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Why take your small business online? You can't afford not to. That's the simple answer and it's the truth from now until whatever euphemism you'd like to use here. Twenty years ago, you would have been an idiot not to have your business in the phone book right? Welcome to today.

Let's continue keeping it simple, shall we? Taking your business online is not a big a deal as you might think. It's also not as costly as you may expect. For most small businesses, what you're looking for online is "presence." It's the one party you cannot afford to miss. These days, the first place people look for anything is online. I don't even have a phone book in my house. As soon as that big yellow behemoth shows up on my front step, it's into the recycling bin, and good riddance too. I can find things much more quickly and with more relevance online. More and more, people like me are not the exception, but the norm. So get that business online. It's not hard and here are some quick tips to get you started.

1. Keep it simple and easy. On that tack, you should choose a hosting company that offers you everything in one neat package with a little bow on top. The simplest of these are GoDaddy and 1and1. Both of these will allow you to find a domain name, host it, and provide you with all kinds of tools to build your site and market it. Both will also give you some free marketing cash to spend on advertising with Google and Microsoft's ad properties.

2. In building your site, be sure to BLOG. This is so important these days. You love your business and you love what you do, so write about it on your site. This keeps your site relevant and also shows your visitors that you are a company that cares about what it does enough to keep a site updated with fresh content. Some site builders have Blog features right in them. If not, you can easily start a free Blog at Blogger.com and link it to your site.

3. Don't cover your site with crap. I know, strong words, but they need to be heard. Your site represents you and your business and it should do so artfully and professionally. Don't slap every free widget you find on your site. You'll just irritate your visitors and slow down your website. Those widgets also play havoc with search engines.

Keep it simple. It can't be stressed enough. Look at sites that you like that are within your industry and figure out what you like about them. Chances are, some of the simplest sites will be at the top of your list.

Learn more about this author, Michael Westmont.
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