Many people that I talk to will tell me, “I would start an online business, but I don’t know how to create a web page”. While I can certainly understand one’s concern with creating and owning a website without programming knowledge, today it really isn’t necessary to create your presence online.

In today’s information based world, there are many options for creating your own website without ANY programming knowledge at all. If you have a good idea of what you are looking to do with your website, it is very easy to go to sites like guru, elance, or ecoder to hire someone to design the site for you. It is now possible to have your entire site professionally designed for a few hundred dollars. If you do choose to go this route, it is important to read reviews of the companies that bid on your work, and always weight the price of the bid versus the quality of the bidder.

Another great way to have your own website today is to purchase a site that is already online. Many people actually make their living buying and selling websites in the many online marketplaces. I have found good deals on websites on ebay, but Sitepoint also has a GREAT marketplace section for websites. Going this route will allow you to purchase a fully designed site, or you can even buy an established site that already generates traffic and revenue. If you do decide to purchase an established website, make sure you ask for evidence to back-up any traffic or revenue claims. Unfortunately, the marketplace still has many sellers looking to take advantage or others.

A final way to get your website up and running quickly is to use a content management system (CMS) like Joombla. There are several free CMS’ available and although they offer less flexibility than programming the site yourself, a quality CMS can make updating and running your site a piece of cake.

There are several other ways to get a site up and running, but these are a few of my favorites. If you have been afraid to take the plunge and try an online business, GO FOR IT! It is easier to do today than ever before. Do beware though… running a successful website is not easy work, so make sure your site is something you enjoy working with. If not, success will be very hard to come by.

Tags: buy websites, online business, sell websites