Small Buisness Web Sites


Professional Web Designers

October 12th, 2013 ernie Posted in Web Design No Comments »

Professional Web DesignersWe have all seen all kinds of web sites. Some are complex and difficult to navigate. While others have lots of graphics and do not really say very much. They do not get the message across to the reader. There are fancy web sites, with lots of colors, and animations, etc.  That is expensive to create and to keep up to date. The more complex a site is, the more expensive it is to maintain and keep current. Is this what you need for a small business website?

Great content that gets your message across about your products and services, how to contact your company and information about how to use the products and services along with saving money is really what most people are after. The fancy bells and whistles do not really do a lot for people and in some cases frustrate them.

Professional Web Designers – Basic Web Site

That’s why we deliver a basic website that tries to meet the needs of small businesses without being over the top expensive. We even have an option where we will host a site for you, install a blog content management engine and the first couple of pages, and then turn it over to you to develop your own content. Of course, we can do that for you as well. We just wanted to give small business owners who are on a tight budget or just getting started another option for building their web site and keeping it professional looking. Click here to find out more.

We can add great graphics or pictures for you as well that you provide. These pictures are jpeg files that are kept in a gallery on your blog. They can be sourced and introduced to any page or post that you wish.

Dense information I.e. Heavily populated content is hard to read and most readers do not get past the first paragraph. Stick to the point and get your message across in a few sentences.

Professional Web Designers – Budget

But how much do they cost? Click here to view our rates or contact us for the special hosting option with the blog install. It is very inexpensive and as long as you are willing to do some work updating and adding content, it might be the right answer for you.

Is it worth it?  What is the return on investment? This is what everyone wants to know. Developing a basic web site that is professional looking is not difficult.  Your return on investment can be measured by asking clients to let you know how they found you and placing a counter on the web site. You can add contact forms and comment areas. Add the URL to your business cards and all other advertising. Get your website out there.

What about stats?

We also can install a stat counter on your site and arrange for an email sent once per week to you to advise you regarding how many people come to your site and return to your site.

Do it yourself or hire a web site developer

The hard part is getting started and setting the basics up. Once you have a site, business owners can add their own content whenever they need to, or they can hire someone to do it for them. It basically comes down to the price they want to pay to keep a website up to date.
Check us out!

We provide hosting, a basic blog, add your content as needed, and help you grow as your business and online presence grows. It is an inexpensive way to get started.  Contact us today for a free estimate.

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Professional Web Site Design

September 21st, 2013 ernie Posted in Web Design No Comments »

Professional Web Site DesignThere are probably as many opinions about professional website design as there are websites on the internet. Some people believe they should be flashy with lots of catchy pictures and colors. While others are much more conservative and frankly boring.  The bottom line is really determined by the owner of the website and the customers/clients/ readers or visitors think of the site and whether they come back for whatever reason.

Professional Web Site Design

Basic Functionality of a WebSite

The basic functionality of a site should include what services or products your company provides, where you are, and how to contact you. You will be able to include the URL on your business cards and people will be able to find you on the internet if they search specifically for your name or your company’s name.

Delivery Information

Your website can also deliver information. This can include sales promotions, information about new products, new staff members, and general information about the company. The sky is the limit in terms of what you may want to provide on your company’s professional website.

Increase the Customer Relationship

Providing social networking links, accepting and monitoring comments by customers, and adding testimonials are just a few of the things that can be added in this area. Basically, you are attempting to create customer loyalty in this area of your website. Customers might subscribe to a Twitter feed, a Facebook page, or an RSS feed to keep abreast of some of the products and services that you offer.

Full E-commerce Site

One of the next stages is creating a full e-commerce site that customers can interface with and order products and services. They should be able to pay for what they order and be able to also follow up and review the status of the order. This is a major step up from a basic site requiring much more in terms of design and back-office support.

Decide What the Objectives Are

Before you begin, we urge all customers to assess what their objectives are. A basic site represents your company. It is the online version of your storefront. It needs to be accurate, it needs to be pleasing to the eye without being complicated or gaudy, and it should deliver whatever you need it to deliver to your customers. Give some thought to what you are trying to achieve. You do not need a Cadillac design when you just want the basic information out there.

Hire the Right Company to Design Your WebSite

Most companies can set up basic websites and provide hosting. Not all companies can set up a detailed e-commerce site for prices that you can afford. Knowing your objectives and deciding what you need ahead of time will help a great deal.

Focus on Getting the basic Information to Your Readers

Start by getting the basic information to your readers. Spend the time you need to obtain the right domain name. The website design can always be upgraded at some future time. The domain name is the online version of your company’s name. It should, in some manner, be related to your company or the products and services the company provides.

Check out our services and prices here if you need help setting up your company or personal website. Click here

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Web Designer for Small Business

September 7th, 2013 ernie Posted in Web Design 3 Comments »

Web Designer for Small BusinessMany small businesses know they need a web site. But they feel they cannot afford to hire a web designer to set up a web site for them. They really do not understand the costs involved. Many look at having a website as something they should have. But it may not be considered as part of their core business activities or core advertising business.

In this post, we decided to provide three examples of small businesses that needed a web site and the solution that they eventually went with for their business. All wanted the basic information to be online so they could refer their customers to the sites for more information, they wanted to be able to add the URL to their business card and they hoped to gain customers through their web site from visitors that found them on the internet. When they advertised using traditional models, they would also list the web site.

Electrician and Residential Gas Fitter

This customer really only wanted five pages initially with all of the basic information about his company and the services they provided. He wanted to add some pictures as well that showed some of the installations that he worked on along with testimonials from his customers. This was easily accomplished for him and other than the initial fee to set up the website, he only needs to pay the annual domain name fee and the hosting account fee.

Since we used a blog engine, we also set him up so that he could add pages or blog posts himself and he could also update existing material as his business changed. This was a really attractive advantage to him since he did not want to pay for updates to pages or adding pages. He had a very limited budget and this met his objectives.

Unfortunately, his web site is not ranked very high by the search engines since it is not SEO optimized. There are simply not enough pages with keywords that people usually use to search for the services he offers. At the present time, he is satisfied with that and will continue with his current arrangement.

Ski Club

While this is technically not a business, they have many of the same requirements that the above customer needed. Inexpensive and limited update costs were paramount. This site is used to keep members informed about trips and membership updates. There are only 5 or 6 pages that need to be updated. They want to be able to also make their own updates.

They already have a domain name, but no hosting location. Their budget is even more limited. They are presently looking for free hosting and someone to update their pages for them. They are still thinking about the services that are provided and that they need as well as looking for free hosting which one of their members may be able to provide. Again, they are willing to work on the content and just need the basic website structure to be put in place which a content management system such as WordPress can provide.

Word of Mouth Lawn Care Provider

Another potential customer has been offering lawn care services in the area for many years. He is trying to decide if he wants to increase his business or keep it at the present level. He does not have a web site and relies on word of mouth for his business advertising.

While this works for him at the present stage he is at. He knows he needs a web designer for his small business. He also needs a domain name, hosting account, and a web blog that would be easy for him to upkeep.

Although the costs are very low, he is trying to decide what his business strategy will be.  Before he takes the next step should he try to turn his part-time business into a larger full-time business? This will involve personal commitments that he is not sure he is ready for.

For more information about our services and our costs for those services, click here. We can help you with your website requirements.

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