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Selecting and integrated solution for your Web site An integrated solution involves using the tools provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), Web hosting service, or online mall to develop your Web site. Below you will find examples of how to use the software tools provided by Max Pages, AOL Personal Publisher, MindSpring Web Creator and Amazon.com zShops. All of these alternatives are best suited for quickly setting up your home page, getting your brochure on the Web, or trying to sell some of your products online. However, none of these alternatives give you the flexibility most professionals require to develop Web sites. If you are brand new to the online world, then you should definitely try a few of these solutions to see if they meet your immediate needs. Once you need more flexibility, or powerful programming solutions, then its time to investigate some the off-the-shelf software packages. Trying a free service like Max Pages Max Pages is a free service that gives you a quick and easy way to get your business online in less than an hour (minutes according to their home page). After you have finished designing your site it will have a name like http://maxpages.com/yourbiz. If you don't already have a Web site, you should definitely try Max Pages or one of the other free services shown in the following table:
Using your ISP tools to create a Web site Most ISPs, like AOL, MindSpring and Earthlink, give their subscribers a way to create Web sites for no additional charge. For instance, if you subscribe to AOL, then you can use its Personal Publisher service to create a home page or simple Web site. As with the free services shown above, the software tools provided by your ISP should be easy to use, and you can set your site up in under an hour. The main limitations of these services are that your disk space will be limited (2MB for AOL), and your Web address will contain the name of your ISP (http://members.aol.com/yourbiz/index.html). Choosing an online mall for your online business There are a growing number of online malls that give you the capability to quickly set-up shop on the Internet. Although your design capabilities will be limited with these services, they do offer the e-commerce benefits of shopping cart technology and credit card processing.
In order to create your store with these online mall services, click on a link shown in the table, select Create Store on their home page, and then follow the onscreen directions. Another alternative that is similar to these online malls, are the online auctions like eBay. In fact, Amazon.com will let you place items in both their online auction and zShops for the same price. Using the software provided by your Web host If you want a full featured Web site, with lots of disk space and your own personal domain name (www.yourbiz.com), then you will need to sign-up for a Web hosting plan. This can either be with your ISP, like Earthlink, or with a separate company, like Verio (see the chapter on Web hosting for a complete description of these services). Most Web hosting services give you the capability of publishing a Web site with either an off-the-shelf software package, or with a set of their integrated design tools. For instance, if MindSpring is your Web host, then you can either create a Web site with Microsoft FrontPage, or use their MindSpring Web Creator design tools. Some popular Web hosting services are shown in the following table.
Additionally, with a Web host, you will have an option of setting up an online store and adding e-commerce capabilities that are not available with a free service like Max Pages, or with your ISP's publishing tools.
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