Why do YOU need a web site?
Cost of Your SiteHosting Domain NamesMaintenance
Search EnginesBefore you startBusiness Tools
You’re considering getting a website
People have been asking for your web address, or telling you to get one. So what's the big deal with websites? And why do you need one?- A website is as standard for a business today as a phone number or business card. Your customers expect you to have one.
- The first place many prospective customers look for your company is your website. They want to be able to get information about your company, learn about your products, get directions to your business, etc. at any time of the day or night. Without a website for those customers to get the information they are looking for, you risk losing business.
- Customers want to be able to get information about your company, learn about your products, get directions to your business, etc. any time of the day or night.
- Without a website for those customers to get the information they are looking for, you risk losing business.
- The bottom line is that your customers expect you to have a website.
So what will a web site do for you?
A website can help your company grow. It should be an investment that brings you a return. But how?- Your site is a marketing tool. It should serve your business needs.
- Whether your goal is to sell more products, attract new customers, or launch a new product line, your site should compliment other marketing efforts in order to reach that goal.
- Because people naturally gravitate toward specialists in a field, your site should help you establish yourself as an expert.
- It should also save labor requirements and costs by providing information and answering questions that you currently have to pay a person to provide or take time to answer yourself.
- And finally, your website should help you save on printing and postage costs by providing electronic information that would otherwise have to be printed and mailed.
How Aspire Designs can help you:
With a combined knowledge in business, marketing, graphic design, and information systems, coupled with the hard working common sense of the Montana rancher, sisters Katie, Tami, and Joey have come together to provide customers interested in an innovative website with attentive service and a creative approach to web design. The sisters’ skill sets combine to provide expertise in every aspect of website creation, from inception to interface to creative design.Whether you already have a site in need of a change, or you are a new company starting from scratch, Aspire Designs can create a site that meets your business needs. You can find more details on our qualifications on the About Aspire page, then go to our Contact page for a free estimate or to discuss your site. We have several options for you to choose from, ranging from a pre-made template to a comprehensive custom site.
Option 1: Basic Template
Choose one of several templates that best suits your business. This option includes a place for your logo, links to all your pages, and a spot for the basic content of your site. Custom graphics are not included. There are three basic pages that almost any site needs: a Home page, a Contact page and an Informational page about your products or services. Templates cost $300 for these first three pages, then $75 for each additional page. Advanced programming – anything beyond basic html - will require a custom quote (Option 3) after we discuss your needs for the site.Option 2: 3-Page Website with Custom Graphics
This option is for those who only need a basic 3 page website, but want to add some custom graphics. The 3-page site with custom graphics costs $500. Like Option 1, this includes only basic html. Advanced programming will require a custom quote (Option 3) after we discuss your needs for the site.Option 3: Comprehensive Custom Website
For those of you who need more than the basics and require custom graphics and functionality for your site, we will work with you to meet your needs. A custom site costs $75 per page after initial site design and layout work has been completed. This cost can be applied to either of the first two options.Advanced Programming
In addition to custom graphics and functionality, there are several other things you might want your website to include that will engage your customers and keep them coming back to your site. These might include e-commerce, contact or registration forms, a calendar of events, slide shows, or even Flash® elements. Contact us for more information and for an estimate to add these elements to your site.
Payment
Half the cost of the quote is required as a down payment before we begin work on your site. The remaining balance is due after the site is finished and live for all to see.
A domain name is another important step in getting your website up and running. This is the address of your website. To illustrate, consider your website as a house. The hosting account is the lot the house is on and the domain name is the house’s physical address. Without an address, there is no way for people using the internet to find your site.
The first step is to decide on your domain name. It should be something that is easy to remember and not likely to be misspelled. You don't want your customers to go to a competitor's site instead of yours - or not be able to find your site at all - simply because of your domain name.
There is another hurdle to face when choosing your domain name. It cannot be already registered to someone else. If there were more than one www.abccompany.com, what would your customer see when they typed that address into their browser - your site or someone else's? With the internet’s huge leaps in popularity, it is becoming harder to find a unique domain name. To find out if the name you want is available, just go to a site like goDaddy.com and enter the name you chose. If the name you want is taken, you will be given available alternatives.
Aspire Designs will register your domain name for you if you choose to host with us. If you host with someone else, you can either do the research on your own or we can do it for you at our normal hourly rate.
We strongly recommend that you register your domain for at least five years. It is only $10 per year for five years, and you don't have to worry about reregistering each year. It also helps greatly in making you look legitimate to search engines. To put you in their top results, search engines want to be sure you are a real business that their customers can count on, and committing to at least five years with your domain name credits your legitimacy as a steady business.
Most of our clients find that purchasing and learning the software required to maintain a website, not to mention the time required to actually do the updates, is not worth their time or effort. If you will be making a lot of changes to your site, we will assist you in learning how to take over maintenance after it is built. Or, if you are like many people and don't want to make the time and financial investment, we will make all the necessary updates to your site for a standard rate of $40 per hour, billed in 1/4 hour increments. If you choose to host with someone else, any work we do with your hosting company or plan will be billed at our normal hourly rate.
As we build your site, we keep Search Engine Optimization in mind. For example the title tags (what appears on the bar across the top of your browser or at the bottom of your screen when the window is minimized) are important, not only to search engines but to the potential customers reading the search engine results. The title from your site is what appears as the main link on the results page of a search. Another way we help to optimize your site with search engines is by making sure the links in your site are easy for search engines to follow. For example if the link from your home page to the pages on the rest of your site are actually an image, although it looks good, the search engines will not see the rest of your pages because they can't follow image links.
It is also important to have your keywords show up frequently in the copy on your site. Your home page is the most important, but there should be ample use of the words that people would use to search for your business throughout your site. We suggest you get help from a good copy writer. We can provide this service for you at our standard hourly rate.
When you decide you need a web site, or that your current one just isn't cutting it anymore, there are certain things you need to do to prepare. To begin, you'll need to have a good idea of what it is you want your website to accomplish. Is it simply to get information to your customers, or are you planning on using your site in an aggressive online marketing campaign?
You also need to know how you want your site to look and feel. For example, what colors do you like or dislike? What other sites have you seen that you liked or disliked? Do you want a business feel, a western feel, or a bold, flashy feel? A little research and forethought into what you want from your site before you start will make the design process simpler and faster, and you will be much happier with the end result. Look over our free estimate form and you can feel certain that you are ready to get started on your site.