Starting a business? Here's how to get online.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. An honest look at when a website earns its keep for a local trade business, and when your phone and business cards are enough.

The seven things a local business page actually needs — name, trade, area, phone, hours, proof and a way to reach you — and the things you can skip.

Real numbers for a simple local business website: free to about $300 a year, what each option includes, and the costs nobody mentions up front.

Yes, and for a simple local business you probably should. What it takes, which tools are actually easy, and where people get stuck.

One page is enough for most local trade businesses. When a single page runs out of room, and why more pages isn't the same as better.

Fast to load, easy to read on a phone, and clear about what you do and how to call you. Seven things that matter, and the things that don't.

A step-by-step walkthrough for a business with no website: what to write down, where to put it, and how to check it's really live.

The address people type to reach your website, explained in plain English — what you're actually renting, why it works, and what it has to do with email.

Step by step: check availability, pick a registrar, read the renewal price, buy with your own account, and point it at your website.

A .com should cost $10–$20 a year. What makes prices vary, why the first-year price is a trap, and what you should never pay for.

Why .com still matters for a local business, when .net or a town-based extension is fine, and which cheap new extensions to avoid.

You don't buy a domain, you rent it — and what that means for control, transfers, and the contractor who registers it in his own name.

Yes, but it's a rebrand, not a settings change. What it costs in redirects, cards, email and search — and the version most small businesses should pick.

The grace period, the redemption fee, and the moment your website and email both go dark. How to avoid it, and what to do if it already happened.

Hosting is the computer that holds your website and answers when someone visits. Plain English on what it is, who provides it, and what you actually pay for.

Builders and free services include hosting, so there may be nothing separate to buy. How to tell which situation you're in, and what to check.

What shared hosting is, why it's cheap, when it's fine for a small business, and the one failure mode that gives it a bad name.

A builder includes hosting; a host just gives you a place for files. Which one a local business should pick, and why control costs time.

Real hosting prices from free to $80 a month, what each tier is for, and the renewal-price trap that doubles your bill in year two.

Technically yes — an old computer, a home internet connection and some software. Why almost nobody should, in plain terms.

Lapsed bills, closed hosts and cancelled plans: what a customer sees, how fast it happens, and what you can recover — with or without the old provider.

The practical order of operations for a local business with no online presence: Google listing first, one page second, email third. Nothing fancy required.

Three ways to get [email protected] — free forwarding, a real mailbox, or a cheap alternative — with costs, setup steps and the trap to avoid.

A cell phone is fine for most local trades. When a separate number is worth $10–$25 a month, and the two reasons it usually is.

Two different things: a free Business Profile on the map, and getting your site indexed. Plain steps for both, and which one brings local calls.

The free listing that puts your business on Google Maps — what it shows, how to claim it, what to put in it, and the mistakes that get listings suspended.

A website and a Facebook page do different jobs. Which one your customers actually use, and why a stale page can cost you more than no page.

The link has to be somewhere people look. Practical ways a local trade gets traffic — Google listing, cards, truck, referrals — without ads or SEO retainers.

What belongs on a card for a local trade, what to leave off, and why the back of the card is the most wasted space in small business.

For most local trades, no — a clean name in good type is a logo. When a real mark is worth $300–$800, and why a bad logo is worse than none.

It's not design. It's consistency, accuracy, real photos and answering the phone. Nine small things that make a one-person business look established.

The software that runs about 40% of the web, explained without the jargon — what it costs, what you have to maintain, and who it's actually right for.

A hosted website builder known for good templates — what it costs, what you get, what it doesn't do, and who it suits.

A popular drag-and-drop website builder with a free tier. What the free plan actually gives you, what the paid plans cost, and the trade-off that follows you.

One is software you run, the other is a service you rent. The real difference — maintenance, cost over five years, and who fixes it when it breaks.

What free actually gets you, what paid adds, and the two things worth paying for. An honest comparison for a small local business.

The signals that actually justify spending more — and the ones that are just boredom. A practical trigger list, plus what not to spend on yet.