SERVICES
- Custom Websites
- Web Hosting and Email
- Reworking of existing websites
- Static and dynamic websites
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- PHP and MySQL
- ASP
- Apache or Windows Server
- e-Commerce Solutions
- Maintenance and Support
- Custom Graphics
- Flash Animation
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Why should your business have a website?
Your website is an essential channel of communication between your customers and your business. Even if you do not conduct your business through your website, it gives you an important competitive edge. Most likely your competitors already have a website.
Without a website, you're losing business to your competitors. Your website tells your story and why your potential customers should do business with you.
A website provides added exposure, making your business accessible to anyone with an Internet connection — anytime, anywhere in the world.
A website works for you 24/7. People can learn about your business, your products or services, and contact you.
You can start with a simple website and add information, pages and functionality over time.
What should be on your website?
Many websites start out very simple—a few pages about your company, your products and services, and your contact information. We start out with a question and answer session to determine your needs (which are are specific to your business). Typical questions are:
- What do you want from your website?
- How many menu items or sections will you need for your website? Some common sections (in addition to your home page) include:
- About Us (Company, Founders, Partners)
- Contact Us (possibly including driving directions, email or a feedback form)
- Products/Services (what we do, what we sell)
- Projects (includes photo galleries, testimonials, client lists, etc.)
- How much content will be on the website?
- Text
- Photos
- Products
- Links
- Contact Forms or any other items
- We'll determine what you need and listen to your ideas on content, color combinations.and more.
Do you have prepared content?
If you have existing brochures, menus, catalogs and other written information available, you’re on your way! Anything in electronic format (logos, photos, graphics, documents, spreadsheets, etc.) will save production time.
If you don't have any prepared content, then we can help you create it. Most importantly, you need to be involved in developing the message and content that will market your business, products, and services effectively.
Do you need a Static or Dynamic Website?
If you are a relatively small business or the products and services that you provide need few updates or additions, then a static website will meet your needs. Static web pages always look the same and the content never changes unless you change the page and upload the new version of the page to the web server. A static website will meet the needs of a lot of businesses.
If you have a large inventory of products and/or services or you frequently need your website to be updated with new product information, services, news or special offers, then you should probably have a dynamic database-driven website.
For example, think of a restaurant that has a list of daily specials. If you wanted your website daily specials page to change every day to show the daily special menu items, it wouldn't be cost-effective (or practical) to have the page rebuilt each day. If you have the same specials week after week - then you could simply have them all listed per day on one page that would never change until your specials change. However, if your specials change on a daily basis, a dynamic database-driven website would be the best option. In a database website the content for the products, pricing, member lists and profiles, is kept in a database on the web. To change that content we just update the database and the website shows that revision immediately.
While a dynamic website typically costs more because of its complexity, it can be a more cost effective solution in the long run since it is easier to make changes. A dynamic website is the most effective solution for websites with content requiring frequent updates and/or interaction with the visitors. The real benefits of a database-driven website come if you want to maintain your own content. Through a content management tool that we can provide, you can log in, make a quick update and your website is instantly updated with new information. Or you can have us quickly make that change for you.
Based on the information you provide, we'll determine if a static or dynamic website is best for your business
Website Design
Once we have the content, we'll create the custom design that gives your website the look and feel that you want to convey. If you need a website quickly, we have templates that can shorten the design time.
After you approve the design, we'll build the pages and upload your website to a test server. This provides you with a temporary link so you can see exactly how it looks and that it has the functionality you need. When you approve the final version, your website will be online almost immediately!
Domain Name Registration, Hosting, Email and Maintenance
If we're reworking an existing website - then you most likely already have a domain name registered and a hosting server. We'll need that information to be able to upload your entire website.
If this is a new website:
- What is the domain name you would like for your website (and is it available)?
- Do you want us to host your website?
- Who will be responsible for maintaining the website?
- Do you want us to set up email accounts for your business website?
We currently charge a $100 annual fee for domain registration and hosting for a website that we have created and $150 per year for basic site maintenance. Basic site maintenance includes adding additional photos, text changes to your site, and other types of simple changes. These fees only apply to sites that we have created.
After your website has been created, any major reworking will be subject to an additional charge depending upon the amount of work necessary
How much will your website cost?
When designing and developing a website, we take all the following into account:
- What type of website do you want? What are the required features (such as Information Distribution, Subscription or Membership Base, e-Commerce, and others)?
- Design elements:
- Do we need to create a logo?
- Do you have existing materials or documents that we can work from?
- How many pages will you need for your website?
- Will the content be static or dynamic (see above for explanation)?
- Do you need a domain name?
- Will we be hosting your website?
- Who will be responsible for maintaining the website?
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