Information for Websites

I use either Squarespace or Wordpress to build the site

Squarespace: is a fully managed hosted environment for your site. I is a good solution for smaller sites. It is easy to make your own changes.

Wordpress: is the Content Management System (CMS) used to build the website. This is generally considered the best CMS system out there right now.

WooThemes: provides pre-made templates to help get the site up and running fast. They have different looks and functions that make a good start to website building.

Google: apps for email and more

Dreamhost: for the hosting of the sites

Basecamp: Project management software, so you can be a part of the conversation during the site production. 

We can go through this in more detail in our meeting, look at pros/cons and decide the best technology for you needs. 

What you should be looking for in a website 

You need to have a website YOU can add images, videos, news, and be able to update it yourself.

Be able to update your site on the go with the latest news using iphone apps or social media. 

Make it easy for your customers to find you, contact you and to keep in touch with your latest news.

Integrate into social networks like Facebook, Twitter, photo feeds and a video channel like YouTube.

Work with the Google tools to be found and generate new business.

Great online forms on your site so your customer can contact you with.

The site is constructed in a modular fashion so you can grow your site when it is needed. At a later date you can add additional pages when you need them. Perhaps a good way to go is have a small site with links to FaceBook and use that for news, events and more.  

A clean modern design

A graphic look that is clean, fresh and very readable. Your new site should not look like it came out of the 70’s but rather be very up to date. The graphics should not get in the way of what is important that to your business nor to the functionality of the site.

Responsive design. This means the site looks good on many different devices, like mobile phones. This is a critical function since the use of smart phones is growing and there are now a large percentage of users who only look at websites from their phones.

The Structure of your new site

Information that is to be seen on every page

Top Banner: this is a graphic with your business name, location and contact area.

Navigation: buttons to get to the other pages in the site. WooThemes makes it easy to be able to add or get rid of buttons as needed.

Sidebar: There are various “widgets” that can be used on the sidebars. We can talk about those. 

Footer: copyright information, contact (never too many places to add contact info) and additional links can be added in this area. 

Main Content Pages

Slide show with the ability to add pictures or videos

A blog area where you can add the latest news and be able to update it yourself

Links to other important areas on your site 

Blog

Contact

Optional Content

Store 

So how do we START?

Websites start at $650 for a starter site

First we sit down and talk about your specific needs and the budget. I will then give you a detailed estimate with the total cost and process.