Small Business Design Resources

How to Start a Website

I get many questions from small business owners asking about website basics. So much of what is written seems to be written by those, and for those, who already know what they are doing when it comes to having a business website. So let’s take a step back and review a few basics, because I know from talking to small business owners that there are many of you who will appreciate this information.

The two must have things to having a website live on the Internet for everyone to see are a domain name and a hosting account. Let me explain what those are and pointers on few other things that are needed to get your website online:

1. Domain Names
   A domain name is what you call your website. It is also referred to as an address or a URL. This is what the user will type in the browser to find your business. You must use a unique domain name that no-one else is using. The Internet is built using many large computers, called servers that know how to talk to each other using special addresses, called an Internet Protocol addresses or IP addresses. When you create a name like MyBusiness.com you need to register the domain name so that:
   • No-one else can use it
   • The internet servers will know how to find it by assigning an IP address to it

There are many organizations that will register the domain name for you, but we use and recommend startlogic.com.

2. Domain Name Extensions

By convention, a .com address is a commercial business and is the most widely used in the world. Other conventions used in the U.S. are .edu for educational facility, such as a university, .org for an organization such as not-for-profit organizations, and .gov used by government websites. After .com, .net and .org are the most memorable extensions. Different countries use different conventions, generally used to indicate their country. For example check out www.google.ca (Canada’s Google), www.google.com.mx for Mexico’s Google, and www.google.co.uk for the United Kingdom’s Google.

3. Hosting a Website

Some organizations only give you the name – they don’t give you a space for your website. Lets compare this to a P.O. Box. When you just get a domain name it’s like getting a P.O. Box address, you can’t actually move your stuff in there. The whole purpose to have a business website is to attract visitors to your products/services, for this hosting is required. Some companies will both register your domain name and host your website. However, domain and hosting providers can be different for one site. Again we use and recommend startlogic.com for your website hosting needs.

4. Building a website

Registering a domain name and signing up with a hosting provider does not necessarily mean you have a website live online. What you have is a space for your website to live online. Let’s take an example of a physical retail store. To have an actual brick and mortar retail store, you need to lease a space, so once you sign your lease you can move in your products and organize your store. Same goes for a website, domain name is your address, hosting is your space and now you need to build a website for your customers to view your products/services. There are two ways to build your business website. You can learn how to build your own or have a professional web designer do it for you. Building your own is the most cost effective way to put up a website but it means you have to spend time to learn something about building and maintaining it, that means taking you away from your business duties. Having a professional web designer create your website will assure you that your website is built right, user friendly and free you to work on your business.

5. Working with Design Leap

Choosing Design Leap to build your business website means you have a one-on-one relationship with a professional designer to guide you and answer all your questions while developing a business website that is targeting your ideal customers. This is the way to go if you’re looking to save time and money in the long run.

Ins and Outs of Website Policies

In this post Jor Law, Esq. from www.homeierlaw.com examines the legal requirements when designing a website.

Exciting news…your brand-new website design looks great and it’s ready to go live. You’ve even got that fancy copyright statement on the bottom like all the other websites do. But wait. Many other sites have disclaimers, terms of use, and/or privacy policies. Do you need to have them? Should you have them? Why or why not?

Generally speaking, there is no legal requirement in California to have any disclaimers or site policies on a website. That shouldn’t be confused with other laws which may require protection of confidential collection collected. For example, if a doctor must keep certain client information he or she collects confidential, the fact that such information is collected through a website without a privacy policy does not mean that the doctor no longer has the obligation to keep that information confidential.’

Nevertheless, there are good reasons for having website policies. Terms of use policies can contain important disclaimers and other provisions that help govern the use of your website. What a terms of use policy contains could vary drastically depending on what information is on your website and what website functions are offered. For example, if your website has social networking elements or content contributed by users, you may want to include a disclaimer providing that each person is responsible for the content that they contribute and that you do not review, endorse, or necessarily approve of their content. You may want to reserve the right to remove content that is offensive. If you are providing your own content, you may want to let your users know that, while they have a license to view your content, they may not reproduce it, distribute it, or otherwise use the content in any other way without your prior written consent. Generally speaking, from a legal point of view, a well-drafted terms of use policy serves to benefit you as it generally sets forth conditions of use, various disclaimers, and other language protecting you as the website operator or owner.

