Free marketing in the free market
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EmailA list of available resources to design and construct your own website for free.
Have a limited budget to get your business off the ground? Know you need a website to get your idea out to the public? Do you want to save money in your marketing budget?
There are several strategies for launching and marketing your business which are easily overlooked and perhaps even intimidating to the not-so-tech-savvy entrepreneur or business professional. For almost two decades now, websites have been the cornerstone for getting a business’s message to their audience via the World Wide Web. Although twenty years ago it wasn’t free as it is today! That is right. You can build your website for free using a couple different options. Sound hard to believe?
Launching a free website is an easy option for anyone with internet access, a computer or a smartphone! Several options below can provide a starting point to get your site off the ground and launched. Most of the resources provided below allow you to edit and construct through drag and drop tools, update via your smartphone application, and make additional changes all for free.
- Weebly does have different levels available depending on what you wish to do with your site, but designing a site and hosting it is free! Weebly offers three relatively inexpensive plans to upgrade your free site, Starter, Pro, and Business.
- Wordpress, launched in 2003, originally targeted the blogging community has evolved into a resource for launching websites to propel ideas and businesses globally. Wordpress is free and can be downloaded in a few minutes.
- Wix is another option that allows for the construction of a website for free. They have options hundreds of templates to choose from, as well as options for upgrading and saving by purchasing additional plans to move your site along.
- Yola, a company founded in South Africa in 2007, offers similar resources to launch websites and help business and/or organizations prosper for free. Custom domains are available and Yola also provides web statistics as part of their packages.
These are just a few of the existing resources to launch a website for free. This short overview is not designed to imply one is better or more efficient than the other, nor is the list exhaustive. Reviewing each one thoroughly will give a better indication of what is completely available and suitable for your needs. Additionally, there are several fee-based services that will help you design and construct your website as well. Michigan State University Extension can serve as a resource for additional questions regarding business development. Please contact your local Extension office for more information.
