If you are a small brick and mortar business operating in a small community, you may not realize that you have the ability to market beyond the customary word-of-mouth or local phone book listing. Many small businesses rely on local promotions, the referrals, and coupons to keep business running day-to-day. Others may have branched out to social media and believe that Facebook or Twitter is enough to keep business booming. However, this is not the best way to market your business. There is much more that can be done to get your brand out in front of people, and you can do so in a very short time without spending a fortune. Building a website is the first and foremost. But! Before you think of a dozen reasons why you don\u2019t want to build a website, let us explain a few reasons why you should.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Below are the top five excuses we often hear from small businesses on why they don\u2019t want to create a website, along with the evidence that the perfect time to build a website is right now:<\/span><\/p>\n If you have yet to own and operate your own website, it may seem like an expensive endeavor. However, owning a website is most likely cheaper than you think. Domains can be registered for less than $10 a year, and web hosting starts from as little as a few dollars a month. You can be the proud owner of a basic website for less than $100 per year.<\/span><\/p>\n Great news! Easy-to-use applications such as our Website Builder allow you to design a website with no technical experience necessary. Odds are that if you have navigated to this blog post, you have the skills and tools you need to create a website complete with images and contact information. You can add menus, portfolios, blogs, and contact us pages with just a few clicks. Simply drag and drop the content you want to appear on your screen, preview your creation, and press \u2018Publish\u2019. It really is that easy. If you prefer, our WordPress hosting is great for creating fully functional, aesthetically pleasing websites with the WordPress platform.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, don\u2019t get us wrong. Some websites can take a lot of time to create and maintain, but as a general rule, they don\u2019t have to. The magic of websites is that they can be as complex or as simple as you would like. For example, our new StarterSite comes free with every registered domain and helps you create a simple landing page in just 5 minutes. Yes, 5 minutes! However, if you are looking to build a multi-faceted website with multiple pages and functions, you can build that too!<\/span><\/p>\n For those who are not technically inclined, building a website can seem like a daunting task. However, advancing technologies have created simple tools that help beginners create beautiful websites without pain or frustration. At Midphase, we have a team of technical experts available day and night to help you with your toughest questions. Also, our knowledge base features articles on everything from domains to email to help you learn as you go.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In today\u2019s digital world, your business needs an online representation of your brand. There\u2019s really no way to avoid the internet any longer. Whether your customers are looking for a price, address, or phone number, they will go to the internet to find it. Not only do you need a space on the web, but you also need professional email and security along with it. Nobody takes a company seriously when they see @gmail or @yahoo attached to an email address. Besides, why shouldn\u2019t you take advantage of an ecommerce platform when possible? To keep customers\u2019 information and your information safe, you will need a secure platform that people trust. Luckily, Midphase offers website, domain, email, and security at one low price. There\u2019s no reason not to get started now!<\/span><\/p>\n Now that you know how easy and inexpensive it is to create your own website, you may be considering the idea. If so, good for you! It\u2019s a great idea. By building your own website you can take advantage of many benefits you would otherwise miss out on.<\/span><\/p>\n However, there are also a few downsides to building your own website. For example, you will need to invest quite a lot of your own time, and building a website can be frustrating if you don\u2019t have the right website builder. In this post, we have assembled a list of what you should look for before choosing a tool to build your website.<\/span><\/p>\n If you search the internet for \u201cwebsite builder\u201d you will quickly find dozens of tools all claiming to be the best. How do you know which to choose? There are a few popular options to consider like WordPress or a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), which is a tool that lets you drag and drop website elements onto your page.<\/span><\/p>\n WordPress currently supports 75 million websites and there are thousands of helpful videos, articles, and tools to help you create the perfect website. The WordPress platform is often not thought of for website building due to the platform\u2019s popularity as a blogging tool. However, WordPress can be used for just about any type of website from photograph portfolios to a fully equipped ecommerce website. WordPress is a very simple tool to use once you get the hang of it. However, there is a little bit of a learning curve. Luckily there are hundreds\u2013if not thousands\u2013of support resources available. So, make sure to gather resources and read up before you get started.<\/span> Our Website Builder is a favorite among Midphase customers. This impressive tool has everything you need to get online. It will only cost you a minimal fee and a few hours of your time. Simply add Website Builder to your shopping cart to add the service to your account. Once checkout is complete, pick a template from the collection and start adding your website information.<\/span> To be sure that you are choosing the best website builder tool, make sure that before confirming your purchase you see the following elements:<\/span><\/p>\n#1. Websites are too expensive.<\/span><\/h3>\n
#2. I don\u2019t want to hire a team to design a website.<\/span><\/h3>\n
#3. Websites take up too much time.<\/span><\/h3>\n
#4. I don\u2019t know anything about websites.<\/span><\/h3>\n
#5. My business is fine. I don\u2019t need a website.<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nWhat To Look For In A Website Builder<\/span><\/h2>\n
By building your own website you can:<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Website Builder Options<\/span><\/h2>\n
WordPress<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n
Join 25% of the websites in the world by creating a website with WordPress. The WordPress platform is different from Website Builder because it\u2019s a Content Management System (CMS) rather than a web application. However, this does not mean less functionality. In fact, it is quite the opposite. WordPress can be used to build your website as well as manage all of the content you add to it in the coming years. This includes blogs, newsrooms, knowledge bases and even ecommerce shops.<\/span>
An additional benefit of WordPress is the thousands of WordPress plugins available for use. If there is a feature or add-on you can think of, odds are that someone has used WordPress\u2019s open-source code to build a plugin for you. Also included in your WordPress website is Midphase\u2019s 24-hour support, professional email addresses, web hosting for your new website and automatic updates and website security. 75 million websites can\u2019t be wrong by choosing WordPress, so this package very likely has everything you need to publish your new website.<\/span><\/p>\nWebsite Builder<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n
Website Builder is the perfect tool for those who want to build their own website, but don\u2019t want to spend a lot of time learning a new platform. It is especially great for people who don\u2019t consider themselves to be very technical. Website Builder is a WYSIWYG tool that allows you to simply drag-and-drop the various website elements onto the page. There is even an ecommerce package that comes equipped with a shopping cart and payment portal.<\/span><\/p>\nImportant Builder Elements<\/h3>\n
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