Web site Basics – A Primer for

Hispanic Small Businesses

 Content
1) What is a Web site?

2) Why do I Need a Web site?

3) Hispanic Business Web site Examples

4) Web site Basics

 What to Include in your site
 Domain Name / Web Hosting

5) Options for Setting up a Web site

 Traditional Web site
• Design it Yourself
• Hire someone to do it for you
 Selling online
• Auctions (eBay)
• Online Storefronts

6) Experimenting with Free Web Pages

 What is a Web site?

 A Web site is a
communication tool
that allows people to
share information.
 For your business, it
can serve as an
electronic brochure
that is available 24
hours a day 7 days a
week!
 Why do I need a Web site?
What are the benefits?

 The main benefit of

having a Web site is
that your business
can be found by
anyone on the
internet.

 More people today

search for businesses
on the Internet than
use the Yellow Pages!
 Why do I need a Web site?
• The Internet is THE place where today’s
customers go to look for information.
• A Web site gives your businesses
visibility and credibility.
• Some Web sites can even be set up to
take orders while your store is closed!
 Why do I need a Web site?
 Regardless of your
business, you want to
be able to provide
enhanced customer
service that will give
you a competitive edge
in the market place.

 A Web site can give you

that competitive edge!
 Why do I need a Web site?
 Cost Savings For You

• Companies that provide services

(catering to individuals/businesses)
can benefit greatly by having their own
web-site.
 Provide information about what you do.
 Provide information about your experience.
 Save time answering questions!

• A Web site is one of the most cost-effective

forms of advertising.
 Why do I need a Web site?
 Reduction of printing costs can be realized
in many situations
 Brochures
 Newsletters
 Customer information sheets
 Hand outs

 Many of these items are given to

customers - but end up in a file or in the
garbage!
 Directing a customer to a link on your Web site
saves time, money and can be eco-friendly.
What can a Web site do for ME?

• A Web site can lead to…

 More customers

 Increased awareness of your business

• Both inside and outside of the local community!

 More credibility
• For today’s younger generation, having a Web site
means a business is “legitimate.”

 A reduction in marketing / advertising costs

 What type of information goes
on a Web site?
 Contact Information (phone
number, email)
 Business hours
 Background information
about your business
 Product / Service
Information
 Any information that may
be valuable to your
customer
• This enhances your image by
helping your clients to better
understand your business and to
allow potential customers to
make a more informed decision.
 Hispanic business Web
site examples
 Nuño Bros is a
market in Santa Ana,
CA that specializes in
beef products,
tortillas and specialty
tacos.

 Their Web site shows

lots of examples of
their meat and
produce, and also
provides a map of
their location.

http://www.nunobros.com/spanish/spnhome.htm
 Hispanic business Web
site examples
 Casa Ramirez is an art
gallery in Texas that
caters to clients who are
interested in purchasing
art.

 They specialize in the

Latino culture.

 They also cater to artists

who would like to display
their work in their
gallery.

http://cr.bjakub.com/index.html
Why is having a Web site important
for a Hispanic small business?
 As of February 2007, the Hispanic
online market was BIG: 16.3 million.
 The Hispanic online market has
sustained strong growth: more than 1.6 million
new users between February 2006 and February
2007.
 It has been classified as an “upscale, mass
market”: Online Hispanics are…
• More affluent
• More educated
• More acculturated than the aggregate Hispanic population
• This may indicate online Hispanics are more
prone to shop because they are economically
well-off.
 Web sites are often the point of 1st

contact for your business

 What kind of a first
impression do you want to
give?

 Often Web sites…

• have poor navigation
• overpower the actual message that is
trying to be delivered
• look as though they were created by an
amateur.

 A “bad” Web site will make

potential customers question
your business.
 What makes a poor first
impression?
 “Traditional” advertising:
• Forms that are photocopied to the point of un-readability
• Brochures that were obviously quickly created in black
and white and copied many times on standard copy
paper
• Business cards that have perforations around the edges

 Web sites:
• Poor quality pictures
• Links that don’t work
• Difficult to find information

This is not the image you want to

give to your customers.
 How the Web works

 The address you type in to get a

Web page is known as the URL
(Uniform Resource Locator).
• http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/magazine/

 The URL is composed of 3 parts

1) The Protocol
 http://

2) The Domain Name

 www.hispanicbusiness.com

3) The Pathname
 /magazine

A Web page is written in a special code called

HTML (hyper-text markup language)
 Web site Basics

 3 things you need:

1. An idea of what you want to include on
the site
2. A “domain name”
3. A “Web host”

• The Key Ingredient:

Someone who knows how to pull
all of these together!
 What to include in your site
 Home page
• Basic overview of
your business
 About us
(background
information)
 Product/service
Information
 Contact
information/maps
 Pictures!
 What else to include in your site

 What will your

customers want to see?

