Welcome to Crittersoup.com

Planning a Website

Before you jump in front of the computer, there are a few things to consider:

1. What do I want a website for? Perhaps you are wanting to display information only to your viewers. If so, where will this information come from? Are you writing the content or do you need to hire someone to write it for you? I suggest writing the content yourself. You are the one with the passion for your business. You may need someone to look over it for spelling or grammer errors.

2. Are you selling a product? If so, there are many things to consider. Do you want the customer to purchase a product from your site using a credit card? If so, then you need a shopping cart and the ability to accept credit cards. Merchant accounts are needed to process the credit cards. They usually charge a small percentage for every transaction. You can also use PayPal, which is an easy way to accept payments online.

3. What will the Domain name be? The domain name and url are one in the same. They are the address that the user types in to get to your site. For example, crittersoup.com is the domain name here, the actual url is www.crittersoup.com.

4. Where do I get a Domain name? I suggest GoDaddy. I send all of my clients there. The cost for a name is usually around $10 annually. The fee may be higher if the name is a premium name. The tech support is awesome at GoDaddy and they are always cheerful. Go to GoDaddy and type in the domain name you want to see if it is available. I suggest getting a name immediately! So many times, I have seen a new, small business owner open a little company. then, they decide they want a website. They look for the domain name and realize it is an X-rated site! Not cool! If you are sitting around and brainstorming, while thinking of the name of the new company, go look to see if the Domain name is available! I can't stress this enough!

5. You need a Host... A host is the company that gives the world 24/7 access to your site. Agaqin, I use GoDaddy. It usually costs about $5 per month. You might add things to it, like a shopping cart, which can increase the monthly fee. There could be some other costs involved, so please read it carefully. All of my clients use GoDaddy, there monthly fee is in the $5 per month range, and it takes all of 4 minutes to set it up! Did I tell you that I love GoDaddy?

Now what do I do?

Well, you have either chosen a name or purchased it. Trust me on this..... purchase the name and host with the same company! Transferring is a total nightmare! If you buy the Domain name at GoDaddy, then purchase the Hosting with GoDaddy!

Ok, so now you have the Domain name and the Host. The next step is to decide on the features that your site may include. To learn about some of these Features, follow the link.