Affordable, Customized Web Design

New to the Internet? It's not hard.

Hassle-Free
I can make this a completely no-hassle experience for you and take care of everything, start to finish.

If you're new to all of this, you're going to have to trust somebody. Don't let a lack of knowledge keep you from the Internet, it's too important to your business.

Chose Carefully
There are lots of web designers out there, please be careful and understand what you're paying for. Some services promote a low price, but then tack on extra charges for essential items. Some give you a pre-fab look that's not suited for your business.

If your site looks sloppy and unprofessional, they will assume your business is as well. Your site is a direct reflection of you.

How I'm Different
I'm doing this because I want people to succeed. That's the most important thing to me. If you choose another designer and I can still help you in some way, maybe answer a question, I would love to.

In terms of cost, I make it easy for you. I charge a straight $40 an hour for whatever I do. I bill in half hour increments.

Whenever possible, I use free services if they are reputable. When you have to pay for a service, I'll pick the best one for you and I won't tack on any resell charges. I will bill only for my setup costs. That's one way I'm very different.

My Promise To You
I will be completely up front and honest about everything. Even if you don't want to hear it. I will make sure you understand everything. I will give you the best service I possibly can. I will treat you with respect. I will care about you and your business. That's the other way I'm different.

I want you to be successful. That and my ethics are the most important thing to me.

One More Thing
I am committed to running a legal and highly ethical business. I am a Christian and answer to God on everything.

I do not offer my services to sites directly or indirectly involved in gambling, pornography, any immoral practices, or anything that I deem destructive to families. Many things are more important than money.

1.  You need a name for your website.
This is called a domain name. You get to be king or queen of your own domain. That's kind of cool.

No two people can have the same name on the Internet. Yours must be unique. Names can be researched to ensure yours is different.

Once you decide on a name and ensure it's unique, you register it so no one else can use it. You can register it for one or more years and it costs about $9 per year. Since it's pretty cheap, it's wise to register any names you like or might use in the future.

2. You need to rent space on the Internet.
This is called hosting. You pay someone to host your site, which is like renting a room from them. Once your site has been designed and is complete, it's transferred to your "room" and exists there.

Hosting costs about $5 a month and can be cheaper if you buy a year or more at a time. It is the responsibility of the hosting company to ensure your site stays up and running. They also manage your email accounts. That's what you pay them for.

3. You need website pages.
Pages are what you actually see on the Internet. You're looking at a page right now. They contain text, graphics, images (pictures), buttons, animation, and contact information.

Your pages should be put together in an attractive manner that's easy to get around. Most importantly, they need to give the viewer the information they want, quickly and easily.

It takes special programs to create web pages and a creative person to put them together in an attractive and effective manner. That's what you pay for in the creation and design of a website.

Talk to your designer and make sure all the information you want is included in your site and that it represents you appropriately.

If you want images, or pictures on your website, they add a very professional touch, but cost about $90 each.

The implementation part of web design is moving your pages to your hosting site and making sure it all works properly.

3. If you're selling a product or service, you'll need a shopping cart.
Many people sell items or a service on the Internet. That requires you to add another level to your site. You need the ability to display your items, and a secure process for your buyers to purchase your items.

Security and ease are the key elements. Shopping carts can take some time to setup, depending upon how many items you have to sell.

4. You need to maintain your site.
Many people throw up a site and never look back. It will quickly become stagnate and outdated. If you're not taking care of your site, customers will think you won't take care of them.

Be prepared to maintain your site, or have someone do it for you. Update the text, or pictures on your site at least quarterly.

If you have a calendar of events, or something that changes regularly, make sure you stay on top of it.

Those are the basics of what you'll need.

Online Magazine, Client Mailings
If you have the time, it's a great marketing tool to provide information to your clients. This could be tips and tricks, general information, new product announcements, or whatever you want. It keeps your name in front of your client and offers them something useful.

These are called E-Zines (EE-zeens). Your clients sign up to be on your mailing list right on your site and you mail out your information based on this list.

This can be a free service for a limited number of emails addresses.

Tracking and Usage Reports
If you want to get a handle on who is visiting your site, which pages their viewing, when they access or site, how long they stay and other statistical information, you can use a usage tracker. It keeps track of visitors to your site. This can be very useful information.

There are free programs that offer basic information and charge for more the more detailed information and reports.

Optimization
When you search for something on the Internet, like potato companies, you will get a list of results. Several pages worth of potato companies will pop up, but I bet you won't look past the second page.

Optimization is getting your website to the top of the list, or at least on the first or second page. If you're in a highly competitive market, this can mean the difference between doing business or not.

There's a complex process that search engines use to determine the order of their results lists. Because they don't like people figuring out their processes, search engines constantly change them. That means someone in this business has to do constant research to stay up with the search engines and their games. That makes this option expensive to purchase.

I used to be in this business.

It's best to pay a professional who knows what they're doing. They will probably make you change things on your site to please the search engines. If you hire someone to do this, follow their advice. They should also track your site monthly and give you feedback on a regular basis. I recommend ClearTraffic.

Since I used to do this, I will design your site to reflect basic optimization. It's a habit.

If I can help you with any or all of this, please email me, or give me a call at 510.537.7464. I would love to help you.