This is the first night of a set of training I did for residents of Rogers Park in January 2006.

1. Devcorp North
Websites for Small Businesses
1

2. Welcome
• Introductions
• Background
• Expectations
• Goals
2

3. What We’ll Accomplish
• Web Host
• Email
• Website
• Web Tools
• In short: A Web Life
3

4. Web Hosting
• Find the right web host for you
• Learn about the features and lingo of web
hosting
• Evaluate various plans and choose the
right one for you
4

5. Web Design
• Use inexpensive web publishing tools
• Build an easy-to-use website in
• Learn the basics of HTML and CSS
5

6. Email, Marketing, and Search
Engine Optimization
• Set up email accounts
• Learn tips for using the internet to find
customers
• Create compelling content that appeals to
search engines
6

7. Web Publishing &
Maintenance
• Stay on top of new tools you use to
improve your site cheaply
• Learn about e-commerce and other
advanced techniques
• How to buy your own URL
7

8. Methodology
• 3 weeks
• Cover each of the 4 main areas
• At first in a shallow/ sign-up/ get-feet-wet
fashion
• Then each time deeper and learning more;
optimizing and expanding
8

9. Success for Tonight
• Learn how to sign up for services
• Obtain a domain name
• Obtain a web host
• Sign up for Gmail www.gmail.com
• Get to know each other
• Give me a detailed idea of your overall
goals for end of our three weeks
9

10. Learn how to sign up for
services
• Quickly
• With minimum information
• Use the HELP button
• Size up a service quickly
10

11. Obtain a domain name
• www.godaddy.com
• Cheapest ($8/
year)
• Easiest to use
(domain mapping,
DNS management,
etc.)
11

12. Detailed Instructions
• Choose DOMAINS > Register New
• Enter Domain Name you want and click
SEARCH
• Choose the domain you want and click
CONTINUE
• Complete account form
• Careful-- they try to sell you a lot of stuff you
don’t need-- just keep clicking through
12

13. Obtain a web host
• Which one?
Depends on your
needs
• Ehostpros is very
inexpensive and
powerful
• Perhaps we could
pool resources?
• Let’s talk
13

14. Obtain a web host?
• Other options:
• Yahoo Geocities
• Free webspace like
Blogger
• Maybe no website at all
• Again, the purpose of
tonight is to hash through
all of this
• There are many
approaches
14

15. Why GMail?
• Good for the beginner
(easy to use, lots of
space, gateway to other
features)
• Good for the advanced
users (manage multiple
email accounts, maintain
email groups, etc.)
15

16. One-on-one Discussions
• Let’s spend our remaining time together developing a
detailed, custom plan for you
• What you’ll have at the end of this course
• It may include phone or email conversations this week,
so as not to waste other people’s time (one of me,
many of you)
• But I think we can get a lot done in very short
discussion bursts
16

17. Next Week
• More detail on everything
• Managing a web host
• Managing a web life
• Better email
• Better searching
• Better file management
17

18. On Your Own
• Customize your Google homepage
 http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en
• Download Yahoo! Toolbar
 http://toolbar.yahoo.com/
• Download Google Desktop
 http://desktop.google.com/
18