These are the answers to the questions our clients ask most often. The Internet is still a relatively new marketing medium, and newcomers often find the terminology and concepts foreign at first. We hope the following information helps you with making decisions about your own business and the Internet.
Why Should I Have a Website? |
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The Hype: Increase your sales by 200%!!
The Reality: It's true that the Internet is a growing medium which allows you to advertise globally to millions of potential customers. Your customers can contact you, and even place orders, directly from your website at the touch of a button. But if you expect to build a website and have your sales and leads DOUBLE .... you'll be a disappointed puppy. The number of actual "sales transactions" on the Internet is growing as more and more people get Internet access. But your website shouldn't be your only means of advertising your service/product. An attractive, well-marketed website can enhance and add to your business. These days it's almost a requirement, when you hand out your business cards, to have your website URL and email address included. It's part of the professional package. And besides, having a website communicates to the world that you're hip, you're techno-savvy, you're up on the latest stuff. Why, you're almost a geek! And now-a-days, that's a good thing.
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What Do I Need to Get Started? |
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This is the most common question we get -- How go I get started? -- and the most complicated to answer. We have broken the process down for our clients, especially for those new to the internet and website development, into The Four Essentials:
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Make a Plan. Determining what you want your website to do will help you make the rest of the decisions. Design, content, hosting and marketing are all dependent on your goals and the purpose of your website. |
 Read: Questions to Ask Yourself When Planning a Website. |
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Design It. Good design is more than pictures. It's also good use of color appropriate to your website goals; images that communicate and enhance, not just "decorate"; clear, flexible layout that accommodates many browsers and screen resolutions, and easy-to-use navigation that won't leave new visitors scratching their heads and feeling lost. |
| Read: Website Design: More than Pretty Pictures. |
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Nuts and Bolts. This step is the actual mechanics of the website. Registering a domain name. Finding a web host that meets your needs. Getting the account set up and configured. Sending the files to the server and checking ... and double checking ... everything. |
| Read: The Nuts and Bolts of Setting Up a Website. |
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Market the Sucker. You should announce your new website to your existing clients, but you also need to market your site on the internet. This means registering with search engines so that users can find you. It also means finding and investing in paid advertising where appropriate, and getting listed in any directories related to your industry. There are services you can hire to do the search engine submissions. And there are software packages that can automate some of the process for you. But this part of the process is not brain surgery. Anybody can do it. It's merely time consuming.
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| Read: Things You Need to Know About Website Marketing. |
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What Does It Cost? |
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"Just give me a ballpark figure..."
This is the most common question asked, and the most difficult to answer. Our prices are reasonable — a simple two-page website can cost as little as $100. But since each project is unique, we prefer to evaluate the scope of the project, and then provide you with a quote based on our hourly rates. We'll work closely with you to ensure that your pages make the statement you want! Let us put together a quote for you. Give us a call, or send us email. We'll be happy to discuss your project with you, and assist you in getting your business on-line as soon as possible. For an overview of ALL the costs involved, you might want to...
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Can I Maintain the Site Myself? |
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Absolutely. No problem. We can even train you in the use of software and minimal HTML code to get you started. But before you spend too much time and money on becoming an amateur web designer, you should give serious thought to the best uses of your time. Consider your business, and your role, your energy and your resources. And your present knowledge of technology and aptitude for "geek-stuff". Will learning the code or a new piece of software be a large hill to climb? After you've weighed all the factors, you may conclude that your time and money would be better spent on running your business or making sales.
Some possible reasons why you would want to maintain your own website:
- You have many teeny tiny edits, that must be done immediately. Often a Web Master For Hire has many jobs to do, and may not be able to drop everything to change the date on one of your pages. If you have frequent small, time-sensitive changes, you can negotiate with your Web Master for quick turn-around on your edits, or you can opt to take on the task yourself.
- You have a very limited budget. If hiring a webmaster is out of your budget, you may want to take on the task of maintaining your own website. Just be aware that to do it entirely on the cheap, you'll need to learn a lot of code. Not a little. The old saying is true, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. You may find yourself with pages all askew and no idea how the code got so tangled. If you don't want to learn the code, then you'll need to purchase some WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) software that allows you to edit without dealing with the code.
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ARTICLES & RESOURCES...
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