table of contents 1. things to know before you start a.
How much should I spend on my website?
b.
Top five mistakes when planning a website
2. the website design process a.
How does the typical web design process work‌that is, if everything goes according to the plan?
b.
Who is doing what - roles and responsibilities in the process
3. website hosting and maintenance a.
What is website hosting and how much does it cost?
b.
How to transfer and maintain your website
c.
Hey! My website isn’t working! What do I do when my website is broken?
d.
Website resources: storage, email accounts and bandwidth. How much you need and how to get more
4. web marketing a.
What is web marketing and why I need to do it?
b.
Web marketing basics that are included during the web development process
c.
Five basic ways to advertise your website
introduction If you have ever custom ordered anything that did not turn out the way you expected, this website planning guide is for you. After reading this guide, you will know exactly what to expect during the website design process and you will likely end up with a website you are very happy with. We will help you to avoid all the pitfalls so many people fall into when they embark on the website design journey without the benefit of a little prior research.
Are you ready? Let’s begin!
chapter
1
things to know before you start
Because every customer’s needs are different, there are many different options out there for choosing your web design. While it might seem fun to have cool features on your website, you need to consider if you really need these things or if you can afford them. Here are some questions to ask yourself before you start shopping around for a web design company:
1.
Do I have the technical or design skills to build my website myself, and do I have the time? There are do-it-yourself website design software and templates on the market that make building a website easy if you have some computer experience. This is a fairly good option if your budget is very limited and you are not afraid of the learning curve. Building your own website is gaining popularity as some of the software out there is becoming more sophisticated and easier to use. However, most easy-to-use software packages have fairly limited features, and fully featured software requires a significant amount of time to learn to use. If you are not an artist or experienced in a related field, coming up with an attractive design concept can be a daunting task as well. No matter which software package you choose, bear in mind that it takes quite a bit of time to design, build, test and maintain a website. Do you have the time to do this, or do you need to spend your time running your business?
2.
Do I need frequent content updates? If you expect you will need to add or make changes to your website content often, you will need to consider this during the web design process. Some website design companies do not lend well to frequent updates, because you cannot make the changes yourself and the website designer charges you for each update. On the other end of the spectrum, do-it-yourself website software usually allows for easy do-it-yourself updates. There are many options between the two extremes, with some companies offering free updates or a limited amount of free updates each month.
tip
If you expect to have frequent website content updates, ask for a Content Management System (CMS) when you select a design company. The system allows you to add new pages and update the existing content without having any technical skills. Most content management systems themselves are free, but it will cost a few hundred dollars to have one integrated into your website. If you have the budget for it, we highly recommend you invest in this option. However, if you have a limited budget, a cheap alternative would be to use www. wordpress.com, a free blog software that allows you update content frequently. You can place the link in your regular website home page, and the visitors can follow the link for any of your updates.
3.
How many different pages do I need in my layout? When you are shopping for a website, many design companies will ask you, “How many pages do you need?” This will often lead you to think, “The more pages I need, the more expensive the website will be.” However, this is not the case most of the time, because pages with no significant layout difference, other than the content, are fairly easy to duplicate. The number of pages gets even more irrelevant when you choose to have a Content Management System integrated into the website. This is because, with the CMS, you will be able to create unlimited pages yourself just like creating a word document. So instead of asking yourself how many pages you need, ask how many different layouts you need for you website. Then, decide whether you need a different layout for each page or if you can use the same layout for all of them. Most small business websites need two layouts: one for the home page, and one for all other pages (About Us, Contact Us, Services, etc). Each different layout requires a different design and coding and will increase the cost of website considerably. Another thing to consider is that using the same or similar layouts throughout the site lends continuity and ease of navigation for your visitors.
4.
Do I need a logo? A logo is the easiest way to make your business, not just your website, look professional. Put your logo on your business card, your letters, and anywhere you advertise your
business. Many professional web design firms also offer logo design service. Because the logo design is fairly simple and cheap, starting with a logo design is a great way to test the design firm’s quality of service and their style of design. If you like the service and communication you received during the logo design, then they are likely to deliver the website you like as well. When hiring a professional to design your logo, keep in mind that whichever color scheme you use on the logo should carry over to the website as well.
