Creating a website myself

Microsoft offers a template-based system for building simple websites at Office Live. They will even register a domain name for free and host the website for you: Office Live

Another alternative is to set up a WordPress blog or a Blogger blog. One of the red-hot trends on the Web today is small businesses bypassing traditional websites altogether and using expanded blogs as replacements.

WordPress is especially well-suited as a website replacement. I've seen ecommerce sites with shopping carts, built entirely in WordPress, that are extremely impressive and functional.

Building you own website is very much for the committed DIYer who is willing to invest time into learning how to use tools. Don't underestimate the time it will take.

Business owners ask my advice about realistic practical ways to build a visible Web presence and I'm happy to give it.

So here's some practical advice and I won't mince words: if you can't spare the time or just don't like to spend hours experimenting with how Web pages work and look, you're better off hiring someone to build it for you. Balance the amount of time it takes for the learning curve, with other revenue-generating activities you could be engaged in.

Check out this post in the Marketing section of this discussion board:

How do you know when it is time for you to pay a professional to run your website? If you want to sell from you website, what key features are recommended to have?

I actually want to hire someone to help me design my website. Where can I find local resources for this.

Ibuyneo.com is a resource for finding local vendors. This is another initiative by COSE. If you search "Web Design" you will find a list (which my company Insivia will be on).

A great question to ask this discussion board is how do you evaluate a good web development firm.

Also, visit sites that you like, especially local, and see if they have a link to the company that designed or created the site which is often at the bottom of the page.