Boost your small business with a Web site

Do you think that only big business benefits from having a Web site?

Try again. A Web site can also boost a service-oriented small business' bottom-line.

I recently received an e-mail from an upholsterer. He owns a small shop in New York. His two questions about getting his business on the Internet cover basic issues.

1. How do I make a site?

You can do the design work and coding yourself. You can work off of templates. Or, you can hire someone.

You'll need an attractive home page with simple navigation. Basic information should be posted online, such as services offered and pricing. Let customers complete forms to request more information.

Think of your customers' most common questions. Try to answer them.

Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo! and others offer packages for small businesses.

Starting around $12 monthly, you get hosting, a domain name and access to site-building tools. This is ideal if you're too busy to learn HTML and can't afford a designer.

These site-building tools are professional-looking templates. You can use them as they are or you can customize them easily. You can also add a store to sell products online.

You also can hire a designer. Some companies will both design and host your site. Three such are Web.com, Homestead.com and NetworkSolutions.com. There are many more.

Ask around for recommendations. Too many Web designers promise the moon, but deliver much less.

You need a contract. Specify costs and delivery dates. Make sure that you own the entire site and its code. If the developer keeps control, you may have to pay for every change.

Include your telephone number and address on the site. Also, include your e-mail address. To avoid spammers getting that, use a Javascript obfuscator. I have an explanation of that on my site.

Creating a site is more difficult if you do it yourself. I don't mean to discourage that; it's actually very interesting. But if you own a small business, you may not have the time.

You can really go overboard with expensive Web-development programs. They have lots of capabilities, and huge learning curves. There are free, simpler programs available. Nvu and Amaya are two programs to get you started. *