|
|
What YOU Should Know Before Getting A Web Site!
Everyday thousands of new businesses make the leap and take their business on line, what about yours? If you haven't already, I'll bet you have thought about it and wondered how much more business you could be doing if you just went on line?and right about then, you wonder what it would take to get your business on line?
Here are some things to consider:
1. What do I expect my web site to do? The question you must ask yourself first and foremost is, "What do I want my website to do?". There are many types of web sites out there from purely selling products, to purely informational and everything in between. Are you looking to start an online community with people who have similar interests? Do you need a one page online resume, portfolio, bio, or online brochure to really get your company's information in front of the public? No two sites are exactly alike, and because of that, the prices for your web design can fluctuate. This question is one you must ask yourself before you hire a web designer!
2. How much will a web site cost me? What is your budget for your web site? Be realistic when you set your amount. Though a good deal is great, rock bottom prices are not what you are looking for here! Remember, this is your virtual store front. You want your site to be professional, efficient, and look the very best it can-you want your dreams to come true, and they will with the right designer.
Honestly, you can find web site design from $35 (if you get this for a quote, and you have any hopes of ending up with a professional site?WALK AWAY!) to $10,000 (good for huge companies that can afford it, but not the best bet for a new business). Realistically, expect to spend from $85-$200 for a one page resume, bio or brochure site and from $300-$1,800 for larger full featured sites, and expect to pay either half or all of it upfront depending on your designer.
Aside from that there are monthly hosting fees that range from $10-$40 per month for a descent sized site. Ask your designer if they offer hosting in addition to designing your site? You will usually get a much better deal, and you already trust them to design your site (I'll go more into hosting plans and options another time). Do you have your domain name yet? (example: www.thebestmoms.com) If not, ask your designer if they can get you one? A lot the time, if you are buying a decent sized design job and hosting from them, they will throw in your domain name for free-although, you will have to pay the renewal fee each year which can range from $19-$35 (ask your designer).
3. What's my web address going to be? This is a question you want to really spend some time on before choosing. I suggest you pick a name that is A-easy to remember, B-as short as possible, C-as uncomplicated as possible; try to stay away from more than 1 or 2 hyphens, if any. People easily forget the hyphens when they remember the address, and you don't want to be sending business somewhere else. D-using correct spelling; it is fun to play with the spelling of a word, but take in to consideration your audience's ability to remember the way YOU spelled it as opposed to their natural urge to spell it correctly.
It's your job to get them to your site, not their job to find you, so make it easy. E-pick something that has to do with your business (optional); I know some sites have gone against this rule and been successful but they also started from a different place than you are starting. Come up with a list of your top 5 or 10 choices, because there is a good chance that your first choice is already gone! When deciding, ask yourself if you want your address to be a .com, .net, .org, .edu, .biz, .tv, etc. I suggest .com, or .net for selling (ecommerce) sites, but it's up to you!
4. How long will it take to design my site? There are a lot of different factors that determine just how long a site takes to be completed, including you. If you take longer to get your information (or your words for each page and pictures) it will of course take longer for your site to be up and running. Also, the more complicated your site, the longer it can take-though I've not seen a site construction take longer than 8 weeks. To speed the design process, have a clear idea of what it is you want ahead of time. Make lists, and write out your 'blurbs' (text) for each page. Your text is your responsibility, and a lot of designers will not consider creating it for you with out charging you for creative writing (which can cost $35-75 per hour).
I only suggest leaving the creative writing up to someone else if you are positive that you simply can not do it. If your designer does not offer writing as a service (ask), you can hire a creative writer online and sometimes you can even barter (trade your products for their services) with creative writers looking to build their portfolio. One other way that you can speed up the design process is to make sure you and your designer are on the same page as far as design.
You do not want to keep changing your design idea, especially after they have started working. A lot of work goes into web site design, and so what seems like a minor change in the design plans to you may actually be a major change in the overall design, and some designers will charge you for this because your initial quote is based on their expected design hours. I wouldn't suggest doubling it out of the blue.
5. How long before the public discovers my site? They won't. What I mean by that is, there is more to getting people to your site than just putting it on the web. Like any other store, you have to market your site. One great tool is search engines. Now, how do you get listed on search engines? You want to give your designer a two sentence description for each category or page, and a list of 20 words you think some one would use to find your site for each category. Your designer may be willing to do some of this for you, so ask.
Also, there are some search engine submission services out there that are great, and there are some that aren't. I suggest you ask your designer if they submit your site to search engines automatically or if there is a small fee for this? Is their submission once or repeated over a period of time? Simply submitting will not guarantee you top spot on the search engines; especially if you are in an already crowded field-even if you pay the $300 fees some search engines charge.
You can also market your site by putting the web site address on everything-return address labels, business cards, t-shirts, your car, your email signature; put it in your signature on message boards, etc. There are many ways to get the word out, but don't think for one second that just because you built it, they will come-this is by far the biggest misconception in web site building!
6. Who will update my site in the future? Most designers have policies about updates, from a monthly update fee only for the months you require updates, to an hourly fee per update. Talk to your designer, and make sure that they understand not only how often you expect to need updates, but the nature of your updates. If it is something like switching a picture, or changing a phone number, there may be no charge so ask.
After answering these questions, you are ready to talk to your designer about the fun stuff-the design. Write down a list of sites that possess the feel or the style that you are looking for so your designer can get a better picture of your ultimate goal, and the two of you go from there!
