Why do I need a website?
A custom website is vital to every business in today's market. It adds legitimacy to a brick and mortar business, gives the exposure you seek and creates a touch base for your clients, artists and photographers have a gallery showcase, personal services have a wonderful show card online brochure to describe their services. As people migrate toward online Yellow Pages and search engines to locate businesses and services no business
can be without a website.

If you have an online brochure the cost savings from printing is substantial. It also gives you a voice. It's important in your website to make each visitor feel you are speaking to them. Therefore I spend time getting to understand your business practices and get your voice into the website.

With the cost of phone directory advertising rising and sold on a per month basis, adding to that reaching wider areas result in the need to advertisement in yet more books=more costs, a website is not only cost effective, more informative, global in breadth and allows a one on one communication with each visitor.

Loan applications are requiring business clients have a website.
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Why not let my daughter/friend design my website?

It's tempting to have a friend or relative create your web design - for little or no money. With Search Engine Optimization being crucial to your website there is much to know in website structure, page names and page content to not use a professional. Areas to consider:

I am committed to making my clients happy, not only with the end resulting website, but the process of creating the website. I know the time and care it takes to achieve this goal. I work until the client is happy, no matter how many times we alter something in the web design. That's part of the process to excellence for each
custom designed website.
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Why a Custom Website?
Template websites offer the cheapest website. A custom web design streamlines every piece to be visually pleasing, make navigation natural, easy and useful for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and add the code (hidden) to aid search engines to understand what your site is about. Images need to be optimized to avoid slow loading pages - no one waits much beyond 3 seconds for a page to load. The entire structure of the website must work together to maximize SEO. This means the hidden code supports the copy on the pages. A website without all these elements working together will not produce the results you are seeking. I include SEO with each custom web design.

The Internet is essential for promoting your business. You want to take advantage of all your website can offer, this means taking great care behind the page (code) and the viewable page.
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A Verizon rep told me their websites are stronger on the web. Is this true?
All websites are "parked" on a computer (called servers) somewhere and all are connected. It makes no difference where the website sets. No one is "stronger" than the other. All are equal as far as connectivity.

The issues to watch for with web hosting (where you are parking) are pricing and support. While you can pay little for web hosting you do need a certain level of service, and these are individually determined. This IS your business buying the cheapest web hosting is not a good idea. There is a "base" level everyone needs and it isn't complicated to determine. As your site grows you can add services. My goal is to find your needs and not pay for more
than you need.
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Can I hire you though I don't live near you?

My clients live in California, Arizona, Wisconsin, New Jersey & New York. Email and phone makes this simple. As I build each website my client and I view it together on a private site and chat by phone. This is the process whether you are local or across country.

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How long does it take to complete my website?

The home page of any website is the keystone. We work together to achieve this. Once that is decided and approved by you and I have all the content from you (images and copy) the site takes approximately 30 days
for a 10 page site. I have completed websites in as little as 14 days. If speed is important let me know
in the beginning.

I will upload to a private site which you access and view your site as it develops.
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Can I have just a one page website?
The problem with one web page is little for search engines to index. Google indexes websites by eating up content (text) and understanding your business so it can in turn let people searching FIND your business. One page just isn't enough to do that.

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What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engines (Google & Yahoo) use 'robots' to cull keywords from websites to return them in a search. These tags are 'code' not visible on the web page, but need to be researched, well thought out and properly coded throughout your website to work with your page content/copy and even the structure of the website itself,
all to aid search engines. In tandem with keywords in the code - the copy needs to reflect these same keywords. Spamming (over-using keywords) will get your website banned. The balance must be found to teach Google and make your site readable to visitors.
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Web design usually does not include SEO (search engine optimization). Read more at wikipedia. But it is crucial to the success of each business website and that is why I include it in every website design, large or small.
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What is browser compatibility?
A website has to be viewable on a multitude of configurations from PCs to Macs and an array of browsers. Out of date browsers present the biggest challenge. If your clientele might be using an older browser it is important to be sure they can see your website. Internet Explorer and Safari, on a Mac, can vary greatly in displaying your website. Also user preferences can change how the web design is displayed.
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What is linking?
Part of moving your website higher on search results is weighed by how many other websites link to your site. This is how blogging, tweeting benefits a website. You can put a link to your site on a blog, but it needs to have relevance and be of value for the blog. (If it isn't you can be banned for spamming the blog.)

This can be done by a family member. There are thousands of websites with listings in every kind of business. These are good place to begin, as well as Verizon SuperPages. I submit every site I create to Google and Yahoo.

As a service to my clients I will do this linking and request for reciprocal links where the client has set up a links page (for this very purpose) for a reduced rate of $25.00/hour.
Read more about Pay Per Click vs linking advantages.
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What are reciprocal links?
Linking within your website, out of your website and TO your website continue to be a way of ranking your website for Google. Getting other websites to point/link to your site has great value. It is ongoing and time consuming, but worth it. It is something you can do to drive your site.

As a service to my clients I will do this linking and request for reciprocal links where the client has set up a links page (for this very purpose) for a reduced rate of $25.00/hour.
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What are your fees?

Please visit:

CUTSOM WEBSITE DESIGN PRICING
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Why should I refresh or re-do my website?

A website which remains unchanged moves down in it's rankings. Content which changes daily ranks highest, so leaving a website unchanged for years is not a good idea. Add to that: The Internet changes and things which were once the trend are replaced with better ways. New browsers offer a much richer web experience through styling.

I will evaluate your current website for no fee. I will list suggestions and improvements. My concerns are download times, graphic image sizes, optimization for search engines, ease of navigating through your site and, of course the design layout, both visual and functionality.

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How do we start?

Email or phone me.
Find websites you do like. Collect the logo, photos and content for your site and list any ideas you have.
I strive to make this simple for you and fun to watch grow.
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I don't have a logo.
I can create a custom logo for your business.
For more information visit my Graphic Design page.
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For more Custom Web Design details: CUSTOM WEB DESIGN MORE INFO WEBSITE PRICING WEBSITE CLIENTS FAQS TESTIMONIALS GRAPHIC DESIGN LOGO DESIGN

For your convenience downloadable Info: Web Info Sheet PDF file Size: 20KB Contract PDF file size: 23KB Requires Free Acrobat Adobe reader.