Rough outline of the process:

First we meet and/or talk by phone to discuss the goals and scope of your project. We discuss ideas you may have about the visual look of your web site, as well as what content you foresee having on the site. I will provide you with 3 rough web design concepts specifically for your business providing all elements that we have discussed.  In addition you will receive a detailed contract so you know what to expect throughout the project. A 50% deposit is required to start the project.

Once you choose a design we work together to modify that into exactly what you're after (perhaps changing the color, slight layout modifications, etc.). You're given many opportunities to provide feedback, so you can be confident that you're getting the web site that you want. Once the general web site look and functionality is established, I then code the site and create all of the pages, adding functionality such as drop-down menus, slide shows, and the written materials that you have provided. Every web site I design and build includes basic search engine optimization (SEO) to help boost your ranking in the search engines such as Google and Yahoo!.

While we do not offer web site hosting, we can arrange this service for you with a reliable national web site host. Web site hosting fees for a typical small business web site are $10 - $20 a month.  While there are "free" hosting services available, I discourage their use since they are often unreliable and usually contain irritating pop-up ads that distract your visitors from your web site.

Good web site copy is also important because search engines, such as google and yahoo, use this text to properly categorize and rank your site. For an additional fee, we can assist you formulate your message and prepare your written material so your business is presented in a professional manner.

We can assist you in registering a domain name with the proper organization, and also help you choose a name that will help customers find your web site more easily.  We strongly suggest using a reputable registrar such as Network Solutions or Fast Domain, rather than one of the "discount" companies. Domain name fees are approximately $30 a year or lower.

If you foresee that your routine updates will be minimal and sporadic, every few months or so, then it may make more sense for you to simply pay to have your web site updates done, rather than going through the learning curve required to maintain the site yourself. Web site updates are billed at an hourly rate, with a minimum charge of 1/4 hour.

Depending on the amount of work involved, we can arrange billing on a monthly or quarterly basis. For most web sites, routine updates do not amount to more than a couple hours each quarter. If you think that your web site will need updates on a frequent basis, you may opt to enter into a quarterly maintenance contract.