Hi, J_9!
Some helpful hints, in case your interested...
1) If a business has a .com, net, org, or any of the other types of addresses that a person has to pay for, having those types of suffixes doesn't guarantee that the website will get good results when people go searching for what the business does and where it's located. The free website hosting services usually will have tools that are readily available to enable people to place the website on the indexes of the search engines. Whereas, if a person has to or chooses to use their own template, they will have to figure out how to put the correct things in for the format of the template in order to get the optimum exposure. Plus, just the words used on the visible portions of a website are also very important in getting the website attention in addition to the things that are "hidden" in the background.
2) Many, if not all of the free web hosting services will allow people to use their own templates. Website developing is available in many word formatting programs like Microsoft Word. Also most, if not all of the free website hosting services will have templates to use that are more than fine for most small businesses. If a person doesn't like images that are already available, then typically, they can insert their own. Many, many options are available concerning the configuring of the format when using the free website hosting services. Really takes a lot of the guesswork and hassle out of designing a website. Northwind_Dagas gave another, excellent example.
3) If a person wants to pay for hosting, then that's their choice. I just want to point out that there is more than one way of doing things in order to be successful. I've never paid for anything that I've posted on the Internet, be it on any of the websites that I've put together and/or in the advertising on other sites that I've done. I get excellent exposure as well as results. If someone is just needing a simple website, then the free hosting services will almost certainly be enough for what they want to do. With the free services, online stores, visitor tracking, guestbooks, blogs, forums, image galleries and videos, even games sometimes and more are typical things that are available for free.
4) The name of a website can be something different than the actual name of a company. The name can be worded in such a way that will be more likely to attract visitors. The real name of the business can than be in places on the actual website.
5) When putting together a website using a free website hosting service, what I've usually found, is that a person can practice putting the site together without actually publishing portions or even the whole site.
6) When using words, phrases and sentences on a website, it's usually possible for a person to use a background color to enable the concealment of those things like that, that are "visitor magnets" so that not seeing them will make the site look neat and attractive rather than loaded with a lot of "fluff."
7) A person can have more than one website for the same business.
8) Utilizing the free ways to advertise on the Internet can help to bring attention to a website. Some of the free advertising places on the Internet will even send a business acknowledgement in the snail mail when you've advertised a business on them.
9) Submitting a business and/or website to Google Places and Google Maps is easy to do. Don't have to have a website to submit to them. Can submit more than one business also.
10) These aren't the only places for the free website hosting. Others have already been mentioned on a number of threads. The ones that I really like are:
Learn more about Google Sites
http://www.webs.com/
Bravenet - Web Hosting, Free Web Hosting and Web Tools
Tripod - Succeed Online - Excellent web hosting, domains, e-mail and an easy website builder tool
They are user-friendly and I know that websites hosted on them are capable of getting excellent exposure.
11) Many of the business networking sites are very much like having a website. The ones below get excellent results.
Naymz: Over two million professionals manage their personal brand with Naymz
LinkedIn | Relationships Matter
MerchantCircle.com | Find new customers.
The listings on the above websites are permanent and don't have expirations. People can edit and delete whenever they want to.
Also frequently, local newspaper websites and local news websites will have places on them where a person can promote their business for free. Where I've listed locally is also permanent and editable. Have to do Internet searches in order to find them, unless they are listed elsewhere. I listed a new ad this past summer on one of them about deck cleaning and staining and within two hours I had a customer!
If there's a military base nearby,
MilitaryAvenue.com | Supporting the Relocation, Travel, and Lifestyle Needs of the American Military Family is a great place to advertise for free. They'll even send out a packet of other free advertising stuff for anyone who advertises, even for advertising for free with them.
12) Without getting into it, since the topic of the free advertising places would be a whole new chapter in itself, most of the best free places on the Internet on which to advertise will also have pay packages available. I've never found it necessary to use the pay packages, though.
Part of what I do for a living and as a personal ministry, is to promote Christian ministries, music-oriented organizations and just businesses in general on the Internet. I've now started many websites, for myself as well as others. Have been doing that now for about six years. I'm very careful and selective about anything that I post on the Internet. I especially like helping the small businesses who are just getting started.
There is no guarantee that any website is going to be perfectly secure or perfect in any other ways no matter how they word their Privacy Policy or Terms of Service. That's life...
When a person runs a business, they have to be willing to take risks in order for the business to be successful. I've taken the risks associated with advertising in the local print media, like the Yellow Pages and various news publications. Those things all cost me money and didn't ever get me as fine of results for advertising as what I've placed on the Internet. In my experience, I've not had any notable problems with placing things on the Internet. I don't view using the Internet as an advertising resource as any more of a risk than advertising in the Yellow Pages or in the local print or other media. Think of the lawyers, insurance agents and Realtors, etc. who have information about themselves as well as their businesses posted on the Internet. Some spam in email is a small price to pay for excellent exposure and something that can be free to use, if a person chooses to use it in a free way.
Currently, am putting together a website as well as the Internet advertising for a fairly large security, investigation and surveillance firm in a nearby state. They also operate an armed guard service. They have had a website for a number of years and are listed on a gazillion other websites, not to mention in the Yellow Pages, Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau... However, what they have on the Internet isn't getting good exposure. They will have excellent exposure in short order...
The important thing is to just get started. Like I've mentioned previously, a person can also practice before something really gets published and goes public.
It works!
I do wish you and your husband well with your endeavor!
Thanks!