You'll need to do a search to see what all names are available. Click here to search for names and buy when you're ready.  Be sure to click on "Smart Search", to the right of the Search button, and you will find suggestions of effective domain names.  If you'd like extra help in finding the best marketable name for your website, please contact our internet marketing specialists at sales@surf4it.net . 

*Determine if you need a shopping cart system for selling products online at this time.  (See c. below if you do, or steps a. and b. if you don't need that yet.)

*Also determine whether you'll want to build the site yourself, and if so, if you have any software in mind for that already.  (See a. and b. below)

*You should also figure out approximately how many email accounts you'll need (see Step 3 below for help).  This may affect your choice of web hosting programs. (A ballpark figure is all you need for now, whether 1 email, 5 emails, 10 emails, or 50 emails, for example.) 

*Determine whether you need a Unix or Microsoft server.  This sounds complicated, but basically, most sites just need the Unix server, which is less expensive.  If you're going to need a specialized database to run on the site, or other specific applications that use specialized Microsoft technology to run the site, you might need a Microsoft server.  (However, just using a Microsoft product such as FrontPage to edit your pages does not require a Microsoft server.) 

If you're not sure what you may need, feel free to call one of our technical support team for help at either 785-823-8284, or 480-624-2500, or email at sales@surf4it.net  We'll be glad to help you figure out what you'll need.  

a.)  If you'll be using our special design-it-yourself system, you'll want to go straight to the Website Tonight shopping area.  It's an easy do-it-yourself plan that you can use to be up and running right away with your new website.  You'll need to have a general idea of how many pages you want to start with. 

b.)  If you already have a design, or if a designer will be working on one for you, or if you want to use your own software to design your pages, you'll want to go to our web hosting options page. 

c.)  If you need to have a shopping cart to sell products online, you'll want to see the e-commerce options page.  It's the easiest way to get going with selling items right away.  You'll find all the different options for your online catalog, as well as help with how to accept credit card payments (PayPal or a merchant account, online or offline payments, etc.) 

You'll need to have a plan for your emails, especially those that will be listed on your website.  It's a good idea to plan this before you build your site, so that you won't accidentally list an email on your site that doesn't really exist yet.  If you set up the email first, then it will work right away as soon as you add it to your website.  You won't miss any responses that way. 

a.)  Individual email boxes - Your employees can each have their own emails, such as jsmith@YourBiz.com, etc. 

b.)  Group email boxes - You may have some more general email boxes that are checked by more than one person, such as sales@YourBiz.com. 

c.)  Email aliases - Also known as forwards, sometimes this method is preferred over a separate email box that several people check.  With an alias or forward, you have a name like sales@YourBiz.com, but rather than being its own email, it's just goes to a distribution list.  For instance, when I email sales@YourBiz.com, it goes to all of your sales staff's individual email boxes, and no one has to remember to check a separate email. 

You'll want to figure out what addresses you want to have listed on your website (these will get spammed since they're out there for the public to see), and which will remain private.  It's good to have some commonly-used names such as support@YourBiz.com, so that people can even guess at how to reach you, even if they don't see the address listed. 

There are a lot of different ways to jump in there and start building.  Some people like to sketch ideas out on paper first, and work with a group of people. 

Others like to use our Website Tonight software and just start building the site.  They like to get something going online right away, and then make changes later. 

Either of those methods, or any number of other methods, will work to get you started.  Here are a couple of basic things to keep in mind:

*Make sure visitors to the site will know how to contact you.  Remember to include email, phone, and physical address information, and make sure it's easy to find from any page they are looking at. 

*Remember to make it easy for visitors to take whatever action you want them to.  For instance, if you're selling products, make sure it's easy to see where to click to buy those products, and that your shopping cart system is easy to understand.  If you want to get people to contact you for more information, make it as easy as possible for them to do that...maybe ask for their contact information in more than one place, and give them options, email or phone, so they can choose what they're most comfortable with.  Ideally, if you want their information, you may want to think of something free to offer them in return, or at least a chance to win something free. 

*Make sure to include basic pages that visitors expect, such as the main page, About Us, Contact Us, etc. 

*Use high quality pictures to make the site come alive. 

*For more help with making a website really work for you, please contact Globalink for help with website marketing.  Globalink offers a variety of options for personalized web marketing services, and can help your small or large businesses accomplish your goals for your site.