5.
Do I need a shopping cart, payment gateway and merchant account? Integrating a shopping cart into your website will cost you a few hundred dollars. It is not because the shopping cart software itself is expensive—many of them are free— but because the out-of-the-box shopping cart software seldom matches the business or website image you desire. Many times, substantial page and function modifications are required. So before you decide to have a full-featured shopping cart integrated into your website, ask yourself how many products you are going to sell. If you only sell a handful of products, you probably do not need to spend the time and money having a fullfeatured shopping cart integrated into your site. A “Buy Now” button from PayPal will probably do the trick just as well. It allows you to accept credit cards online just like other payment gateways and merchant accounts. There are a few downsides for using a “Buy Now” button from PayPal, but if you only sell a few products, this is an option you should seriously consider. So, what if your customers might purchase multiple products at the same time? Well, Google Shopping Cart is a cheap alternative. The Google shopping cart is relatively easy to implement and is our recommendation to small business owners with a limited budget.
EQLink Web Design does not charge extra for PayPal buttons. If this is the option you choose, your website will be ready to accept credit cards online through PayPal with no extra cost to you.
did you know?
6.
Where do I host my website? Many web design companies provide hosting service. This gives them great control over, and the responsibility for, taking care of your site. This is a fairly good option if you don’t have the time or resources to host and maintain the site yourself. Knowing the website will be taken care of by qualified professionals allows you to have peace of mind and more time to focus on your business. If you are the type of person who wants to save as much as you can, there are many Internet web hosting companies or resellers who will host your site for you, usually at a lower cost than the web design company. However, don’t be dazzled by the amount of storage space they offer; most websites for small businesses are well under 100 megabytes. Five or 10 gigabytes of storage is often overkill, unless you have a lot of videos or full resolution images. Also, if you do choose an Internet hosting company or reseller, make sure they can’t sell your unused space to other customers. It is a common, but bad, practice that often causes hosting server overload and slow performance. Pricewise, hosting through the company that designs your website usually costs $10/month more than most Internet resellers, but your web design company knows a great deal about your site and they often take care of your site upkeep and maintenance. Updating your site is often as easy as one call or an email when you host with your web design company.
did you know?
Hosting through EQLink will take care of your website maintenance too. Your monthly hosting cost includes a one hour website maintenance credit. You can use the credit toward your website updates to change pictures, content, etc. If your website does not need monthly maintenance or updates, you can accumulate unused credits for future bigger changes.
How much should I spend on my website? The amount you spend on your website is dependent on your budget, how complex you need your website to be and whether you have the technical and design skills to do any of it yourself. If you build your own website, you can get free software and building your website will cost you nothing, or you can invest in some more robust software and spend about $200. Templatebased designers add a professional’s touch to your web design for about $200 to $500, but the choices are usually a bit limited and your website will look fairly similar to other website with the same template. With a bigger budget of $500 or more, you can usually get a completely custom designed website. For more information on website design packages and prices, read How Much Does Web Design Cost?.
EQLink’s Standard Web Design package costs only $499 for a custom designed website. It is not a template based design. Every website is hand designed from scratch by a qualified professional web designer. We do this to make sure your website is unique and looks like no one else’s.
did you know?
Top Five Mistakes when Planning a Website Too much planning
1
st
mistake
Surprisingly, this is the #1 mistake most small business owners make, especially new start-ups. Planning is good. We love talking to the business owners when they have a clear idea of what the page layout should be or what the website should look like. It reduced our guess work and allows us to deliver the site you want more efficiently. However, when you find yourself spending a lot time working on the layout, picking the color scheme, etc., you are taking over the designer’s job.
Writing the full content before you see the design
2nd
mistake
It is good for the designers to know what message you are going to put on the home and each page; however, writing the content before the design is like buying your furniture before you’ve built your house. Most of the time, a website’s layout has limited space, and without seeing your website design first, you never know how much content you should write to suit the space best. If you have too much text, the designer has to compromise the design to fit the content. Unless you feel it absolute necessary to have the entire message in exact words you chose, leave the space to the designers; a perfect visual image is what we strive to achieve. Many times, the designer will hand you over a perfectly designed page draft with Greek characters as placeholders; this gives you an idea of how much space you have for your message so you can begin drafting it.
