What you should know
We first began web site development in 1997 when software, web space, graphics and features were limited and HTML was the only available platform for websites. Since that time we have seen advances in technology and programming languages that have taken the web from flat point and click pages to web sites that offer animated flash, video and dynamic interactive features that allow visitors to engage the internet like never before. Like any other marketable business industry web design has its own share of unethical firms and independent designers who will take advantage of people and businesses who do not really understand how the internet and web design work. This has caused a lot of confusion and have made people seeking designers to become more cautious and less likely to choose the first designer they find.
When it comes to choosing a web designer or a hosting provider, there are a few things you have to take into consideration to make sure you are doing business with a company that is right for you and can help you reach your individual goals.
Web Design -
When looking for a designer the first thing you should check is the designer’s own site. Since the design firm wants to make a good impression and will want to display some of their capabilities, the site they use for their own business will give you an example of what they can offer. Does it look like something you would want for your own site? Does it offer its visitors anything you would consider unique? What are the color schemes like? How are their graphics? Are there examples of work they have done? Do they offer enough information for you to make an informed decision?
One thing to watch out for is how they prepare their clients sites. Do they want to sale you some kind of special software that comes with a limited number of templates that you are supposed to choose from? How many clients and templates could they have before the sites just start repeating each other in design and layout. These types of firms want to you to buy the software, choose a template and then input your text and images, tell you how easy it is to do YOURSELF and still charge you hundreds of dollars while you do the work. Most major hosting companies provide a FREE web design package that will also allow you to choose from ready made templates. But should your site and online presence be limited by how many different colors the same template layout can have? We completely setup your site the way you want with the graphics, colors, and information in a layout you choose. We then provide you with training and a manual to ensure you can make any changes you want to your site in the future, but don’t worry we don’t leave you behind. We always give our clients time every month to allow for changes and updates to the site and the software for free. With other local competing design firms – Need some custom images on your site? Extra charge. What about adding more pages to your site? Extra charge. Can you have a custom contact form? Yes, for an extra charge. We offer a complete site with all of the pages you want included in our estimate. No extra fees.
With some design platforms such as WordPress, there are hundreds of thousands of themes to choose from. There is no limit to the designs, layouts, colors, or ways to present your information on your site. Want to add specific features to your site? Not a problem considering the thousands of plugins and widgets designed specifically for CMS platforms. Billion dollar companies such as Ford, Sony, Samsung, Nokia, Nikon, Pepsi and Lexus are relying on WordPress for their website needs and they could afford to hire the most expensive design firms in the world to create their sites.
Adding Site Features -
Hopefully your online presence will grow and your need for site features will grow with it. Ask ahead of time about hidden charges for making changes to your site. What if you wanted to add a forum, a photo gallery, a blog, create a social site or develop a membership site in the future? Ask about extra or hidden charges for adding those features and others to your site. Some firms will want to charge extra fees for integrating those features into your site and will tell you it is a labor intensive process and will have to be “hand coded”. We can install most major features to your site quickly and for no additional charge. Again these are the same features being utilized by fortune 500 companies and are not scripts in a free download center. These are feature rich addons for your site to greatly improve visitor relations. Just ask People Magazine, Yahoo, Wall Street Journal, CNN or the New York Times who all use the same readily available scripts that we use on our clients sites.
Hosting -
When choosing a hosting provider there are details that can make or break your website in the future. When choosing a host provider consider some of the more important aspects that directly affect your site. Do they limit the bandwidth or amount of data transfer you are allowed? Do they limit Server Space? Is there a limit to how many email addresses you can have? Is there a limit to how many emails each address can hold? Do they limit the amount of sub-domains you can have? If they answer YES to any of those questions then the only way for your site to grow is by paying a higher fee to get a larger hosting package. If they answered YES to any of those questions, you need a new hosting service.
We provide a hosting service that offers: free website transfer from your current host provider, unlimited bandwidth/data transfer, unlimited disk space, private control panel, 1-click feature installs, 4,500 free website templates, 99.9% uptime guarantee, 45 day money back guarantee, 24/7/365 live support by phone, chat or both, $100 Google Adword gift card to jump start your advertising and so much more for just $7.16 a month. Save more money and pay by the year to get hosting for only $3.96 per month. We dare you to find a better deal. Our closest local competitor does not offer a package without limitations. The closest they can offer is priced at $19.95 a month, or if you pay by the year it is $10.00 per month but still has a maximum bandwidth and server space limit. For that price we can set you up a private IP address with unlimited disk space, unlimited domains, unlimited bandwidth, a private SSL certificate for your site, a free toll free number for your business and the list goes on and on. Does it make since to pay more money in order to get less service? We don’t think so.
Our hosting service has won – 2011 Code of Conduct Award by Web Hosting Search, 2011 Best Small Business Hosting, 2011 Best Reseller Web Hosting by WebHostingGeeks.com and the 2011 Best Free Website Transfer Service, 2011 FindMyHost Editor’s Choice Award and the 2011 Top 10 HostReview Award Best Budget Hosting to name but a few of the more than 20 awards and reviews our hosting service has received since its creation in 2002.
We hope you have learned a few things to look for when shopping around for a design firm or a hosting provider. You need to ask as many questions as possible to make a good informed decision. Even if you decide not to select us as your design firm, we will be glad to answer any questions you have and help guide you along and even teach you about the free options available to get your website up and running. Remember, don’t settle for what a designer says is the only solution, only you know exactly what you want your site to look like and how you want it to perform. Everything else is just a mirage.
Mirage – Something illusory or insubstantial (a), can be categorized as “inferior” (b)
(a) Meaning provided by “The Free Dictionary” | original page can be seen at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/mirage
(b) Description provided by “Wikipedia” | original page can be seen at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage
