How to get started selling online

Running a business website is almost like running an entirely seperate business from whatever it is most people do. From plumbers to restaurants, accounting and health care, every business owner, large or small, needs to have an internet presence.

What can a website do for your business?

A business website can be a simple online business card with hours of operation, contact information and directions.  It can also be an online portfolio of your work, whether it is an artistic painting or a painting portfolio of some apartments or houses you've painted.

How to collect payment on your website.

A website can be setup to accept payments for free using either Paypal or Google checkout. There are many other payment solutions, however unless you are going to setup an online merchant account, your best bet is to use Paypal or Google because they are tried, tested and familiar to most people.

Google and Paypal provide applications for creating carts or payment buttons that you can place on your website.

For more advanced payment integrations, such as Authorize.net, Paypal Pro or other payment gateway a content management system is recommended.

Get started with your new website FREE

You can download a free website template and get started selling online today. These free website templates can be easily edited in notepad or other basic text editors (do not use MS Word). After changing the text you can upload the files to any standard web hosting solution.

Do you need web hosting? You can sign up for free web hosting for 1 year ($8.00 per month afterwards) or pay $60 and get web hosting for 1 year ($5 per month) with template upload from our affiliates at LocalStretch.com.

Do you need a domain name? Take advantage of discounts from Godaddy and other popular website domain registration companies.

Need a more professional solution?

Get a quote for custom ecommerce web design. Our project managers can help you put together the right solutions at the right price.