Start Your Scrapbook Business Website

While a scrapbook business may seem more hands-on and local, an online presence is essential. With more and more people going online for information and to purchase products, you will want your own website. Gone are the days of people depending on the yellow pages to find the services they need. Today they rely on Google.

What if a potential customer ran across your business card somewhere and noticed your website address. They could visit you online, learn more about you and your service/product without feeling pressured or intimidated. If they liked what they saw they would contact you.

Don’t worry, building a website doesn’t have to be an expensive or highly technical and difficult process. For starters, you will need to:

• Purchase a Domain Name-the internet address or URL (www.your-name.com) where your website is located. There are numerous domain brokers online where you can search for your domain to see if it’s available for purchase. I personally use GoDaddy  . Registering a domain name is typically under $10/year. 

• Obtain Hosting-There are many different hosting companies out there, all with different prices and features. It’s important to get hosting that’s within your budget, but it is also crucial that your hosting company provides good support and maintains its servers well. Recommended hosting companies: 

Build your site

If you already know HTML and can build a site from scratch, that’s great. But if not, it is still possible to build a site on your own. Some hosting packages offer website building software that you can use to make a great looking website. Or you can purchase your own website building software.

If you choose to use a web designer, it’s important to shop around. Taking the time to find a designer who listens to your ideas and implements them well will pay off. It’s also important that your designer takes search engine optimization (SEO) into account.

If you’re selling anything, you will need shopping cart software. Some hosting plans come with integrated shopping carts. If yours doesn’t, you’ll need to purchase software or find a third-party shopping cart online. If you’re using PayPal to accept payments, they offer a free shopping cart that you can use.

Here are some popular ways to design your website:

• XsitePro - this is a design program that uses more cut-and-paste features to build your website. http://www.xsitepro.com     (I personally use this one because it has VERY advanced features to market your business site over the Internet).

• Site Builders – these are very easy cut-and-paste programs that supply you with hundreds of free templates to choose from. You simply choose your template, name your pages, and start adding copy. Sometimes the hosting fee is included in the monthly usage fee. I recommend SiteSell.com  .

• WordPress  – this is a free, open source blogging platform that also has thousands of free templates to choose from. Even though it was first created for bloggers, you can now find templates (or themes) that look like static websites. WordPress also has a very easy editor for adding copy and images. http://www.wordpress.com

• Frontpage - this is a program used by many designers and relies heavily on coding. If designing an entire website overwhelms you, there is always the option of hiring someone. However, you will still need to do some of the maintenance work yourself. I would then recommend a blog-type format. This format is relatively easy to create and maintain. Many webhosts even offer blog scripts as part of the package. 

I personally recommend Wordpress for beginners as it is easy to install on your own and customize. With a little bit of effort you can have your website up and running quickly. Within the admin panel you can easily create pages and categories. Wordpress also offer plugins(add-ons) for features like a gallery, eShop, forum and many more.

back to Getting Started Scrapbooking As a Business

Related articles:

• Creating your scrapbook business with Wordpress

Recommended Resources:

• Websites to Grow-grow your website as your business grows