Help Guide

The cost is completely dependent on what you want for your site. The more graphics and pages that you require, the greater the time that is necessary to construct the site. Generally speaking, we find that most websites for people starting out on the WWW will run between $590 and $1200 (this is a one-time fee). We will give you an estimate after you indicate to us how you wish to start out.

If you are working within a very limited budget, then you should start out with a strong foundation, and subsequently add more pages & graphics as your online sales increase.

In addition to the cost of constructing your site, the other charge that you have is with your host server. This is a fee that you pay directly to them, and generally it runs between $10 and $20 per month.

First, gather the graphics and text that will make up the content on your site. Your website is a reflection of you and your business, therefore only you can determine what is most important to present.

Next, look at some of the other sites on the WWW that are in your field - this is your competition. Think about what you like and what you do not like about their various webpages. Take notes.

Finally, determine your budget, and realistically assess the extent of your own initial online presentation.

We will build your site so it is easily maintained. If you feel comfortable with HTML coding, then you can maintain it yourself if you choose. However if you'd prefer to have us take care of it for you, then we are happy to do so.

The cost of site construction is one time only. As mentioned above, you will have a monthly fee that you will pay directly to your site's hosting service, and of course if you want to make ongoing updates to your site, then there would be a charge (based on the extent of the changes), but that is it. If you do not make any changes for awhile, then there is no more expense.

We can set you up with a dependable hosting service if you have not already picked one out. The cost of the hosting will likely be between $10 to $20 per month, unless your site is very large, or has other special needs. Once the account is set up, they will bill you directly each month.

The cost of website hosting has been very stable, so it is unlikely that the expense would rise significantly. In any case, if you are not happy with your server you can always move to another.

We use sophisticated software and file compression techniques to keep the total size of graphics on each webpage as low as possible (without sacrificing quality), so consequently the pages we design download fast even with a 56k modem (and considerably faster with broadband).

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Yes. People who use the web for the purchase of goods and services expect to be able to make payment by credit card. If you do not currently have a "merchant account", then inquire at the bank where you have your business checking account to see if they will set you up to accept Visa & MasterCard. This cost should be minimal, so if the bank attempts to sell you expensive monthly fees, then inquire elsewhere. You can contact us for suggestions.

An alternative is to accept credit card payment through a service such as PayPal.com. In this case, you do not need your own merchant account. Rather, they take the credit card payment, then digitally transfer the money to your account (less their percentage).

You definitely should. Again, one of the keys to making online sales is to make it as easy as possible for your customers. When they see something they like, they want to buy it at that time, and a secure cart makes that possible.

If you have a merchant account, then the credit card payment can be made through your own cart, and you'll receive the money directly. If you prefer to take your card payments through a service such as PayPal, then the customer would use PayPal's cart set up, which we would integrate into your site.

We construct sites that are "search engine friendly", and upon completion we register every web site we design with the top search engines that are still free. This helps to make your Internet address available to anyone looking specifically for you, or for contacting someone in your field.

Many of the biggest search services - such as Yahoo, Looksmart, and MSN - now require a one time payment if you want to be included in their databases. You should most definitely pay for Yahoo, and eventually do several of the others as well.

Also, it is essential that you promote your unique web address by adding it to ALL your advertising, mailings, and literature - including business cards, brochures, etc.

Finally, you should develop linking relationships with other web sites where potential customers are most likely to visit.

There is no way to honestly answer that. We have had clients make sales their first month, and others take a year. But one thing is for sure - remember this above everything else - you will only get out of your WWW site what you put into it.  If you take the time to do adequate promotion, then you will likely see favorable returns.

A good domain name is very important to online success. It should ideally be reasonably short; should be easy to spell; easy to remember; and have some relation to what you do. If you'd like, we can make all arrangements for you - the cost is under $30 per year.

You can send you graphics via the US Postal Service, as photographs, slides, or digital media (Zips, floppies, or CD).

The most cost effective approach is to have your graphics copied to a digital CD by a reasonably priced professional scanning service - we will recommend a few to you if you'd like. Any materials that are sent to us will be returned at the end of the project.

Most of your text should be sent via email. We will edit and spell check, but most of the phrasing should be worked out by you - after all, no one knows better than you what to say about your own business.

That depends on how well you have organized your materials and how full our own schedule is at the time. The best thing to do is to first initiate contact to get the process started. Once we begin work on your site, then things move along steadily. It is more important to do it right than to do it fast, and as any of our previous clients will confirm, we do it right.

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