©2005 Samantha Olea
Samantha Olea is the owner and designer for http://GetWrappedUp.com ?All Wrapped Up Business Solutions. She specializes in visual design and web design for the small to large businesses. Not a tied to a particular style of design, Samantha Olea is able to create your vision and really make it your own. To discuss your site, contact her at designs@getwrappedup.com today.
Improving Usability for Screen Reader Users
Simply ensuring your website is accessible to screen reader users is unfortunately not enough to ensure these users can find what they're looking for in a reasonably quick and efficient manner. Even if your site is accessible to screen reader users, its usability could be so incredibly poor that they needn't have bothered coming to your site.
How to Handle Web Surfers Who Disabled JavaScript
There are hundreds of millions of Web surfers today. Each of them uses one of multiple web browsers available now. You as a Webmaster create cool web pages that are full of graphic and JavaScript and look very impressive in modern web browsers like Internet Explorer or FireFox. But ask yourself: "How my cool web page will look like, if the web surfer use Linx browser (text based) or just disabled JavaScript support?" You may think that number of Linx browser users is quite small today and you can ignore them, but search engines spiders does not support JavaScript as well. You cannot ignore search engines in the modern world.
Stop Losing Precious Web Site Traffic to the Dreaded World Wide Web Black Hole
You work hard to build traffic to your web page. If you are not doing 1 simple step you are loosing a portion of all your web site traffic to the dreaded World Wide Web Black Hole.
Web Content: How Much Should I Pay?
When web content gets discussed on webmaster bulletin boards, the most common question is, "how much should I pay?" That question is both perfectly logical, and perfectly stupid:
For Newer Sites, Web Marketing Depends On Titles & Links!
We all start out the same. Some have budgets, some don't. The one true factor out there is that we all want to expose our business. For 99% of us, starting out in the world of web marketing means a few things:
The Birth of a Professional Web Site
The Internet has opened a whole New World of opportunity for all of us. With the vast amount of information available at your fingertips, it has never been easier to communicate your message to the world.
How To Evaluate Your Web Sites Performance
Setting up a website is the very first step of an Internet marketing campaign, and the success or failure of your site depends greatly on how specifically you have defined your web site goals.
Increase Hits to Help Increase Your Business
In this day and age most businesses consider having their own website; from informational based to the most advanced and complex e-commerce site. For the large enterprise, this become a vital part of their day to day operation, their web site embeds complex applications that exchanges critical information between their partners and clients. Web services are sometime employed in order to simplify their transactions and easily exchange critical information across their suppliers, clients and partners.
Why You Need A Web Site
"I have a small business with just a couple of employees and I don't think my product can really be sold online. Do I need a web site?"
5 Essential Traits Of A Home Business Website
So you've decided to start an online work at home business and are just beginning to build your website. You probably have a million different ideas for what you want the site to look like. You will want to take into consideration that your idea of a great website may differ drastically from what a website designed to make sales should be like.
Content Management ? The New Standard in Web Design
The evolution of web development parallels the model of technology spending by companies today. The style and method has transformed along with the business spending trend. Content management has taken over as the latest fashion in design and modern web development style.
Improve Conversion Rates ? Effective Content
Your site is fast and getting traffic, but conversion rates are disappointing. You may have problems with the tone of your content
Lead Generation How to -- 10 Tips On Generating More Internet Sales Leads
Many millions of dollars are being wasted on promoting and sending traffic to ineffective lead generation websites. Here are my top 10 tips to make your site generate more leads for you and your company.
Credibility - 10 Ways to Build it on Your Website
If you have your own business website and you are trying to sell something, then it is imperative that you are able to establish and maintain credibility. Why is this important? If you are going to ask someone to make a purchase from you, then you need to show them why they should purchase from you rather then your competitor on another site.
Six Basic Reasons Why Visitors Stay On Your Web Site
1. The first page appears quickly.
Building eCommerce Websites that Work - Part 2
Succeeding with an eCommerce website is a dream for many these days. It may seem nearly impossible at times, but it can be done. This series covers some of the basic success factors - things you must consider in creating, implementing, managing and developing a quality eCommerce web site. There are many ways to do business on the internet - and, not surprisingly, a lot of ways to both make and lose money. Mainly, I'm focusing on eCommerce sites intended to sell products of various kinds. Not every factor is going to apply to every site, but since a major failing of many internet entrepreneurs is the lack of multiple income streams, you'd do well to carefully consider all factors and apply them as needed in developing alternate revenue streams.
How To Convert More Sales On Your Website
One of the biggest mistakes that most online retailers make is they do not take into account typical buyer behaviour. The conversion from real world to online provides many benefits to the retailer, but present some real challenges for the customer because their buying decision is made more difficult in an online environment.
Why Should Your Business Go O.N.L.I.N.E.
Optimize your time. How much time each day must you devote to paperwork, scheduling and accounting? You strive to meet the needs of your clients, but when chained to the obligations of business management, it's just as important to make sure the doors stay open as it is to satisfy customers. By integrating your daily tasks and taking advantage of the amazing Web-based software solutions out there, you can make more time for clients and spend less time behind your desk. Do you work from home? When your business is online, you can manage your business any place you have a connection to the Internet
Five Question-Five Minute Web Makeover Quiz
If you haven't made the sales and built your clients to an income you want, then you may need a Web Site makeover.
Your Biggest Mistake When You Create a Website?
--------------------------------