A website thats uniquely yours
There are a number of very good online website builders that come with ready-made templates for a professional-looking website and a host of available features like eCommerce capability. Here are the top four:
WIX is an online website-builder and web-hosting service that allows you to create websites and mobile sites through online drag-and-drop tools. With thousands of professional templates to choose from, you can build a beautiful website absolutely free of charge; however, you must purchase one of their premium packages in order to connect and host your site using your own domain(s) as well as add some of their other premium functionalities like e-commerce capabilities, extra data storage and bandwidth, etc. It’s easy to use and there are no special skills required.
Weebly is a free web-hosting service featuring an easy drag-and-drop website builder. Its simple widget-based site builder operates in your web browser and also automatically generates a mobile version of each website. No special programming or design skills are required and like WIX, the use of their templates and website builder tools are free. They do however, offer premium packages that allow you to add more features and your own domain. Weebly’s most advance package allows you to have a fully-integrated eCommerce website.
Square Space is a website builder, blogging platform, online store and hosting service. It gives you all you need to create, host and maintain your mobile-friendly website, store and/or blog. Every template is equipped with eCommerce features like shoppable product galleries, website metrics, and more — all without a single plug-in. You can set up a free trial. They don’t collect your credit card until you’ve determined Squarespace is the right product for you. After that, you can choose from an affordable personal or business solution.
Shopify is different than the website solutions above. It is a complete and powerful ecommerce solution that allows you to set up an online store. It lets you organize your products, customize your storefront, accept credit card payments and track and respond to orders. It is mainly an online store platform but technically, it does serve as an online website builder as well. Being web-based means there’s no installation required and Shopify does the hosting, maintenance and updates so you can concentrate on your business. It shares many of the same features and controls as the website builders but its focus and strength is in its eCommerce capabilities and tools. Like the others, you can set up your store and not pay until you are ready to launch.
DOMAINS
A domain name is your unique name on the internet, it locates your organization on the web. Your domain name is unique to you; once you have registered it, nobody else can register the same name.
Choosing the right domain name goes hand in hand with choosing the right domain provider to represent your company. There are a number of companies which sell domain names to the public, below are a few of our favorites.
NameCheap.com is a domain provider located in Los Angeles, providing domain names, privacy protection, security certificates, and web hosting. With over 3 million domain names under management.
GoDaddy.com is a domain provider offering domain registration, web hosting, and security certificates. Godaddy holds roughly 61 million domain names under management making it the largest registrar. It serves more then 13 million customers and has more than 4,000 employees.
Hover.com is strictly for domain registration. Hover is a division of Tucows Incorporated, the third largest registrar in the world. Tucows manages over 10 million domain names.