NOTE: Your copywriter may have a different opinion on this; after all, the battle between copywriters and designers is an ancient one.
Spending too much on your website
3
rd
mistake
It is easy to get dazzled by flashing lights and fancy features when choosing your website design. It is a little bit like shopping for a used car—an unscrupulous salesman will try to sell you more website than you need, and you might convince yourself you absolutely need all those fancy things. However, spending a lot of money on features that do not add to the customer experience is just a waste. A shopping cart, for example, can open be replaced with a ‘Buy Now’ button and save you a few hundred dollars.
Spending too little for the website
4
th
mistake
You want a website you can be proud of, one that can help you grow your business and create a positive image of your business for your customers. Why, then, would you skimp on your website? For many people, the website is the first impression they get of a company. Shoddy design, homemade-looking graphics and poorly written content will likely turn off new customers and frustrate your current ones. The marketplace is so competitive that it is easy for your customers to go somewhere else if you are not meeting their needs.
5
th
mistake
Procrastination We know, we know. Hiring a website designer costs money, and deciding what you want on your website takes time. It’s easy to procrastinate, putting off this project for a time when you will have more money and more time. However, if you wait for the perfect time, you will never have a website! Invest the time and money now, and it will be worth it—you will thank yourself later when the sales are pouring in.
chapter
2
the website design process
Now that you have decided what kind of website you need, what features you need, how much you are going to spend and who is going to build the website, it is a good idea to get yourself familiar with the entire process. In this chapter, we will walk you through a typical design process, different roles in the process and the communication between these roles.
So…how does the typical web design process work…that is, if everything goes according to the plan? The process can be very different depending on your budget. For the sake of discussion, we assume you have a typical budget ($500-$1000) for a custom designed website like most small business owners. For a typical website, here are the five steps you will usually go through.
step
1
define the scope, sign the contract, and make the payment When defining the scope of your project, make sure you have the following: • Number of different page layouts • Number of the pages and their names if you have them • Whether or not you want the website design company to design your logo
That’s it. Sounds too simple? Perhaps, but if you are like most traditional small business owners, all you need is a simple website that introduces your business to visitors and gives them the basic information they need about you. If you want to integrate a shopping cart, CMS or other e-commerce features on your website, defining the scope yourself gets a little bit complicated. Many design firms offer free consulting services that can define the scope for you and give you a price quote based on that scope.
Most web design companies require you to sign a contract before they start on the design. The contract usually consists of the scope of the project, responsibilities from both sides, and the payment structure. For small projects ($500 or under), most design companies require the customers to pay in full upfront. For bigger projects ($1000 or over), most design companies allow a 50% down payment to kick off the project. For even bigger projects ($3000+), it is a good idea to set milestones, and agree to pay a specific percentage once each milestone has been reached. Negotiate your down payment to reduce your risk in the event something goes wrong.
To save you time and money, EQLink Web Design has spelled out a very detailed project scope for its standard website design package. The project scope is
did you know?
based on the need for most small business owners. You are able to find it under ‘Standard website design package terms and conditions’ on the order page. If you need a full e-commerce website, fill out our price quote worksheet (www.eqlink. com/pricequote) and we will provide you a website proposal tailored just for your project.
step
2
initial communication Shortly after you sign the contract and make the payment, a project manager will contact you via phone or email. He or she will typically ask you a few questions to get a better feel for what it is you want in your website as far as features and layout go.
step
3
initial draft, feedback, revisions and approval The website designer will work on the design for your website based on your conversation with the project manager. The designer will help you choose fonts, colors and the layout, and will also work with you on choosing your graphics, including designing custom ones. Your website designer is an expert in how websites should be designed. If he tells you it is not a good idea to have psychedelic colors and flashing text on the website for your chiropractic practice, it is a good bet that you should follow his advice.
