***Work-At-Home Muslimah***
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Support a Sister in Business Directory | Useful resources
Useful Resources for Sisters Running a Business Online
If you want to have a business online, you will need to have your own website. In this page we will gather useful links for Muslimahs that run a website/business online. These can help you get started with your website or they can help you improve your website inshaAllaah. Feel free to suggest us useful resources for Muslimahs to be added in this section inshaAllaah, jazaakum Allaah khayran!
Getting Started / Creating a Website 
You can make your site by yourself by using html, a great resource for learning:
W3 Schools
Or - you can use ready templates, there are both free and commercial templates available. Just use your favourite search engine to find free web templates. You can also use html editors like FrontPage Express, Macromedia Dreamweaver etc.
Another choice is to use a content management system, you can compare and even test-drive different CMS's here:
OpenSourceCMS
After creating your website - or even before doing that - you may want to consider getting your own domain name, especially if you have a business this will help people remember your site URL easier. PLEASE NOTE that earlier we promoted RegisterFly but now we recommend that you avoid their service. They have been having serious problems with their service. We moved our domain away from them and currently we use DynaDot and we have been very satisfied with their service (Customer Service is extra quick!), If you decide to go with them please use our referral code fT6slu6U7J72 baarak Allaah feekum.
You also need hosting for your site. You can even find a free host but most of them place ads on your website and you have no control over them. One free host that does not at least at the moment put ads on their free sites is 110mb.
You may want to consider trying out a less expensive web host first to get your feet wet. MuslimahConnection.com has very good experience with GlobeDomain - they have been getting better and better all the time. Customer service is kind and they help you out.
Enhancements for your website
If you do not know how to code yourself but you would still like to add some scripts to your site, you will find lots of free scripts online that you just copy and paste to your website. Some require you to put some ads on your site, some require a link back and some are totally free of ads. Also, your host may not allow you to use all kinds of scripts - but luckily there are also remotely hosted scripts available.
WWWToolz - free remotely hosted scripts. (Counter, Jumpbox, Refer-a-Friend, Mailing List, Form-2-Email, Web Poll, Message Board, Web Search, Site News, Faq Manager) Very easy to use!
Black Fire NetworksFree remotely hosted CGI scripts. Anti-Spam, Chat Server, Clocks, Countdown Timers, Counters (IP Logger), Country Flag, Download Tracker, Environment Data, Feedback/Mail Forms, FFAL Page, Guest Book, Mailing List, Password Protection, Polls, Quiz and Tests, Random Images, Random Link, Rating Box, Redirection, Site Search, Source Protection, Image Gallery, Update Notification.
Getting Visitors to Your Website
This is probably the most difficult part of having your website. Eventhough you have your site online, with your own domain and all - you will need those visitors, especially if you are running a business online. Your site will not be found "just like that" once it is online - you need to make it known.
Word of mouth is probably the best way to get visitors to your site. So how do you get the word out? You can use forums (join to discuss, not to advertise.. but do not forget your signature line that will tell people about your site/business - not all forums accept this so get to know their rules). Let your sisters know about your site. And if you have customers, provide excellent customer service so that they will be happy to tell about your site to their friends. Little by little 'word of mouth' will bring you more and more visitors, inshaAllaah.
You can also submit your site to search engines. You should the pay attention to the way you put your site together - this is called Search Engine Optimization. Each Search Engine gives some advice what they expect from the sites that are listed and these are good guidelines.
You can list your site to directories online - if you are a Sister in Business, why not start by listing your site in The Support a Sister in Business Directory?
Exchanging reciprocal links is also a good way to get visitors. This means that you will ask another webmaster to link to your site and you will link to her site. So both of you will benefit - this helps both with Search Engine position and naturally it will bring new visitors via the link on that other site.
You can also advertise your business / website on other websites - many sites offer an advertising option for a fee.
Tracking Your Visitors
To know how many visitors actually visit your site, you will need a hit counter.
StatCounter is an invisible, totally ad-free hit / stat counter and it is free. With it you can see how many hits your site gets, from where your visitors come from, how long they stay on your site, which pages are most popular and so on. You can make it visible too, if you like. Very easy to set up - just configure at the Statcounter website and then copy and paste the code to your website.
Accepting Payments Online
If you are starting a business online your site needs to have the ability to accept payments online. There are shopping carts that you can integrate to your site but there are also easier ways for the beginner seller to manage receiving payments. Please check out the following services and compare their fees and rules of service. Sometimes it may be useful to offer several ways of payment because not all methods are available worldwide (naturally you need to consider this only if your offer your services/products worldwide!).
PayPal Merchant Account ~The most popular option. Available in 103 countries (- but you should note that they require credit card authentication for Europeans at least and that may prevent some from getting an account.) No start-up or monthly fees, no cancellation fees, and no minimum payments.
Moneybookers ~ Sometimes a better option for customers outside US (especially Europe!). If you offer PayPal, you should consider offering Moneybookers as an option as well.
