Thinking Of Owning Your Own Website?

Owning your own website can be a little overwhelming for those just starting out. Although there are costs involved in getting started, the rewards are invaluable. There’s one sure thing about the web industry…if you do not have a web presence, you can be certain that your competition does!

People today are using the Internet for almost everything. It saves time for your clients and for you! Real estate is a good example; today, people are viewing houses for sale from the comfort of their own homes. This gives families an opportunity to view all the details and decide which properties they actually want to see without wasting anyone’s valuable time. The Internet is so convenient, that everyone is doing it!

This section was designed to answer some of the most common questions regarding Getting Started with your web design project. This will hopefully arm you with the proper information including what to expect at each step of the design process. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, and we will be more than happy to assist you!

First, you need to decide what your website address will be and secure it. The experts at Creative Commerce Concepts can provide you with a list of all available addresses and even secure the address of your choosing!

For example, if your business name is “Security Builders”, you might want to use one of the following website addresses:

www.securitybuilders.com   OR  www.security-builders.com

Once we have secured your website address, you can create custom email addresses using your domain name.

Example: johndoe@securitybuilders.com

Once you select and secure your website address, you will need to find a host who will keep your website up and running on their server for you. This is how your website becomes visible on the Internet! Creative Commerce Concepts has long-standing relationships with third-party companies who can provide this service for you! And we take care of the details!

Below are our approximate average costs for the initial stages of owning / hosting your own website:
* prices are only estimates and may vary.

The next step is finding a competent web designer and having your website designed for you. As you have already noticed, the experts at Creative Commerce Concepts are well-versed in all aspects of web design, and are ready to put that expertise to work for you!

This can be a very confusing task for most. When selecting a designer, ask to see some sample websites they have created and for verification make sure the website has their copyright on it. This will give you a good idea of the range of capabilities of the web designer and help alleviate any anxieties you may be feeling with regards to making a decision!

Next, speak with a company representative about your ideas and obtain a quote. Make sure the designer is telling you all costs involved rather than just a design fee. Design fees alone can run up to millions of dollars depending on the client’s needs. Decide what your budget is up front and your designer can work with you to determine what you can get for your budget. A web designer should be able to give you an exact design cost and what will be included up front and assist you in deciding what you can eliminate from the design to reduce your costs.

Web Design fees are normally paid as 50% of the design fee up front and the balance upon completion of the original design. Be very careful when changing your mind once the design is underway, as web designers charge an additional fee for changes beyond the original agreement and these charges range from $100 to $250 per hour depending on the designer (make sure it is stipulated in your contract or proposal).

Maintaining and Updating Your website.

Many businesses, such as real estate require regular on-going maintenance. On-going maintenance fees are normally billed as a monthly fee ranging from $300 on up to thousands depending on the maintenance needed and depending upon each designer quote. Some designers charge an hourly rate ranging from $75 per hour to hundreds per hour. This can be costly, so ask your designer for a set monthly rate for a certain number of updates. Updates can be daily, weekly or monthly and rates are determined according to how often updates are needed.

Marketing your website!

The biggest mistake businesses make is assuming that because they have a website, their potential clients can automatically find them. HUGE MISTAKE! Websites are not automatically placed in the search engines so people can find you. What good is a website if no one can find you when searching for a product in your industry and/or your area? Website Marketing is separate from Web Design itself. Some web design companies do not even offer marketing as a service! Search engines have very specific requirements for being listed and each search engine is different.

The second biggest mistake businesses make is assuming that any web designer can market their website or they can pay a low fee to be automatically submitted to websites. Be very careful in selecting someone to market your website for you as there are many fraudulent entities offering this service!

Ask your Marketing Firm if they are trained and certified in Search Engine Marketing and ask to see their credentials. Also ask them for references or a letter of recommendation from other major companies to confirm they are successful at their Internet Marketing. Internet Marketing is a very difficult and time consuming task since there are billions of sites being submitted to search engines daily.

If your website has not been marketed, it will not show up in any search engines, much less the top 20 search results. Statistics show that people search only the top 20 websites returned from websites out of millions that appear in a search.

Another way of testing your Marketing Firm's expertise is by checking the search engines yourself for sites they have marketed once you have their references and have confirmed the information.

For example, below are just a few of the websites we have marketed which you can test at one of the major search engines such as Google.com (http://www.google.com)

Creative Commerce Concepts (Keywords: Memphis web designer)

Desoto County FSBO (Keywords: FSBO Desoto County Mississippi Real Estate)

Affinity Lawnscapes (Keywords: Memphis commercial grounds maintenance)

Security Builders (Keywords: Midsouth developers builders)

Marketing can be billed yearly or monthly. Monthly fees normally range anywhere from $500 per month to $2000 per month depending on the industry and your needs. At the designer’s discretion, this fee can be adjusted to fit your budget. Creative Commerce Concepts normally gives drastically discounted rates to local Memphis Area businesses.

Marketing is optional, but crucial to growing your business. Otherwise you’ve spent money to get a website that serves no purpose.