A privacy policy, on the other hand, tends to exist for the benefit of the visitors to the website. Without a formal privacy policy, you would be held accountable to the privacy laws anyway. A formal privacy policy typically sets forth items such as how you will collect information, what information you will collect, and how you will or will not use the information you collect. If your privacy policy sets forth certain standards outlining how you will handle information collected on your website, then the expectation is that you will be held to those standards. Obviously, the standards set forth in a privacy policy must be as stringent as those required by law. What that means is that if you have privacy policies that are more stringent than would otherwise be required by law, you have held yourself accountable to that higher level of conduct. Despite this, many websites have privacy policies because the perception is that visitors to a website feel more comfortable divulging their information if there is there is a clear privacy policy.

It is highly advisable that you consult an experienced corporate technology attorney if you seek advice regarding what sort of policies may be appropriate for your website. For those on a budget, an online search will turn up a plethora of terms of use and privacy policies. However, be careful when copying another website’s policies. Aside from possible copyright infringement, the policy that you copy may be tailored to a specific jurisdiction or the unique requirements of that website.

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Jor Law, Esq. is a business and corporate attorney and a founding shareholder of Homeier & Law, P.C. He can be reached at (818) 450-1550 x552 or through www.homeierlaw.com Copyright © 2009. All Rights Reserved. May not be duplicated, reprinted, or distributed in any form without permission by the author.

How do I change my domain DNS record?

Specific steps on how to change your domain DNS record varies from one provider to another, but basically all you have to do is ask your hosting provider for their DNS which will look something like this:

Primary Nameserver: ns1.hostingcompany.com

Secondary Nameserver: ns2.hostingcompany.com

Then you will need to go to your domain registrar (the place where you purchased your domain) and look for DNS change or something similar to this in the control panel. Some companies won’t let you do it through your control panel, so you would have to contact them and give them the new DNS names.

It’s important to remember that the actual update might take anywhere from 24-48 hours to change.

Quick Tip: Domain and Hosting providers can be different for one site

Once you’ve registered a domain name for example with Godaddy.com, you’re not obligated to purchase their hosting services for your website.

You are free to choose another hosting provider for your website and all you would need to do is change the DNS (Domain Name System) settings on your domain name to direct to your hosting provider. Find out more about DNS.

Let a Professional Design your Business Logo

It’s a fact that as a small business owner you wear many hats, especially when you’re first starting out. So on top of everything else that you do for your small business, you’ve decided to create your own logo. It’s clear that you understand that your small business needs an identity so people everywhere begin to recognize your name and want to do business with you. But do you really want to jeopardize your business reputation and begin the logo design process on your own? Unless you’re a professional graphic designer you have no expertise in the logo design, nor have any clue where to start, so why would you bother.

Trying to do logo design on your own
I understand you might be thinking that to hire a graphic designer is expensive and your small business budge can’t afford that. It really isn’t expensive if you think the value that a professional can bring to your business image in the long run. Let’s say for example you’re an excellent hair stylist, you have your own salon but you don’t have a logo that separates your salon from all the other salons in your area. You decide to sit down one night and take a stab in creating your own logo. You have an idea in mind so you open up your Microsoft Word and you start trying all the available fonts and clip art that come with that program. The result, a generic look with outdated clip art. The problem here is that you’re good at what you do but you clearly can’t specialize in everything. You don’t even have professional programs that a graphic designer would use to create your logo design. Imagine if I tried to cut my own hair, I would look like a mess.

Working together with your graphic designer
As a small business owner you’re always full of ideas and know your business better than anyone else. Here are a few pointers in how to work together with your graphic designer to help create your ideal image:

• explain what you’re envisioning
• provide a list of colors you like and also the colors that you absolutely would not want to see used
• let her know if you would like to have an icon, just a logo type or both
• where will your logo be used? Only on paper and web or may be also on clothes tags or anywhere else
• provide examples of other company logos that you were attracted to
• provide a list of few of your competitors
• always give us much information about your business as possible, including your target audience and geographic location that you’re targeting or anything else that might help to understand your business better

Remember, you want your business to be successful so don’t ruin your image by doing your own logo design.