Once the design is created, you will be given the chance to provide feedback and tweak the design until you are happy with it. Once the design is approved, you are generally locked into your contract. While some companies will let you cancel your order at any time up until this point, once you approve the design, you are committed.
step
4
functional programming Once the design has been approved, the programmer will then code, build and test the website. The content will need to be provided during this phase.
step
5
site is tested and goes live Once the program manager thinks the website is ready to go, he will show it to you so you can test it for yourself and make sure it turned out the way you wanted it to. If anything needs to be changed, the programmer will make the changes until you are happy with the site. When all changes are approved, your website will go live and people will be able to view it on the Internet.
What to expect from the design concept, mock-ups and how to give constructive feedback to create a website you like Once you and your designer have agreed on a design, the designer will do a mock-up of the website. This is a sort of sketch that will give you a visual of the design you had agreed on. If there are some differences from what you wanted, or the layout you chose does not make as much sense as you thought, now is the time to make corrections, before the programmer invests time in coding the whole website. However, keep in mind that this is just a sketch, like an artist does before he creates the actual painting. Elements of the website, like links, will not all be functional. If there is something you do not like at any point during the design process, it is better to speak up now, rather than wait until the website is done. However, if you want a timely correction to the problem, you need to be specific. “I don’t like it” or “this isn’t user friendly” is not helpful feedback. Unless you tell the designer exactly what you do not like or you find confusing, he cannot correct the problem. Is it the colors? Is it the layout? Is it the size of the font? These are the specific issues he needs to know about. Bear in mind that the designer and programmer cannot see inside your head, so if they do not carry out your vision exactly as you thought they would, do not take it personally or fire your web design company to look for one that does not make mistakes (trust us, they do not exist). Remain calm—this is usually a very minor problem. Simply list out the problems as discussed above and work with your designers to make the corrections.
While most design companies offer two rounds of design revisions, EQLink Web Design offers unlimited rounds of design changes. We do this to make sure you will have a website design you like and never need to worry about that question: What if I don’t like the design?
did you know?
How to test your new website
Each website comprises many different components. From the content to the graphics to the links, there are many opportunities for something to go wrong. Although programmers are usually very good at what they do, they are not Superman and they do make mistakes. Because of this, you will need to pitch in to test the site and make sure it functions how you want it to. In order to make sure your website is fully functional, you will want to test every single function. Start on the Home page and click every link, every button and type in every text box. Start at the top of the page and work your way down until you have done everything, and then go on to the next page and repeat the process until you have tested the entire site. For interactive functions like shopping carts, see if you can “break” them by using them in unusual ways—adding an item to your shopping cart and then clicking on the back button, interrupting the checkout process by leaving the shopping cart and coming back, etc. Anything you have ever done on a website that could cause something to go wrong, try it. It is better to find all this during the building phase than to have a customer tell you your website is broken and possibly lose a sale because of it.
What to expect and what to do when the website goes live Once you approve the website and it goes live on the World Wide Web, it should be fully functional. At this point, your website design company will probably not allow any further changes except as part of any maintenance plan you might be entitled to or by charging you an extra fee. Therefore, do not approve your website until you are absolutely sure you like it. It usually takes a couple of days for the search engines to find your website, so do not jump on Google the minute your website goes live and expect to find it. Your programmer most likely used Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on your website to make it searchable, but the website will need to be submitted to the search engines. Depending on the company, they may do this for you. Others will leave it to you. We will talk about this more in a few minutes.
Who is doing what – roles and responsibilities Here is a close look at the roles of each person involved in the website design process to give you an idea of how most design companies work.
You – The Client: You might think paying a professional web design company to build your website lets you off the hook, but that is not quite true. There are still things you need to do in order to make sure the web design process is a success.
Do: Answer the designer’s questions. Many design companies have their own standard questionnaire sheet to help them better understand the client and the client’s business. Answer these questions in as much detail as you can provide. This might seems simple and straightforward, but it is actually something many clients procrastinate on or put little effort into.
