You want to get a website going, but WHERE DO YOU START?  What do you need?   This is a very common question that people have when creating a website.   A lot of people will approach this conversation with a discussion on tools and domains and SEO and hosting and Social Media and all the other things most people don’t care to know about.   At the end of the day though, you choose your tools, create the initial site, then stare at the monitor and wonder what’s next?  This is the real question to answer and address.

I have a proposition for you… Go to any crowded place, a restaurant, coffee-shop, shopping mall or the public library. Now, I am not encouraging you to stare, but just glance at the people around you? What do you see them doing? They most likely don’t have a newspaper in their hand. I am willing to bet they have their faces directed at some sort of illuminated screen.

A website can do a lot of things for a company, but nothing more important than creating trust and a long term relationship with people.   Here are some simple tips to help you do just that: Regularly blog helpful, no obligation information that would genuinely be of use to your customers.   If you are a car mechanic then you could blog about how to know when to bring your car in for an oil change or how to check the tread on your tires so you know when to change them.

As a salesperson at a web design firm, I sometimes hear from people that I am talking to about creating a website that “we already have a Facebook page and that’s enough. ”  When I hear this I usually go and look at these FB pages and many times find that they are very well managed, lots of likes, and have great information and pictures.  These people have done a great job of creating an effective Facebook page and keeping it active, but is that really enough for your small business?  The short answer is “no”.

Early on in my graphic design career, I was designing items for the static end.  I rarely had to consider fonts.   The only thing that mattered was having the font on the computer in front of me, and my worry would stop there.

There are a number of factors in deciding to outsource projects.   Most people decide to outsource because the cost of hiring someone locally is too much, or they are having difficulty finding the right person for the job.   These two factors are particularly true for startups I have run into with little or no technical skill, but an interesting idea.

If you are starting a small business you’ll want to take a look at these tech essentials to get your business up and running:  Domain and Website - You’ll want some real estate on the web to show off your products and brag about your services.  Domains can be purchased from popular sellers like http://Bluehost. com   Email - You’ll need email addresses specific to your business like sales@<yourbusiness.

Web design tips often focus on what you should do to create a great website, but what about the things you are doing wrong?  Keep reading to find out if your website is an offender in any of these areas: Your site doesnt not include a “call to action”.    When visitors come to your site they should do something.  Sign up for a newsletter, watch an informational video, submit a contact form so you can follow-up, give feedback about your product or services, and much more.

SquareHook hosted our third Meetup group last night.   We had such an amazing turnout!  Thanks to all those who came, and we missed all those would couldn’t make it. Chris Kilbourn from TOFU Marketing, a full-service Internet Marketing Company came to share his vast knowledge of SEO and what it takes to create a greater presence online.

A good friend was building his website and passed the task along to one of his interns. The intern finished building the site, and populated it with images that had been purchased off of stock image sites.  Little did my friend know, this intern also added images to the website that hadn’t been purchased, and for which they did not have rights or permission to use.