What Is The First Step In Getting A Web Site Built?

How Do I Pick A Web Designer?

What Makes A Website Successful?

What Should I Put On My Website?

What Happens If We Occasionally Need To Make Content Changes?

We Have A Web Site, But It's Not Doing Much For Us... Can You Help?

Once The Web Site Is Completed And Uploaded To The Internet, How Do People Find Us?

How Much Will A Web Site Cost?

How Long Does It Take To Get A Web Site Online?

We Have Scanning Equipment, So Can We Do Our Own Graphic And Photo Scans?

Our Organization Is Not Located In Your State.... Will That Be A Problem?

Can I Do My Own Updates To The Site?

What Are Your Pricing And Billing Policies?



What Is The First Step In Getting A Web Site Built?
You will need to decide on the following items:

A domain name
This is the address or "URL" that people will type into their browser to reach your website. A domain name would be "www.yourname.com". You must register the name for a designated period of time, 1, 2, 5 or 10 years. The cost varies depending on where you purchase it and for how long, and my suggestion is that if you are not sure you will keep the name, just start with one year. It will come up for renewal after the initial period at the prevailing rates, which are currently $8.00-$35.00 per year. I can set this up for you. To check for name availability, click here.

A host company
A host is the "server" (computer) online where your website is physically stored, you are viewing this page on Page Planit's host's server. There are a variety of hosts and plans out there, and I can help you pick the one that will best suit your needs. Prices vary from host to host, but as a general idea, you can expect to pay between $5 and $25 per month, or $60.00-$300.00 per year*. I can set this up for you.

A site designer
This is where I come in and do what I do best. This is the actual building of the site, from concept through creation, idea to innovation, design to destination.

*There are also free hosting services, but I don't recommend them for business use for a few reasons: They WILL charge for a business-related site, their main purpose is for personal homepages, they WILL place a non-removeable banner on your site, (or even worse, pop-up ads!) and while most will allow you to direct a domain name (www.yoursite.com) to their servers these days, they are fairly limited in what kind of coding and scripts you can use.
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How Do I Pick A Web Designer?
Make your decision based upon the following:

• Do they understand your line of work and what you want your website to accomplish?
  
  
• Are they capable of communicating your message in a style that is consistent with your image?
  
  
• Do they have the talents and production skills to achieve the desired result?
  
  
• What other sites have they developed and what references are available?
  
  
• What is the cost and delivery time for the proposed site?
  
  
• Will the designer serve as a consultant and information source?

• Fresh, Relevant Content
  
  
• Easy Navigation
  
  
• Good Graphic Design
  
  
• Fast, Efficient Performance
  
  
• Effective Promotion

• What do we want to accomplish with this site?
  
  
• Who is our target audience?
  
  
• What are they looking for?
  
  
• How can we bring them to our site?
  
  
• How can we keep them coming back?
  
  
• What message do we want to express through content, image and presence?
  
  
• Can we use text and graphics content from our existing brochures, flyers or ads?
  
  
• How often will updates be needed?
  
  
• What are some websites that reflect the quality and design that we would like to achieve with our site?
  
  
• What sites exemplify what we don't want on our site?

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What Happens If We Occasionally Need To Make Content Changes?
Changes to your site are not only recommended, they are encouraged. The great "hook" that the internet has is that you are able to constantly update and refresh the look of your website. Frequent changes show your visitors that your web presence is something that you consider to be a priority, which will reflect a good light on your industry practices as well.

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We Have A Web Site, But It's Not Doing Much For Us... Can You Help?
Of course! Many websites have the best of intentions, but through either inexperience or faulty layout and/or content, they just don't thrive on the web. What is needed in this case is an analysis of your existing site, followed up by a partial or total "makeover".

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Once The Web Site Is Completed And Uploaded To The Internet, How Do People Find Us?
Your site will include "meta tags", which are keywords related to your website's content, embedded in the coding of your site. Search engines use these words in order of relevance when somebody does a "Search" on the internet. If you have a domain name, you will also be listed in the Who-Is directory free of charge.

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How Much Will A Web Site Cost?
There are a multitude of variables which will affect your total cost. Please refer to "What Is The First Step In Getting A Web Site Built" for general domain and hosting guidelines. As for the design fees, I charge a flat rate of $25 per hour, regardless of whether I'm coding the site, doing graphics work, uploading the finished product to the internet, etc.

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How Long Does It Take To Get A Web Site Online?
Again, this varies depending on if you have an existing site, and how much work needs to be done from scratch. Generally plan on anywhere from one week to one month.. with about two weeks being the average.

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We Have Scanning Equipment, So Can We Do Our Own Graphic And Photo Scans?
Yes you can! This ensures that the photos and graphics will be the exact size and quality that you want, and it will also save you money during the design process.

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Our Organization Is Not Located In Your State.... Will That Be A Problem?
Not at all. I have several clients who I've done work for that I've never met face-to-face. The internet, telephone, and US Postal Service can take care of all communication and delivery issues that occur during the developmental stage. However, some people prefer to make the "human connection" with their designers, in which case a meeting can be arranged.

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Can I Do My Own Updates To The Site?
If you or someone you work closely with has a basic grasp of HTML, then the answer is "probably". If you don't have any resources for making changes, then you are better off letting someone who understands how websites work handle the changes for you. If you'd like me to take care of regular updates for you, then we can work out a monthly or "per change" fee for this.

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What Are Your Pricing And Billing Policies?
I charge a flat rate of $25.00 per hour for my work. That price covers everything I do, from design to graphics to maintenance. There are NO hidden charges or "extra" fees anywhere.. just my flat rate. Up until recently, I haven't required a deposit for my work... I would work with the client to create the site they wanted, and then bill them at the end of the project. Unfortunately, as with so many other things in life, a few bad apples have spoiled the barrel and I now ask for one-third of the estimated cost up front. This is negotiable if you're on a budget, I'm quite flexible with regard to payment plans, but regrettably I can't rely soley on good-faith promises any longer.

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