Don’t: Slow down the process by refusing to answer questions Your website belongs to you and is a reflection of you and your business. Your designer cannot see the vision you have inside your head, so you will have to convey it to him. It does not do anyone any good to have conversations like, “What would you like on your website?” “I don’t know. What do you want to put on my website?” It does not work well for choosing a restaurant for your date, and it does not work for settling on a website design. If you have your own planning sheet, and think you answered all the questions the design company asked, that’s a good start. However, don’t ignore the questionnaire the design company asks, or throw your planning sheet at them and say, “The answers are in there, look for yourself.” This will only frustrate both of you and slow down the process. Try to fit your answers into the standard questionnaire sheet the design company provides. This might seem like a little bit of extra work from your end, but it will make things easier for the project manager, the designer and everyone else involved in your project if they need to find something quickly. This convenience for the web design team will result in you getting the website you want in the timeframe you expect.
Do: Give timely, constructive feedback This is an area many design companies have trouble with. As soon as possible after your project manager gives you a mock-up of your website (or the final), go over it and provide thorough feedback as soon as possible. The more quickly you respond to the project manager’s requests, the sooner your website will be finished.
Don’t: delay your feedback. Provide the feedback to your web design company as soon as you or your associates are done reviewing the website. You might feel the need to sit down and have a detailed discussion and evaluation of the feedback, but make sure you don’t delay too long. The reason is, in most design companies, the designers are assigned several projects at the same time and need to prioritize their work. If it takes too long for them to receive your feedback, the designer will need to move on and work on other projects instead of yours—and the completion of your site may be delayed.
Draw a picture
tip
A picture is worth more than a thousand words. We love it when a customer provides us feedback with their drawing on the mock-ups, showing us what it is they want. It makes the communication much more efficient and intuitive. It is not hard to draw simple diagrams, lines and text boxes—Microsoft Paint is a drawing program that comes with windows, and it can do the job most of the time. You do not have to be Picasso and we promise not to show your drawings to anyone!
Do: provide finalized web content Providing your complete and finalized content to your design company in a timely manner will make things easier for you and for them. If you want to change your content after you submit it, you may be charged an extra fee to make the changes, or it may be charged to whatever monthly maintenance allotment you have.
Do: test your site Although the programmers will test the website before it goes live, you should test it as well before you sign off to make sure everything is working the way you want it to. Some design companies warrant their service and will correct any defects free of charge, but some will charge extra after you have signed off.
Consultant/Service Specialist A consultant or a service specialist is probably the first person you will talk to at the web design company. A good specialist will listen to your needs, give you different suggestions for the design options that best suit your requirements and budget, draft the proposal, and provide you the quote based on the features you agreed on. A good specialist should be very knowledgeable in the web design subject and should be honest, trustworthy and sensitive to your needs and budget. A bad one, on the other hand, is merely a salesperson trying to push the deal.
Project Manager A project manager is usually the first person who contacts you when your web design projects starts, and this is the person you contact with regard to any questions or issues you might have about your project. A project manager will: 1. Make the first contact with you, send you the standard questionnaire sheet, and inform you when your design project has started. 2. Inform you of any progress during the project, ask you additional questions, and send you design mock-ups for approval. 3. Act as your contact point, answering all your questions and responding to all your requests.
In most design companies, the project manager and service special-
tip
ist are very likely to be two different people. If you have an extensive conversation with the service specialist, it is a good idea to make sure that the notes from these conversations get passed on to the project manager. Different design companies have different procedures; some companies make a practice of having extensive communication between the service specialist and the project manager to ensure a smooth transition of the project. In other cases, don’t be surprised when a project manager contacts you asking questions you thought you already discussed with the specialist.
did you know?
EQLink Web Design mandates the extensive communication between specialists and project managers to ensure a smooth transition. Every client’s needs are recorded in our state of the art customer relationship management system (CRM), the same system used at Starbucks and Dell, to ensure we are consistently aware of all our customers’ needs.
