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Work From Home Tips |
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Resources, Tips & Advice to help you start, and run, your own business from home |
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You need your own website!
Lets be quite blunt; if you are serious about working from home then you need a website! Your own website gives you an on-line presence which can be seen worldwide greatly increasing your customer base. There are however three practical aspects of creating a website which can be critically important, but which can often be overlooked: The first is the appearence of your website, the second is your choice of domain name and the third is the reliability of the company hosting your website.
Lets just take a moment to look at these three important topics (Website Design, Domain Registration and Web Hosting) in more detail. They sound quite complicated, technical, terms but can be explained quite simply.
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Website Design
The appearance of your website should reflect your business. If you run a formal business (such as typing or book-keeping) your website should look a lot more formal and professional than a fairly relaxed website like mine where the emphasis is more on an informal exchange of ideas. If, like myself, you don’t know much about website design you will probably need to purchase some software to use to create your website. I recommend taking a look at XSitePro. You can CLICK HERE to watch a video about it.
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Domain Registration
What is a “Domain” and how do you “Register” it? Well, you can think of a Domain as your address on the internet. For example; this website’s Domain (address) is: www.work-from-home-tips.co.uk It is the address people type into their web browser when they want to visit this website. If you are serious about setting up in business then the Domain Name you choose should be chosen carefully and reflect the nature of your business. My website is about tips to help you work from home; hence why I chose the Domain Name “www.work-from-home-tips.co.uk”. If however you run a business selling craft items you may want to include the word “Crafts” in your chosen Domain Name (i.e. www.ebcrafts.co.uk). Having your own Domain Name makes your business look more professional. Not only does it make it easier for customers to remember, and find, your website but it also makes your email address much more professional too. For example; which of the following email addresses projects the most professional image:
ian9651@freeispyouhaveneverheardof.net
or
customer.service@yourdomain.co.uk
There are many companies which can register your Domain Name for you however I recommend taking a look at both 123-Reg and 1&1 (the company with whom I have registered this Domain).
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Web Hosting
What is “Web Hosting”? You can think of “Website Hosting” as a term used to describe where your website is actually located; the actual physical computer connected to the internet on which your website is stored. For example when someone types www.work-from-home-tips.co.uk into their browser their computer will download my webpage from 1&1’s computers (the company I have chosen to “host” my website). It is therefore essential that the company you choose to Host your website is reliable and that it’s has good security (to stop hackers defacing your website) and they take regular backups. I have no hesitation at all in recommending 1&1 or UK2 for your Website Hosting and you will notice that many of their packages include a free Domain Name. 1&1 and UK2 are however based in Europe and if you live in the USA you may find it also worth considering Hostgator (another company I can recommend without hesitation). I have placed their Banner Adverts above this paragraph to allow you to click on them and explore for yourself what they currently offer.
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