One of the best ways to market yourself is by having a website. If you are just starting your business and don’t have web design experience to do it yourself or lack the capital to pay someone to create your site, there are free services available for you to create your own professional website. The best service that I have found is through Microsoft Office Live. Aside from paying $15/year for your customized domain name, the site and hosting is free.

Microsoft created this service with business professionals in mind. Unlike other free website services, MS Live sites don’t have ads at the top of the website, and you can have your OWN domain name rather than a name that is a subdomain of your provider.

Some of the services include:

• Free website hosting
• Up to 100 email accounts (great for birth networks or multi-doula practices)
• Online site design tool, no html or CSS knowledge required. The service does allow you to add sections with html code and allow you to make some changes to the header and footer CSS code.
• Site traffic report tools
• Free tech support by phone and via online forums
• Email can be integrated with your MS Outlook, so you don’t need to check your mail through the MS Live service.
• Free blog that can be integrated into your site (not as good as other blog services, though)

Well, it IS free

As can be expected with a free service, there are some quirks:

• Sometimes the formatting of text on your website changes after you save your work.
• The site will look best in MS Internet Explorer. It may not look quite right in other internet browsers
• It’s difficult to set up Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools with MS Office Live sites. There is a lot of help in the forums and you can find some coding to help you utilize some of those tools, but it’s not easy to take advantage of everything those tools have to offer
• There are a set of templates you can use, but they’re not very customizable.

There are lots of great resources in the form of articles and forum postings to help you make the most of this free service. Microsoft Live offers upgraded services for a monthly fee, but for most doulas wouldn’t need to upgrade their service package.

Other caveats

If you are looking for a way to make a simple and professional website, MS Office Live is an excellent way to do it. However, if you know you want to change to another web host at some point, be sure to find out the process to do so. Since you are using the MS Office Live templates, you will likely have to redesign your site when you switch.

There is a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it and learn how to work around its quirks, it’s fairly easy to create new pages for your website, and there are many free and inexpensive services available to make your site more interactive.

What information to I include on my website?

You should include at least the following information:

• An explanation of what a doula is and does
• A description of your services
• Information about your philosophy
• Your contact information

Some doulas include their rates, some do not. Some doulas mention they are in training, some do not. There are differing opinions on this. If you want to explore the reasons, look to some of the doula forum archives.

Looking at various doula websites online is a great way to get ideas. DO NOT copy and use the text on other websites for your own, though; that is copyright infringement! When you explore others’ websites, answer these questions:

• Does the site look professional?
• Does the site explain what services are available?
• What makes this doula unique?
• Does what this doula say make you curious enough that you’d want to learn more about what she’s about?

The last two questions is what you should be answering when making your own site. If there are several doulas in your area, and everyone has similar rates and services, why should someone hire YOU? Your website is a great tool to differentiate yourself from others around you. Find sites of other doulas that draw you in, and figure out what it is about those sites that make those doulas interesting.

Will people be able to find my site?

You should definitely submit your site to the major site engines. Don’t waste your time using the free search engine submission services unless you want to be bombarded by junk mail. Find free directories to list website. A search in the archives at AllDoulas.com can help you find some of these directories.

In addition, add your website address to your email signature, your business card and your brochures. Consider joining a birth or doula network that lists members’ sites.

Don’t wait any longer… let people know who you are!

Having a website is a great way to announce to the world that you are a doula. It not only let’s people know what you do and offer, but it is a way to set yourself apart from the rest. Whether you use a free service like Microsoft Office Live or create a truly customized site, show the world who you are by communicating what you are passionate about and why. It will allow people to connect with you and will help you to attract the more of the clients that you want to work with.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Inexpensive Marketing Tip #1 – Business Cards
2. How To Get More Website Traffic For Your Birth Biz Site
3. Resource: The Brewer Pregnancy Diet Site
4. Should You Include Your Prices On Your Marketing Materials and Website?
5. Tuesday Time Management Tip: Email Templates for Outlook and Gmail