Designers After the project manager gathers all the requirements, the specs for your project are passed on to the designers. They will then conceive the concept, layout, color, look and feel of the website. He will draw all of this up for the project manager to present to you for your approval.
things to know
Unless you are working with a freelance designer, you will generally be communicating with the project manager instead of the designer. This may seem a little odd, but most design firms want the designer to spend their time focusing on creating new and exciting design ideas instead of answering client questions. In addition, many very good designers are introverted and do not feel comfortable with extensive client interaction. Most website projects involve many different people, so having the project manager as the single contact point makes the communica-
tion flow more easily and more clearly—with less chance of miscommunication or contradiction.
tip
Email is often better than phone Many good design firms have centralized client files where everyone on the project can review the client’s requirements and ideas. For this reason, when you communicate with the project manager, it is best to do so via email so the project manager can share it with everyone else on the project. Many times this is better than a one-to-one phone call with the project manager that he then has to translate into instructions for the team. Since we are all human, it is easy for the project manager to misinterpret or misremember your conversation, and something important could be missed. Email alleviates all of these problems.
Programmer After the design is revised and approved by you, the finalized design is passed over to the programmers who will then translate the design into a functional site. A programmer will make the site features functional and test the site to make sure everything is working properly.
Website Content Writer You will need to either write your own content or work with a web content writer to create it. This may be an independent contractor you find yourself, one the web design company recommends or an employee of the web design company. Without content, you have no website—and your website designer and programmer do not know enough about your business to write it for you. Getting the content is often the biggest delay in building the website, because the customer does not enjoy writing and is having difficulty determining what they should include. Website content generally includes the text on the Home, About Us and other informational pages, product descriptions and helpful articles that drive traffic to your website through the use of clever keywording. Once the content is written and you have approved it, the programmer will add the content to your website.
did you know?
EQLink Web Design has extensive working relationships with some very good copywriters. If you do not find the time write the content for your website, we will be happy to refer you. We can also supply industry-specific website content that was pre-written by our professionals.
chapter
3
website hosting and maintenance
Creating the website is only a part of the process, although it is the most difficult part. For most small business owners, making sure the website is accessible to the visitors at all times, functions correctly, and keeping the information up to date is equally important. It costs money to host and maintain a website. As a small business owner, you want to make sure you choose the best web hosting company for your budget.
What is website hosting and how much does it cost? When you see websites on the Internet, they are not just sitting out there in the ether. The files are actually stored on a server somewhere—this is referred to as “hosting�. There are a couple of different ways you can get hosting service: from a hosting company, from a reseller, or from a web design company. Generally speaking, you want to avoid a reseller as much as possible, so your choice is usually between a hosting company or web design company.
1.
Hosting through a hosting company The good: The main advantage to using a website hosting service is that it is usually cheaper than going through your web design company. The bad: If you host your site through a hosting service, your web design company may charge you an extra fee to make changes to your site, or they may not maintain your site at all.
2.
Hosting through your web design company The good: When you host your site with your web design company, website maintenance is much easier. Since they built the site, they know the coding inside and out and can provide better service and maintenance to you.
The bad: Hosting through your web design company is usually more expensive than through a dedicated hosting company, but most people feel the level of service you receive is well worth the extra expense.
How do you change your hosting company? Whether you host your site through an Internet hosting company or a design company, if you are not happy with the service, you should be able to leave at any time. When you move your website, the files need to be transferred to the new hosting company. If you choose to host with the web design company, you usually do not need to do anything to make this happen—the design company will do that for you (another advantage to using your web design company’s hosting service). If you choose to move your site from design company to an Internet hosting company, your web design company will give you your files, usually in the form of a CD. You will then use the file transfer protocol (FTP) at your hosting service to upload the files from the CD to the website. This process varies, depending on the company, and different levels of service are available. Some companies will help you through the process step by step, while others will leave you to figure it out for yourself.
How to update and maintain the website It is important to update your website on a regular basis to keep your customers informed of any new products, changes in prices or anything else they might need to know. Depending on the type of website you purchased, you have a few different options for updating and maintaining your site.
Content Management System (CMS) integrated into the site If you have CMS integrated into your site when it is built, you can make non-layout changes fairly easy by yourself or have your non-technical staff take care of it. With CMS, updating website content is very much like editing in Word documents. Having a CMS integrated into your site is an ideal solution if your business needs frequent updates. It costs quite a bit to add initially, but it will pay for itself quickly when you do not have to pay someone to update your website.