 Check out other sites on

similar topics!
• What do they have that you
like?
• What can you offer that they
don’t?
 Specials
 Coupons
 Testimonials
 Domain Name / Web Host

 The 2 things you will need to buy:

1. A DOMAIN NAME gets you the

www.mybusiness.com name
 Ex: www.toyota.com
 This is what people type in to find your Web site!

2. A WEB HOST gets you storage space to put

up your pictures/text describing your
business.
 Domain Name / Web Host
 Most sources today offer BOTH domain
names and Web Hosting:
• www.godaddy.com
• www.register.com 3 popular options
• www.networksolutions.com

 There are LOTS of resources on the

Internet, check around:
• www.webhostingratings.com (over 200 to choose from)
• Compare cost, data storage, visit some of their sites

 These sources will tell you which domain

names are / aren’t available
• This is important! Put some thought into your
domain name.
 Domain Name / Web Host

 COSTS
• Domain names: $10 - $35 / yr
 Most companies offer the same thing, very
little difference in service

• Web hosting: $50 - $200 / yr

 Offer different levels of service based on
storage size / data transfer
 For most small businesses, the “basic”
package is sufficient
Examples of Web Host Pricing
www.networksolutions.com/
 Web Host Examples

www.godaddy.com www.register.com
Options for setting up a Web site
 Traditional Web site
• Design it yourself
 Microsoft Word / PowerPoint / Other software
 Online Templates
• Have someone design it for you
 Selling online
• Auction Sites (Ebay)
• Online Storefronts (just selling items, no
information about company)
 Some sites offer packages for
ALL different options
 Web sites like www.netsol.com offer packages
that allow freedom on how you build your Web
site.
• Do It Yourself Web Site $9.95 per month with
an annual purchase
• Do It For Me Web Site $11.95 per month with
a $499 design fee (they will design, copywrite
and update your Web site)
• E-Commerce Web Site $49.95 per month with
a $49 set up fee (Sell online with no
transaction fees. Integration with PayPal® for
financial transactions included).
 Traditional Web site
 Design the site yourself
• Need to be familiar with the computer
• Need to purchase domain name
• Need to purchase Web host

 How do you design a Web site?

• Microsoft Word (or PowerPoint, Publisher)
• online Templates
 Don’t need too much computer knowledge for
this option
• Other software (Dreamweaver, Sharepoint)
 Takes a while to learn
 Building a Web site with
Microsoft Word
 Put in text, pictures, etc.
 File -> Save as-> Web page (Word basically converts to html)
 Save several pages and link them together
 Building a Web site with
Microsoft Word
 Make sure you save your “Home” page as
“index.htm”
• This ensures that this page opens when someone
browses to your site
 Building a Web site with
Microsoft Word
 Make a few pages (Home, Background, Products) and save
as Web pages
 Link them together
• Highlight words
• Insert: Hyperlink (A hyperlink is a section of content that is
clickable and brings you to another place, or performs some
action, when you click it)
• Can also link to other web pages
 Building a Web site with
Microsoft Word
 STILL REQUIRES purchasing a domain
name and Web host in order to upload
 Uploading instructions will be sent by Web
host
• Typically involve logging onto your account
and selecting which files are involved
• Most sites use FTP: File Transfer Protocol
 Similar to Windows Explorer: Click & Drag which files
you want to upload
 Building a Web site with
Microsoft Word
 Uploading Files Example:
• File Transfer Protocol as part of GoDaddy.com
 Building a Web site with
Microsoft Word

 Some helpful hints:

• Keep all files used (pictures, pages, any
logos) in the SAME FOLDER
• This will save a lot of time when you
“upload” your files to the Web host
 Online Templates

 Most sources offer templates so that

you can design your Web site with very
little computer knowledge.
 No need to know HTML or even
Microsoft – just choose and type what
you want to be on your site
 Online Template Examples
www.godaddy.com

 Choose a
theme
 Choose the
type of layout
you want
 Choose your
fonts
 Choose your
images
 Online Template Examples
www.smallbusiness.yahoo.com

 Choose a
design
 Choose the
type of layout
you want
 Personalize
 Choose your
pages / enter
text
 Do-It-Yourself Web site
Development Tools
Graphics Clip Art
Create a banner, logo or button with
free or fee online graphics generators

 3DTextMaker.com
 CoolText.com
 QuickBanner.com
 Dedicated Software Packages
• Most professional Web sites will be built with
“fancier” software packages:
– Microsoft Sharepoint Designer (~$150)
– Adobe Dreamweaver (~$420)
• These give much more control to the designer
and allow for more complex designs / features
 Cost Summary for a Traditional
Web site
 Design it yourself
• Domain Name: $10-$35/yr
• Web Host: $50-$200/yr
• Template: Free-$200
• Dedicated Software: $150- $450

 What about having someone else

build a site for you?
 Having Someone Else
Build Your Site
• Most people are NOT Web site designers
• Putting together a Web site that reflects
highly on your business requires a significant
amount of time and money
• Lots of businesses pay others to design Web
sites for them
– Can look at several different layouts / styles
– Review the Web site before it goes “live”
– They are probably more artistic than you!
• Costs
– Can be all over the place!
– Some ballpark estimates: $300 for a home page,
$100 for each additional page
 Having Someone Else
Build Your Site
• Who are you hiring?
– Evaluate sites they’ve worked on
– Speak to clients and see how they were to
work with
– Is it worth it to hire your nephew, cousin,
etc.? They can probably do the job fairly
cheaply, but will they be around when you
need to update the site TODAY?

