Website Woes

We’ve all heard the horror stories: websites that take a year to build instead of the promised two months; tech guys who fall off the planet halfway through the project; overwhelming bills attached to underwhelming artwork; servers that crash on your highest traffic days.

“Where can I get a reliable, creative tech team to build me a website without breaking the bank?” is a question we get asked more than any other. There are very few good answers. It’s no wonder most small businesses just stick to a Facebook fan page.

Google is God?

But wait, now there’s one more option, and like most things magical, it comes from Google: check out India Get Your Business Online (www.indiagetonline.in), a brand new initiative by the internet behemoth in collaboration with HostGator, FISME and ICICI Bank which allows small and medium sized businesses to build their websites for free.

Offered services include an “.in” domain name, hosting service, email addresses, design templates, around the clock technical support and the regular Google tools - AdWords, Analytics, Maps, SEO tips - all without paying a rupee. After the year is up, you get to keep the domain name and get a discount on server hosting by HostGator. It’s enough to make any cash-strapped entrepreneur weak at the knees.

One, Two, Free!

A test drive revealed that the India Get Your Business Online site is fuss-free and easy to navigate, sporting the predictable orange-green-white colour scheme. It’s also a lot like setting up a blog: you pick an available domain name; register (this form is a bit tedious, requiring information including PAN card, number of employees, etc); and pick and choose from several fun templates to create your website.

We did find some bugs –for instance, we had to call the toll-free number three times before actually getting someone on the phone – but these are minor and will hopefully be smoothed out soon.

Up, Up and Away

With India Get Your Business Online, you may not get the flexibility of something that’s customized just for you, but it’ll definitely save you a significant amount of cash (and the crates of Crocin) that you would have consumed if you were building ground up.

So cull a bunch of references from existing websites to “inspire” you, rope in a creative friend, and get to work. Good luck!

Getting there: Visit www.indiagetonline.in or call 1-800-266-3000, website building and hosting free.