No CMS on the website Updating non-layout changes requires a little basic web programming knowledge, but it isn’t that hard. A technical person in your company can usually handle it. However, such updates may void your website warranty. You should always check with your web design company before you or anyone else updates the website. Many design companies will do these updates for a nominal charge (you should know their maintenance price before you sign a web design contract with them). To initiate the process, simply call or email them with the content you want to update. They will let you know how many hours it will take and how much the updates will cost.
Changing layouts Whether you have CMS or not, you should leave any layout changes to the pros. Layout changes are much more complex than simple wording changes—they require extra programming, you need to make sure your design schemes are carried over to the new layout and everything needs to be re-tested. Many web design companies treat a layout change as a separate project and require a separate contract to make the changes.
When you host your website through EQLink, your monthly hosting charge includes some website maintenance. You will receive one hour of website maintenance credit each month, which can be used for your website updates, such as changing pictures, content, etc. Any credits you do not use will accumulate and can be used for future bigger changes.
did you know?
Hey! My website isn’t working! What to do when your website is broken. It is very important to test your website as thoroughly as possible before you sign off on the project so any problems can be fixed before your website goes live. But what if you find something is broken after you sign off? Depending on the contract you signed, the design company may or may not warrantee their services. It is very important to know what your design company warrantees before you sign any agreements. Many mid- to low-budget web design companies do not offer any kind of warranty after the project is signed off. In other words, once you sign off on the project, the responsibility is off their shoulders. You are on your own when errors occur. Most web design companies limit their warranty to a specified period of time, which can be anywhere from 30 days to 1 year. If your web design agreement included a warranty and the problem is related to a warranted item, call and email the company with detailed descriptions of what is wrong. Try to have as much information as possible about what exactly your website is doing and any actions you or the user took that may have led to the error. Your web design company should fix the problem for you free of charge. However, if the problem was caused by a third party (someone who does not work for the original creator of the site) who made changes to your website, you will probably have to have the other programmer correct the problem. Because of this, it is not a good idea to let anyone work on your website except the company that designed and built it.
did you know?
Every website EQLink creates carries a lifetime warranty. They will fix all problems they determine to be defects at no additional charge, unless the problem was caused by a third party.
Website resources: storage, email accounts and bandwidth. How much you need and how to get more. Almost without exception, when talking about web hosting, the first question everyone asks is how much space they get for the price. Many Internet hosting companies offer generous storage space – you can get one- to five-gig spaces for a few bucks a month. It might seem like the larger space you get, the better. However, the truth is, it really doesn’t matter how much space you get. On average, most traditional businesses only need 10 to 50 megabytes of space to store their website files, and most don’t need more than 100 megs. The bottom line is: it won’t hurt to have more storage space, but don’t let yourself get caught up in that and pay more than you need to. The same principle applies to bandwidth. However, it is a different story if you intend to host a site that is primarily based on video, in which case you probably want to rent a dedicated server. Beware of overselling—overselling refers to the hosting company reselling your unused space to another person. Many Internet resellers use this tactic to make their hosting package look generous, when in fact they are reselling any space you are not using to other customers. Overselling slows down the system’s performance, compromising the functionality of your website— which reflects poorly on your business. You should avoid allowing your storage space to be resold at all costs.
EQLink provides the following resources for your website hosting account: • 500mb of online storage for your web pages
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• Five email accounts for your domain name • Five FTP accounts to allow for exchanging of files • 10gb bandwidth for fast page loads
These resources are more than enough for most small business owners, but what if you need more? Just ask us; if your website truly exceeds the allocated space, we will upgrade you to a higher limit with no extra cost.
chapter
4
website marketing
What is web marketing and why I need to do it? Web marketing is a broad term that describes all of the activities undertaken to improve how well a website ranks in search engine listings. This includes website optimization (design, content, keywording, etc.) and website promotion (link exchange programs, natural search engine promotion, paid placement, pay-per-click, banner ads, etc.). While website optimization can be done by the programmer, webmaster or other technical person during and after the building of the site, website promotion is an ongoing effort. As the owner of a small business, your involvement in website optimization can be reduced by hiring a good webmaster or company. Web site promotion requires some time, effort and know-how, and a dedicated webmaster can do a thorough job of it, leaving you to run your business.
