, you will need to have a great looking, professionally done website. Stay away from the home jobs done with the free website builder that demands a link back or forces your visitor to endure a pop up. Instead, bite the bullet and register your domain name. In the same way, have an email address that reflects that domain name. You home business will not be taken seriously if your email address goes to Hotmail or Yahoo. A customer will not consider spending a couple hundred dollars on a refurbished television if the contact information is a post office box, a generic email, and the website little more than a freebie site hosted by Yahoo.

Resist the temptation to build your own website. More often than not the newbie will be so enthralled with their ability to build a site that more often than not the site gets over-built and unnecessary add-ons, such as visitor counters, guest books, and web rings are added – none of which belong on a professional business site. Similarly, beware the broken link that leads nowhere! Nothing makes your site look more unprofessional than a link that does not work. When you take the time to actually do it right, you may be wasting precious working time. Some people think the most productive people in the world are those that only focus on what they’re good at and hire out people to do the things they are not as good at.

All these problems can be avoided by paying a professional web developer to create your site and set it up so that it will meet your current needs and grow with you as your business takes off. In the same way, ensure that you will have your domain name properly registered. Your web address should in some way reflect your business name, but at the same time be short and to the point. If your name is lengthy, you might just want to opt for a descriptive web address. For example, if your business specializes in dog grooming for Pinchers less than 35 pounds, you could name your online address Pinchers in the Tub. If the business’ regular name is New York Pinchers in the Tub, you will do well to leave out the name of the city simply because it is too long to be memorable.