Finding an Internet home - Web page-creating services for small businesses - Brief Article

Nation's Business, July, 1996 by Laura M. Litvan

Experts answer our readers' questions about starting and running their businesses.

I am interested in setting up a site on the Internet that will provide informational materials for children and will also market books, posters, and other items for youth. I frequently use the Internet, but I may need some outside help to set up my own pages on the World Wide Web. Where can I go for guidance? R.G, Meadville, Pa.

Small-business owners who want to establish an on-line presence have an array of options, including going it alone by learning one or more of the computer languages needed to create "pages" for the Internet's World Wide Web.

Though there are several books on the subject, many entrepreneurs would rather spend their time building their businesses than reading up on the Internet. Companies' most common approach has been to use an outside vendor, says Robert Allen, managing partner of Media Modem, in Westport, Conn. The advertising firm has designed Internet home pages for AT&T Corp., J.C. Penney Co., and others.

An outside vendor could cost as little as $100 or $200 a month, Allen says, but the cost can go into the thousands if a company has a large site (a large number of Web pages) or wants extra services such as electronic-mail accounts or help with fashioning original home-page graphics.

The best place to find a list of such providers is the Internet, Allen says. Use one of the available search engines--Web sites that enable you to search the Internet by key words. One popular search engine is Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_ and_Internet); simply search for key words such as "Internet hosting" or "Internet services providers." You can also conduct a similar search in one of the Internet's business directories, such as NYNEX Information Technologies' BigYellow (http://www.bigyellow.com). You should find dozens of firms that you could hire to help set up a Web site.

Other companies in the fray or about to enter it include major players in the telecommunications industry, including MCI Corp., AT&T, and some of the regional Bell telephone companies, such as NYNEX Corp. and Bell Atlantic Corp. (which in April announced a proposed merger).

A spokesman for Bell Atlantic, which serves local phone callers in your region, says his company will begin to offer Web-site-development services to businesses later this year.

A company in Pembroke Pines, Fla., that provides Web services, Internet Gateway Connections, helps small firms design Web pages and place them on the Internet. Its lowest fee is $230 for initial setup and design of a home page, then $86 a month for Internet access and maintenance of the site, says Jon Wade, the company's manager of Web-site development. Fees can climb into the thousands of dollars, however, if a client has a large Internet site or wants extra services.

Like many Web-services providers, Wade's company ensures that a client's home page can be easily tracked down by Internet users who use key-word searches to find sites. It also offers the option of participating in an increasingly popular venue for small firms, a "cybermall"--a central location on the Internet, operated by a provider, and offering consumers one-stop shopping among all its clients. Internet Gateways page currently offers consumers access to Web pages of clients selling everything from flowers to electronic goods.

To understand what a "cybermall" is, you may want to view Internet Gateways home page on the Internet at http://www.igc.net. Of course, before settling on a vendor, be sum to shop around for the best deal.