Web site optimization that should be included during the web development process 1.
Keyword placement in title, metatags and links If an Internet user is going to find your website, they are probably going to do it by putting search words or phrases into a search engine. The search engines index millions of pages every day, looking for the frequency of each key phrase to determine the relevance of that page to that particular search. If your page has the most relevance to the search, it will appear at the top of the search engine results. The process of coding your website so it appears at the top of the search engines is called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. This is much more than stuffing your website content full of key words! The placement of the words on the page, use of metatags, use of bolding and other tricks all play into SEO. Do not worry about trying to keep it straight, though—your website programmer will help you with all of this. Part of SEO is choosing the correct key words by researching what people are search-
ing for. There are tools, such as the Google AdWords Keyword Tool, that give statistics on how often a phrase is searched for. If no one ever searches for “gourmet ferret nuggets”, this is probably not a good key phrase to use on your website. “Ferret food” might be a much better choice.
2.
Google Analytics or other tracking tool setup Page tracking is another basic that will probably be included in your website design package. This cool little feature not only tells you how many visitors have come to your website, but how they found it (including search terms), how long they stayed, how many pages they viewed, where they are located, what service provider they use and what browser they are using. Google Analytics is a service that analyzes some of this data for you. This information can help you to fine-tune the content of your website and improve its searchability.
3.
Submission to major search engines Although the search engines regularly crawl the web and will eventually find your website, they will find and index it much more quickly if you submit the website directly to them. Although this is not a difficult process, it can be time consuming. Your web design company may include this service in your design package.
EQLink Web Design includes search engine optimization in every website it creates. We will include your keywords, integrate Google analytics, and submit to all major search engines without you needing to ask.
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Five Must Dos for your web site promotion As we said earlier, web site promotion is an on-going process and there are many creative ways to do it. Here is a quick list of the five things most small business owners should do after owning a website.
1.
Put your website address everywhere you can think of If you want people to visit your website, you need to give them the address. Put it everywhere you can think of: business cards, letterhead, postcards and all other advertising/marketing materials. You can even put it on your cars.
2.
Start a Google AdWords campaign Google AdWords are ads that appear on thousands of websites all over the world. Google scans each website it places ads on to place only the most relevant ads so website visitors will be more likely to click and visit your website.
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Start a link building campaign If people are not looking specifically for your website, you will need to get your website address out there where people can stumble on it. Submit your website to free directories, get involved in forums and put your link in your signature so it will appear after all of your posts, and post on blogs. The more your link gets out there, the more people will see it and the more visitors you will get.
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Write articles Keyword articles can be used in two different ways to draw traffic to your website. The first way is to post helpful, informational articles that are keyword optimized to help potential customers find them on article directories. At the end of the article, post your website address (for example, “For more information, visit www.insertwebaddresshere. com�). Another way is to post the articles on your own website. The idea is that the reader will find your article because of search terms they put in a search engine, read the article, and then visit the rest of your website.
5.
Be fast, be bold and be creative Owning a website opens a whole new dimension to your existing advertising campaign. With the introduction of your company to the World Wide Web, you should be prepared
to learn new things like viral marketing, RSS feeds and link building. When advertising via the Internet, you should be fast – be the first to respond to any event or hot topics that may lead to growth in your business. Be bold – your statement or position should be strong and memorable. Most of all, be creative. There is a lot of competition out there, and you will need to continually look for new ways to make your business stand out from the crowd.
We hope you have found this Website Design Planning Guide to be useful. Having a website opens up many new ways of marketing your business. From building a website to building your business, we hope to embark on this journey with you and do our best to serve your needs. We are a U.S. based website design firm and we proud of serving small business communities.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to Call us:
1-800-259-9015
Email us: info@eqlink.com Mail us:
1017 L Street Suite 639,
Sacramento, CA, 95814