Website Design FAQ | How much does a website cost? | | We've done sites for under $500 and, well, let's just say for a whole lot more. It all depends on the project. We'll give you an estimate once we've had time to sit down with you and discuss your needs and goals. Here's some free advice, though: Avoid the "fixed price for X pages" website companies. You might as well toss your money out the window.
Anybody can make a website these days - but few of us can make profitable sites. | | Do you do web hosting? | | Yes. Rates average $10 to $20 per month depending on your needs and include making sure your site is always up and running - something companies like GoDaddy don't do. | | What about backups? | | Your website will exist on a web server, a computer here in Phoenix, an off-site backup, and at your request, on a CD/DVD. | | Can you add [some feature] to my website? | | The answer is always yes. The real questions are how much will it cost and how long will it take? I will work with you to figure out what your goal is and figure out how best to meet that goal. I try to leverage existing technologies whenever possible, which greatly reduces the cost and dramatically increases the reliability. | | Will you get my website into the search engines? | | Of course! That's an important part of the service. Unlike many web designers, we design your site with the search engines in mind so that your site is ranked well right from the start. We also offer Search Engine Optimization as an additional service. | | How much of the copy (text) do you write? | | All of it if you'll let us! We learn everything we can about your business and your clients, then use that information to create a profitable marketing website. You know your business - we know how to create effective websites. Together we make a great team! | | Can you take pictures? | | Yes, we can do most if not all of the photography you need. If your project requires something that exceeds our equipment and/or skills, we will take care of finding someone to do it. | | How will I know if my website is effective? | | This is a great question! While every situation is different, the ultimate goal is to increase sales. If your website does direct sales, measuring results is easy. For other businesses we need to come up with a plan. We use a combination of Google Analytics and server logs to analyze the statistics on your website. We work not only to increase traffic to your site, but to motivate those visitors to do business with you. We discuss this more in the section on Online Marketing. | | How difficult is it to make changes to the site after it's done? | | We will design your site so it can be modified very easily. The last thing we want to do is bill you for what should be minor tweaks. We use a technology called CSS for layout whenever possible. This separates the content from the appearance. What this means is that if you decide to change the color of all the headings on all of the pages, we can do it in just a couple of minutes. We also offer DotNetNuke websites, which allow you to modify the text of the website yourself by logging on to the website and using your browser. |
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Web Programming FAQ | How much does it cost? | | My estimate will depend on the nature and complexity of the project. Small "quick fix" projects can be done for under $200 while larger projects can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. | | What languages do you program in? | | These days I work primarily with ASP.NET within the DotNetNuke framework, though I still do work outside of DNN as needed. I will also work with PHP, but only for smaller projects. I've got nothing against other languages - it's a business not a technical decision to restrict myself. | | Can you write [some feature] for my website? | | Yes. If you wanted me to, I could add a button to your website that turns on your microwave. It's always a matter of time and cost. Run your idea by me, and I'll give you an estimate and a few cost-effective alternatives. |
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SEO FAQ | How much does it cost? | | It all depends on what needs to be done. For example, Always Well Written sites need much less work to be fully optimized than most garden variety websites. It also depends on your competition. If competing sites have been optimized, it will take more work to outrank them. There's simply no way any company can offer SEO at a standard price and be effective. | | How high can you get my ranking? | | We won't take on the job if we can't guarantee to boost your ranking. The goal is to get your site on to the first page of Google results for the set of search terms most relevant to your business, but it's impossible to make this guarantee. Anybody who does is lying. | | Should I use one of those services that submits my site to over 400 directories? | | Absolutely not. Google knows all about them. Many of these "directories" are blacklisted by Google because they serve no useful purpose. Google is also wary of any website that suddenly appears on numerous sites. Your ranking may drop as a result. Don't waste your money. | | What about those flat-fee SEO services? | | Every website is unique. Every market is unique. SEO requires modifying the text on your website, tweaking the code underneath the hood, and researching your market to establish valuable incoming links. We don't know how any company can offer an effective SEO service for a flat fee unless they are grossly overcharging a lot of clients. | | How long does it take? | | The first upward movement in the search results should be seen within a couple of weeks of making the changes to your site. It all depends on how often Google visits your site and updates your entry in its index. After that it can take a couple of months of tweaking and waiting to get to our goal position. | | What is a TLA? | | TLA stands for Three Letter Acronym. |
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On-line Marketing FAQ | How much does it cost? | | My fees, of course, will depend on the time it takes to develop the campaign. If we need to make new landing pages, that will take more time. The cost per click varies greatly from just pennies to $15 or more in very competitive markets. I can give you an estimate per click before we get started. | | If I'm paying per click, how do I keep my costs under control? | | Every campaign is set up automatically with a budget per day. Once you reach your daily limit, your ad is not run again until the next day. | | How soon can I get a campaign running? | | We can have a campaign up and running within a day if you already have an effective landing page. | | Is this something I can do myself? | | Yes, if you're prepared to waste your money. I measure the click-through rates on all of my ads and constantly adjust my ads to make them more effective. I have increased click-through rates by as much as 500% from the initial version of the ad. I also measure what visitors do after clicking the ad so that you're not paying good money for people who just take a peek and leave. |
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Traditional Marketing FAQ | How much does it cost? | | My fees are based on the project. If I have designed your website and online marketing campaigns, it's usually not that expensive for me to design your traditional marketing campaign. How much you spend for your particular type of advertising (print ads, flyers, postcards) will vary greatly, but I will help you find the best deal. | | Can you design postcards, flyers, and print ads? | | Yes. I can also work with your existing materials. Sometimes just a few changes can make your ad much more effective. | | Which is more cost effective: Online or traditional marketing? | | It's not really an either/or question. Your website is the cornerstone of your marketing efforts. It's available 24/7. These days people usually check out a business on the web even if they first hear about it somewhere else. The biggest advantages of online marketing are the low startup cost and only paying for warm prospects. However, some businesses are best served by traditional marketing to make the first contact. |
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