Great Free Website Systems - No Programming Required!

Websites can cost a fortune, or they can be free.  I have heard of websites that cost in the millions of dollars to build and require a staff to maintain them.  Consider sites like Amazon.com.   I would say that most businesses pay a few thousand dollars for their websites.   If you are on a tight budget, then spending a few thousand dollars may be impossible.   Here are a few ideas that might get you started for nothing, or darn close to nothing.

http://www.myspace.com/ - This is the most popular free website service.  Many people identify with MySpace as a hangout for kids.  More and more businesses are learning the value of having a presence in the MySpace community.   Start paying attention and you will see www.myspace.com/myname plastered on business cards or even on those magnetic car signs.  Yes, MySpace is a good choice for a one-page business website.  If you cannot figure out how to customize it yourself, ask any teenager to help. 

http://www.wordpress.com/ - WordPress is a blogging tool.  It is a far more customizable than a MySpace page and you can have as many pages as you like.  Because it is a blog, you will have to maintain it by adding new content on a regular basis.  You can also point your own domain name to the site if you have one.  By using http://www.wordpress.com/, you will not need a hosting account; it is free to use.  If you want to download WordPress software onto your own web hosting account, then get the software from http://www.wordpress.org/ instead.  (Notice the ORG instead of COM at the end).

http://www.ning.com/ - Think of Ning as a more advanced tool that lets you create your very own version of MySpace.  Think about it.  You can build your own community with registered members, member profiles, blogs, and so on.  This is really popular for creating niche online communities.  On MySpace, people create a profile page.  Your visitors will be able to create profile pages on your Ning site.  Basically you become another MySpace.  Then you just promote your online community.  Building a Ning site is surprisingly easy.  This is a great choice if you want to build a community.  Maybe you are part of a club or organization and your members would enjoy participating in a niche community site.

If you are willing to do the work yourself, then you can build an elaborate site without spending a dime. Add content to your site using videos from YouTube.com, or use some widgets from other sites.  There are numerous content widgets and plug-ins that you can find to put on your site.  You can start you own Internet TV station or Internet radio station.  All for free.