• A good Web developer can save you

time and money – and headaches!
Options for setting up a Web site
 Traditional Web site
• Design it yourself 
 Microsoft Word / PowerPoint / Other software
 Online Templates
• Have someone design it for you
 Selling online
• Auction Sites (eBay)
• Online Storefronts (comprehensive Web site
/ e-commerce solution)
 Auction Sites
 If you are only selling 5-10 items, auctions
are a good choice!
 Participants bid for products and services
over the Internet.
 eBay, the world's largest online auction
site, is a great example of online
auctioning.
• Allows you to place your item up for bid
• You provide pictures / description (need a
digital camera!)
• People from all over the world can bid
• When it sells, you ship it and pay a small fee to
eBay (4-5%)
 Online Auctions
Mexican & Spanish Art: eBay Stores
Online Auctions
Mexican Antiques on eBay
 Selling Items on eBay
 What does it cost to sell on eBay?
• eBay charges fees to list and sell your item on their site.
The cost depends on total of fees calculated based on…
 Starting price
 Selling price
 Selling format
 Optional listing upgrades
 Items can be listed for as little as $0.20
 eBay will keep between 1.5% and 5.25% of the final
price
 Selling Items on eBay
 How do you get paid?
• Most people use PayPal
 Lets you accept credit cards, bank transfers,
debit cards from customers
 No monthly, startup, or cancellation fees
 No need for your customers to have a PayPal
account
 PayPal’s commission is 4.9% + $0.30
• Deposited immediately to your PayPal
account
 Easy to withdraw / transfer
 Item can then be shipped
• Sign-up takes only 5 minutes!
 Benefits of Online Auctions

 No time constraints
• Bids can be placed at any time of the day and any day of the year
 No geographical constraints
• Sellers/bidders can participate from anywhere that has Internet access
 Intensity of social interactions
• The social interactions involved in the bidding process are very similar
to gambling. The bidders wait in anticipation of "winning"
 Large number of bidders & large number of sellers
• The probability of someone seeing your product and wanting to buy
the product is high. Competition is vital, this will allow customers to
see that you have good affordable prices.
 Online Storefronts
 Everything you need in
one place

 Yahoo! Small Business

Ecommerce
 Design a store

 Add products

 Set up payment
methods
 Set up shipping /
sales tax

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/ecommerce
 Online Storefronts

 Another example

 Prostores:
e-commerce
solution by eBay
• Design a store
• Add Products
• Add Payment Methods
• Set up shipping

http://prostores.com/online_store.html
 Online Storefront Example
 Almacenonline.com uses an online storefront and PayPal
 Most online shoppers recognize PayPal as a secure way to pay
 Benefits of Online Storefronts

 Easy to design an online store using pre-designed

templates
• No need to learn code (html) or a new software (Dreamweaver)
• No need to hire someone to design a site for you

 Allows for easy online payment

• Private financial information never handled by your business
• Anyone can pay with credit card / debit card and payment goes
directly to your account

 Easy to keep track of orders / shipments

• Most provide daily / weekly reports on this type of information
 Packaging?

 Check out the Web – use a search

engine!
• eBay has entire forums on this topic
• Tips galore about saving paper bags,
asking local retailers for boxes
 Bubble wrap / packing peanuts / other?
 Opportunity for brand awareness!
• Logos attract attention
 Include a thank-you note
 Experimenting With
Free Web pages
 Sites that let you build
simple Web sites and
experiment with different
templates (free!):
• Weebly.com
 Switch designs
 Add pages
 “Drag and drop” interface
 www.weebly.com
• Google Pages
 Easy to build a webpage
 No cost to host the site
 http://pages.google.com/
• Yahoo! Geocities
 Pagebuilder – drag and
drop editor
 www.geocities.com
 Free services have limitations
 Warning
• Free sites like Weebly, Google Pages, or
Geocities do NOT give you a distinct
domain name
 Instead, your site will be located at:
www.geocities.com/yourusername
 Doesn’t look quite as professional!
• Paying for a domain name and Web
host gives a more credible appearance
 Summary
 Web sites are important for Hispanic
businesses
 Lots of Hispanic businesses are taking
advantage of them!
 There are many options to get started
• You don’t have to be a computer expert!
• Can even sell products online relatively
easily
 Web sites are not very expensive
• Can be less than $100/yr
 Interested in more information?
 We have a lot more help available!
• Detailed information on setting up a Web
site
• How to market to Hispanic consumers
• How to sell items on your Web site!

 Contact Information
Or: Brian Whitacre
Contact your local (405) 744-9825
County Extension Educator [email protected]