Posted by admin March - 24 - 2011 Comments Off

The Internet has opened up a promising new potential for numerous small- and large-scale web businesses serving to various work needs around the globe. This web design or development businesses span a number of areas ranging from content creation, link building, and website design to high-end programming and site maintenance. However, it’s more difficult to run a web design business online than build a good website. Like all business moves, online businesses also involve a few steps, planning and strategies for better delivery.

There are so many factors to consider in running the business that you may sometimes feel lost in putting up with its demands if you don’t have yourself organized at the onset. To give you an idea, your web design business needs to be framed under these heads:

* Finance: pricing your time/work, accounting for it, invoicing, billing, etc.

* Legal: contracts, copyright issues, Internet laws, trademarks, etc.

* Logistics: office space, computers, relevant software, books and guides, etc.

* Documentation and testing: creating proposals, payment terms and conditions, tracking the number of modifications, checking technical issues, load times, browser compatibility, etc.

Now, let us elaborate the essentials. It’s important to know what benefits you’re to derive out of it.

Create a client questionnaire first. Make it as detailed as possible to get a clear idea about the clients’ needs. This would help you estimate the exact time of completion and buy time accordingly. Based on this, it’d even be easier for you to charge.

Next, prepare a work order or proposal for the client, clearly detailing the project, the ways you plan to go about it, any idea that you have, any drafts you’d make, editing guidelines, date of delivery and the payment terms. This shows professional approach and often has rewarding takeaways–the client will know you’re serious about the job and can trust you. Mention the site specifications in the proposal; and you may also win trust by attaching a story-board to it. Include a cover letter and a simple contract to add more value. Remember, a written contract outlining the lawful scope of work ensures full payment and better client loyalty.

Have a pricing policy for your business, based on the number of pages, amount of time required, number of tools and technologies involved, etc. Include charges (if any) for the kind of modification you’re doing on a running project. Always document it on a spreadsheet. This would reduce chances of being underpaid. The client would believe that you know your job.

Finally, have the final invoice billed with all the details of the work. You may include late payment charges as well. But attach all communication documents related to it to substantiate your charges as outlined in the payment terms. There are many good Los Angeles Website Design companies which have built their client credibility through such organized work.

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Posted by admin March - 24 - 2011 Comments Off

There are so many companies to choose from when it comes to acquiring web domain registrations and hosting.

However, there are certain key elements that should be considered before committing to a particular company.

The first tip is to think about your budget. What can you afford? Do not be carried away with sales pitches and slick marketing tactics. Do not over extend yourself.

If you are about to host a site for business purposes, the following elements are important:

a. SSL Certificates:
People are getting smart about online security. More and more of them are looking for the padlock icon and “https” prefix in the address bar of their browser before submitting personal information online. If your Web site doesn’t have an SSL Certificate, visitors may leave before making a purchase, creating an account or even signing up for a newsletter.

b. Customer/Tech Support:
Does the company have 24/7 customer support? If they do not have this basic service do not use them!

c. Spam Free Email:
Is the email service protected from fraud, spam, and viruses. Make sure it is compatible with Microsoft® Outlook®, Outlook Express, and Mozilla Thunderbird .

d. Quick Shopping Cart:
Online Sales are expected to hit $144 billion in the U.S. and £78bn in the UK by 2010. Isn’t it time you got your piece of the pie? With a quick Shopping Cart, you can create and publish a stand-alone Internet store or add one to your existing Web site in a matter of minutes. Make sure the company you choose provides this service if you are considering e-commerce with your site.

e. Hosting and Servers:
From a basic Web site to a massive online superstore, look for full-service hosting solutions for every need and your budget. Make sure the company offers up to 99.9% guaranteed uptime, best-of-breed routers, servers and firewalls and 24/7 support and maintenance.

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Posted by admin March - 24 - 2011 Comments Off

The continuing growth of internet usage has brought with it a problem for businesses who are trying to be noticed on the web. There is no medium as powerful for marketing a website then the search engines. Unfortunately there are so many websites on the internet yours can get lost in a cyber ocean teaming with businesses that are similar. In order for your website to be on the first page or first few pages that come up on the search engines, you need to have plenty of things in order. The process of adjusting your website to be search engine friendly is called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.

Plenty of new companies are popping up that offer SEO services, and most of the web design companies are offering it now too. However, businesses beware! A large percentage of these sites that offer the service haven’t used it themselves. It makes you wonder how they can perform it as a service to someone else.
So many new companies boast about their SEO services but their websites give you little to no information about the services, it’s like a secret. Just what are their services? I have to give them all my information before I can (get a quote) about how much their services will cost my business. Are they going to decide by looking at my information how much I can afford? Come to find out the same company that “GUARANTEES” a first page listing isn’t listed on the first page.

It’s hard for someone who knows nothing about SEO to check on a company to make sure they know what they are doing. One easy way is to check references and first of all check the company’s website. Does their website come up on the first few pages of the search engine when you type in their key words? If it is a web design business, type in web design and the city they are from, if it doesn’t show on the first few pages you would be better off finding a new SEO company. You don’t have to understand just be able to verify. Plenty of web design companies that offer SEO services, even some of the SEO companies themselves, have a low search engine presence, so how could they get you a high one? Many SEO companies promise to do the service they do a little and charge a lot, some of the companies are charging as much as $150 per hour, after a huge down payment of 3 to $4,000.00 and they actually do hardly anything, yet they cannot be held accountable by you, you don’t understand their work.

Using your target market information SEO services can not only get your site to show up in the search engines but a good service will be sure to get your business listed in Google maps and other directories that will list for free or for a small fee. That’s why you need a service that is up front about the things they will do, listing them how ever technical they are. You can find these services listed at Digital Extreme Media Group

Optimizing does not guarantee a top spot in the Search Engines. So you need to be weary of a company that promises this. However you should be able to see a difference in the traffic to your site, and your SEO service should be able to give you reports showing the traffic to your site. This can be used for marketing purposes also. If your SEO service is not informing you about these things you could find yourself wasting a large chunk of money and not getting the results you would like.

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