There are many tools available online that will assist you in quickly building your own small business website. Whether you want to sell merchandise from a shopping site or just have a site that shows your services, finding an easy way to make a website can be more difficult than actually making the site.

Before You Begin

Research the style of website you would want for your business by viewing competitor sites. Know what you are up against and know how customers feel about your competition, and use that information to your advantage.

Make a list of relevant "keywords" (searched words) that you think will bring customers to your site. Knowing what keywords will work in advance will help you when you create the site, and this will help your site rank higher in the search engines when the keywords are typed.

Gather any company information you want on your site. You can always add more later, but put up as much content as you can when the site is launched.

Take or find pictures of any inventory you would like to sell online. Write out information about each item, including the amount you would like to sell it for.

Site-Building Templates

For a fee, you can build a web-store with marketing sites such as yahoo, amazon and ebay in just a few simple steps. These sites are beneficial in that they help market your site with keywords in their own internal engines, they can give you anti-fraud protection, and they let you use their payment system.

Designing Your Site

After signing up for an account with one of these web-stores, you will be able to browse through several templates that marketing designers have created for small businesses. Make sure your design template has a professional appearance and seems easy to navigate around the site. Keep any backgrounds simple and in light colors, and use one color for main text and one color for any subheads. Keep your site clear of any extra or distracting ads, which will get in the way of your message.

They will give you step-by-step instructions on where to enter information about yourself, your services and your store. Give concise messages with relevant content. Do not add any extra words where they are not necessary. Give the location of the store, how things are shipped to the customer and any other relevant information about your business. Keep things simple and neat.

Uploading Inventory

After designing the look of your site and entering your company information, you can upload pictures of your inventory to sell. Place items together in a way that makes sense. For example, if you are selling stationary, make sure the matching envelopes are easy to find. Make purchasing easy for your customer, as it may encourage them to come back to you.

Changing Your Domain Address

Some web-stores give you the option of changing your domain address to something more relevant that your customers will remember. If the web-store does not offer domain names to you, you may need to purchase one from a domain store. Find one that is easily remembered and has to do with your company or what you sell.

Advertise your website online, in newspapers and by word of mouth. Your keywords will help search engines direct traffic to your site, but more can be done through referrals.