The TurnKey Business Server is the perfect hosting option for businesses looking to get started on the web with a minimum of effort and cost.  If your business doesn’t yet have a TurnKey Business Server, you can get more information on it and order one from this link: http://www.turnkeyinternet.net/smb.

Once you’ve created your account, the first thing you’ll want to do is get your web site online.  The TurnKey Business Server graphical interface provides a streamlined, point-and-click approach to accomplish this.

Step 1: Log-in to the TurnKey Business Server control panel
Using the information provided to you in email when you purchased the TurnKey Business Server, log-in with your username and password.

Step 2: Enter in Domain Name, Username & Password
Once logged in, you’ll be presented with a screen filled with various options organized as categorized boxed sections.  In the Websites & Domains section, click on Create Website.  This will take you to a screen that will prompt you for a domain name, IP address, username, and password.   The IP address you can leave as-is. For the domain name field, you’ll want to enter in the domain name you chose when creating your account, or an existing domain name you’re interested in using as your web host name.  In most cases, you’ll want to precede the name by “www.”  For example, if the site were bobsplumbing.com, you’d enter www.bobsplumbing.com.  Next, choose a username and password and enter them into their respective fields.  These will not be immediately necessary for creating your site, but you’ll need them later if you plan on uploading additional files to your site via FTP.

Step 3: Start the Site Editor
When you’re finished, click the OK button, and you’ll be taken to the Websites & Domains section of the TurnKey Business Server control panel, which is seen as a highlighted orange tab amonst several blue tabs across the top portion of the screen.  This section is where you can perform various tasks on this particular website, one of which is creating your actual web site with the Site Editor.  Click on this button, and you’ll see “Create your site” as the default highlighted option.  Click on the “Next” arrow at the bottom right corner, and the next screen will provide a large selection of beginning templates for your website.

Stay tuned for the next TurnKey Blog post as we explore the powerful TurnKey site editor!