There are many people out there who want to start a work at home business, but they need to build a website and they either don’t know where to start, or they think they can’t afford it.  It’s a myth that you need a lot of money to start a home business website.    Sure, you can pay to have one built for you, but you will find that you will want to make changes to it and you need to have the flexibility to do this yourself, otherwise you will also have to pay for modifications. 

The first thing you have to do is choose a domain name.  When it comes to domain names; size does matter.  I made the mistake of picking a long name with a lot of dashes in it.  This is not recommended.  Try to pick something short and memorable.  It’s also a good idea to have the name of the product you are selling or promoting in your name.  Spend some time brainstorming before you decide.  You’ll be glad that you did. 

You’ll also need a web hosting service provider.  This is the company that stores the files of your website on a computer that allows Internet users to view it.  You can usually acquire web hosting services for less than $10 per month.  It is better to find a service with a fixed rate, because websites usually grow and require more storage space.  For example, I use IPower, because they charge me the same rate no matter how much storage space I need. 

It really isn’t that hard to learn to how to build a website.  You would be amazed at how easy itis once you get started.  There are really two approaches to building a website:

 Starting From Scratch

 Starting With a Template

 When I started my Work At Home Directory website, I built my own site using a simple template.  There are many companies on the Internet with free or inexpensive templates.  I’ve seen them as low as $25 - $65.   I decided to use Microsoft Frontpage as my HTML editor, because I was already familiar with some other Microsoft software products and I thought it would make the transition easier.  Many of the HTML editors out there allow you to either use their editor, or to make changes to the code directly.  After I got started, I found that I did a little of both.   

There are two things I would recommend when starting to build your site.  Get yourself a book on the subject, such as HTML for Dummies, and find someone that knows HTML, who can help you when you get stuck.  When I started my website, my 15 year old daughter was a big help to me.  She taught herself HTML when she built a Neopets website at the age of 13.  I figured if she could do it at 13, I so can I.

 There are a lot of teenagers and college kids with basic computer experience who can help you.  If you don’t know anyone, put up an ad at your local college saying that you will pay $10 per hour for someone with HTML experience who can help you set up your website.   Paying someone $100 or $200 to help you, is a lot cheaper than paying $1,000s for someone else to build a website, that you don’t know how to make changes to.

After you learn HTML, you can be proud of yourself, because you will have learned a skill that can help you advertise your home business, so you can earn money at home.

Eileen Childs is a mother of two living in Virginia. She had twenty years experience working in a corporate environment when she decided to start a work at home business. http://www.best-work-at-home-directory.com