Websites

In today's fast paced business world, websites have become more than just a "nice to have". Customers expect the convenience of accessing information on the internet for both personal and commercial reasons. Business cards and the yellow pages just can't provide the details customers are looking for when making a buying decision. Over the past few years, the costs associated with publishing a website have been drastically reduced making it a very reasonable option for today's small business owners. You can now provide company information to the world around the clock. In addition, a company Email address not only provides a convenient method for sales and customer support but adds yet another dimension to your small business.

BANDLECO not only provides services for small business, we are one. We know that as a small business owner you have to watch those expenses carefully. That is why we have designed our website offerings to address your specific requirements while retaining the concept of affordability.

We have outlined the recommended steps to help speed the web site process and to decrease the time required to get your business on the internet. These steps do not necessarily have to be completed in order, but they should all be done to complete a successful implementation. BANDLECO will gladly guide you through the process.

Select a domain name

This is usually your company name or an abbreviated version of your company name. There are a number of Top Level Domains (TLDs) available, .com has long been the preferred domain selected for businesses. Because of the popularity of the internet many of the desirable .com domain names have already been taken. That is why the .biz domain has been created. If your company name is unique this may not be a problem, if not, you will need to be creative in coming up with one that you can use. GoDaddy is a good website to use to verify that the domain you would like to use is still available. We also recommend this site to register .biz or secondary domains. The .com, .net or .org domains will be registered when you establish a web hosting account with iPowerWeb.


	.com	Unrestricted (but intended for commercial registrants)
	.net	Unrestricted (but intended for network providers, etc.)
	.org	Unrestricted (but intended for organizations that do not fit elsewhere)
	.biz	Businesses
	.info	Unrestricted use (but intended for information purposes)
	.us	United States (for residents of the United States and its territories)
		Information on these and other TLDs can by found at the ICANN site.

Establish an account with a web hosting provider.

This is a third party company that provides the computer resources and facilities that "host" your website. They provide everything necessary for your website files to be accessed by others on the internet. BANDLECO utilizes iPowerWeb for hosting services. Once you have identified your domain name you are ready to establish the web hosting service.

Select a template that will provide the image or "look and feel" of your website and company.

Starting with an existing template can drastically reduce development time and costs. You can view professionally designed templates via the following links. These companies focus is providing templates for websites. Take your time and browse through their selections.

AllWebCo BoxedArt.com A+Templates BigWebmasterTemplates TemplateMonster BasicTemplates Freewebtemplates.com

Define the purpose of your website.

Think about the purpose your website will serve. Will it be used to post company information to customers and/or employees? Will it promote products and services? Will the information need to be updated on a regular or as-needed basis or will it remain unchanged for an extended period of time?

Company specific content and graphics.

Decide what content or information you would like include on your site. Do you have any company slogans, logos, or pictures that relate to your business? What statements do you want people to read?

Site organization.

Think about the "flow" of the information. This will help in creating any necessary secondary pages that will be accessed directly from the home page or the first page the person will see. This will help during the design of your site and speed up the initial consulting process.