What Type of Web Site Do You Need?
Nothing to be how to beginning, planning web design for personal or commerce.

Not every business needs an online store. But even if e-commerce isn't part of your business plan, there are plenty of other ways to use the Web to grow your business.

Like the name suggests, this type of Web site exists to promote your business and to educate customers about your products and services. You can use your Web site to publish background information about your business, provide customer references and testimonials, link to media coverage related to your business or simply cover the latest news about your company's products and services.

Brochure sites don't have to be especially large or complex; in some cases, a single page with a few paragraphs of text and a couple of images will do. But you should always keep the site as up to date as possible. A stale, outdated Web site will reflect poorly on your business and discourage potential customers.

When you advertise your business in other media, such as newspapers, television or the local Yellow Pages, be sure to include your Web site address. This is a great way to keep customers up to date on the latest news about your business and provide additional information to potential customers.

The question isn't whether you can build your site in house, it's whether you should. It's easy enough to master the Web development basics - a few hours with an HTML book or a Web authoring software tool is all you need. In fact, most Web sites, including any number of business sites, are do-it-yourself projects.

As businesses raise the bar on what makes a "good" Web site, however, home-grown efforts are becoming both more complex and more expensive. A no-frills Web site requires some knowledge of HTML, graphic design and perhaps a bit of scripting. More advanced sites require skilled programmers, multimedia developers, user interface designers and even database administrators. If you want a full-scale online store - the top of the Web commerce totem pole - you may need some heavy-duty programming, design and systems integration experts to do the job.

When you think about building your own Web site, consider what it will take to keep your site running. Can you afford a full-time database administrator to maintain your online catalog? Will any of your employees know how to create additional graphics and images for your Web site? Many sites cost as much to maintain during the first year as they do to build - are you prepared to invest in the staff to handle the job yourself?

Generally protect, copyright is a form of ownership that applies to the text, graphics, design and other content on your Web site. As long as you have an ownership claim on all of the content on your Web site, you also automatically hold a copyright on that content. You don't have to register your copyright with the government to protect it, although doing so is necessary to take legal action against others who violate your copyright.