Free website for small business
June 10, 2009 1:10 PM Subscribe
What are the different ways that I can get a free website for my small business?
Would you give away whatever your business does for free? Then you shouldn't expect someone else to, either.
However.
You could offer to exchange whatever goods (material or otherwise) your business sells with someone who can do a website.
Or you could visit your local college campus and put up a flier asking for student work at a cheaper rate.
posted by nitsuj at 1:13 PM on June 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
However.
You could offer to exchange whatever goods (material or otherwise) your business sells with someone who can do a website.
Or you could visit your local college campus and put up a flier asking for student work at a cheaper rate.
posted by nitsuj at 1:13 PM on June 10, 2009 [1 favorite]
Barter your small businesses goods and/or services. Anything else will scream "Free Website!".
posted by unixrat at 1:13 PM on June 10, 2009
posted by unixrat at 1:13 PM on June 10, 2009
There's Google Sites (though I agree that a professionally designed and hosted site is better for most businesses).
posted by mbrubeck at 1:14 PM on June 10, 2009
posted by mbrubeck at 1:14 PM on June 10, 2009
This question is hard to answer with more details (what do you mean by free website? Do you need someone to design it and host it? What kind of information do you want to put on your site? How much web development experience do you have? etc.), however:
If you're a non-profit you can get free web hosting with Dreamhost.
There are also several free blogging hosts--you would just have to play with templates and such to make the site look and function the way you want it.
posted by Kimberly at 1:20 PM on June 10, 2009
If you're a non-profit you can get free web hosting with Dreamhost.
There are also several free blogging hosts--you would just have to play with templates and such to make the site look and function the way you want it.
posted by Kimberly at 1:20 PM on June 10, 2009
Good quality hosting is dirt cheap at places like Dreamhost -- less than $10 a month. The website might very well be the backbone of your business, so my recommendation is not to leave hosting or domain name ownership to the whims and good graces of others. And I say this as a small business owner.
posted by crapmatic at 1:31 PM on June 10, 2009
posted by crapmatic at 1:31 PM on June 10, 2009
It might also help to know your level of experience in making a website and what kind of business you're in. Having reasonable expectations about what your website can offer is important.
Run a coffee shop? Great, make sure events and specials are posted, but don't expect to compete in the shipping beans category.
Wanting to sell widgets, different game, different requirements.
A church? Events, and inspirational messages.
An online community? Forums and a blog.
There's a big difference between free hosted and free designed, and both come with their drawbacks. Almost all the "free" hosts introduce ads on your site, and get a lower google rank.
And free design means your aunt's friend's son probably did it. You really do get what you pay for.
Some of the above sites can be totally static, other require web technologies and a database backend. More info, please.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:59 PM on June 10, 2009
Run a coffee shop? Great, make sure events and specials are posted, but don't expect to compete in the shipping beans category.
Wanting to sell widgets, different game, different requirements.
A church? Events, and inspirational messages.
An online community? Forums and a blog.
There's a big difference between free hosted and free designed, and both come with their drawbacks. Almost all the "free" hosts introduce ads on your site, and get a lower google rank.
And free design means your aunt's friend's son probably did it. You really do get what you pay for.
Some of the above sites can be totally static, other require web technologies and a database backend. More info, please.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:59 PM on June 10, 2009
Depends what you want. Basic 'Intro', 'Products/Services', 'About'. Or, logins, shopping cart, dynamic 'web 2.0' content, etc. nth'ing that more info is needed. And who is going to write the content. Coders aren't marketers, we don't know your business, and I've found that small business owners are too busy trying to pay the bills to provide the content themselves.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 2:02 PM on June 10, 2009
posted by hungrysquirrels at 2:02 PM on June 10, 2009
There are a lot of people here, myself included, who build websites for a living, so you're going to catch a certain amount of snark for asking how to cut us out of the process...
That said, it can be done, though it may or may not be a good idea depending on your business and what you need from a website.
Saying "I need a website! What are the options?" is a little bit like saying "I need a house!" or "I need a car! What are the options?" Your first step has to be to sort out why you need a website, how you expect it to benefit your business, and what you need it to do.
It's possible to build yourself a purely informational site on a hosted blog service, for example, or to sell things online using yahoo stores or shopify or the like. There's some risk of looking fly-by-night by going this route, partly because the free-hosting nature of the site will be obvious to visitors, and partly because (since you presumably don't have a lot of experience building websites) you're likely to do a lot of things badly when building it. But, yes, it can be done.
We could better narrow it down if you provide more details, though.
posted by ook at 3:14 PM on June 10, 2009
That said, it can be done, though it may or may not be a good idea depending on your business and what you need from a website.
Saying "I need a website! What are the options?" is a little bit like saying "I need a house!" or "I need a car! What are the options?" Your first step has to be to sort out why you need a website, how you expect it to benefit your business, and what you need it to do.
It's possible to build yourself a purely informational site on a hosted blog service, for example, or to sell things online using yahoo stores or shopify or the like. There's some risk of looking fly-by-night by going this route, partly because the free-hosting nature of the site will be obvious to visitors, and partly because (since you presumably don't have a lot of experience building websites) you're likely to do a lot of things badly when building it. But, yes, it can be done.
We could better narrow it down if you provide more details, though.
posted by ook at 3:14 PM on June 10, 2009
Bartering would probably be your best bet. I'm a web designer, and also in need of someone to do a rather large paint job - so if I can find a painting company that is in need of a website, maybe there'd be some room for a trade.
posted by backwards guitar at 6:12 PM on June 10, 2009
posted by backwards guitar at 6:12 PM on June 10, 2009
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