Setting Up an Online Business

For business owners who want to set up a business online, there are several steps that they have to go through.

1... Design and create a website:
Some companies hire someone to design and create their website, others do it themselves.
A very popular way to create a website is to use Dreamweaver software.



2... Register your domain name:

If you started a business called AMAZING COMPUTERS then you would probably want your online address to be www.amazingcomputers.com.
This address is called a domain name and you have to pay in order to have it.
Some domain names are already taken so you have to make sure to do a thorough search to see if the domain name that you want is still available.



3... Find a web hosting provider:
When you create a website, the website files have to atually "live" somewhere so that everyone can access them and see them. This is called hosting.
You usually have to pay a company to host your website.
Once you have created your site on yr computer to upload the files to the hosting site and then everyone can see them online.

You can search and buy domain names, as well as host your site, from these companies: GoDaddy.com and hostpapa.com.

4... Set up a payment gateway:
A payment gateway is a way for payments to be processes. This includes taking in the credit card, checking it with banks and moving money from customers accounts to store accounts. Usually online businesses don't create their own payment gateway, this would take too long and be too complex. Instead they use other payment gateways that already exist and they integrate them into their online business.

Some payment gateways that are used by online businesses include: paypal.com and moneris.com.



Alternatives to setting up and running your own website:
There are alternatives to all of these steps.
Some businesses use facebook or other methods to set up an online presence.
Facebook allows business to set up a "Business Facebook Profile". By doing this, the business owner doesn't have to do domain registration or find a web hosting provider.
Unfortunately, facebook doesn't have a way for a business to sell it's good online... yet. But they might in the future.

Further questions...
1. What are some advantages and some disadvantages to a business creating their own website instead of having someone do it for them?