What Is The Cost Of Website Design

When creating a new website, there are many costs to keep in mind. You already know they will depend on how big and complex your site is, plus the designer and the quality that you desire. But all these are never in proportion. In this read, we are going to discuss a few things you should expect on the cost of website design.

Manual Charges

The primary cost of your site will be the cost for the time spent bringing your website to life. There’s a world of difference between the time spent creating a site with one page and one with hundreds or thousands of pages, and excellent graphics plus an admin system. So, if you want more, you have to pay more.

However, the hourly charges will ideally vary according to the reputation and also the size of the firm creating the website. Usually, a freelancer will bid a lower hourly rate than a big firm, who ideally have the overheads of admin, legal, accountants, marketing and other departments to cover. The larger the firm, the more management layers there are who aren’t creating your site, but you’re paying for.

Domain Name

A domain name is relatively cheap, but all the ads you’ll see will underprice the cost. That’s because a lot of ads only state their rates but not their actual charges. For a generic name expect to pay at least $10 for two years. But when it comes to more demanding names, expect to pay higher.

Hosting Charges

Free hosting services are no more, especially for business oriented websites. However, web hosting doesn’t have to be expensive. With an email and an adequate bandwidth, which is the data that you’re allowed to transfer each month, the hosting of a site is probably $70 to $130 per year, all depending on your needs.

Also, if you’re utilizing a Content Management System (CMS) including WordPress, you will require an SQL database. Usually, this is included in the more expensive package. However, it may be a small add on to less expensive packages.

Annual Maintenance

Finally, you may need to pay for annual maintenance. But most reputable web designers will handle and make the necessary changes for the first year. After the first year, however, expect a yearly maintenance charge. It is ideally hard to say what it would cost, but in most cases, a page is way less than a 100-page site. Preferably, the precise figure will depend on the size of the firm managing your website.

Other Fees

When it comes to this segment, everything is optional. You may get listed or ranked well on the search engines, but you may want to pay for ads or new SEO on the site.

So, as you can see, various factors will play on the cost of website design. As always, it is advisable to consult Bay Area website designers who are experts in the field. Doing your homework here will help. Next, follow the above tips. Also, ensure the consultant you’re hiring is local, especially if you are just starting out.

How to Define Your Brand with Your Website

What comes to your mind when someone mentions “building a brand”? Perhaps building a reputable company? In the words of Jerry McLaughlin, one of the contributors for Forbes magazine: a brand is the picture that customers see when they think of you (or your business). The real question is how do you paint a beautiful picture. Here’s how you could leverage your website to create a powerful brand.

If you think your website is perfect, then you need this guide more than you know. Most of the websites floating around cyberspace are not doing their job. Most of them are ineffective. Chalk this up to approach, design, or whatever you want. The reality is that most of your thoughts on websites are wrong.

Your website, any website actually, has but one goal. That goal is to turn strangers into prospects and turn prospects into customers. That’s it. There is no other goal. If your website doesn’t have a function or generate leads, it’s just a fancy brochure.

Your website isn’t an online business card

This is where most brands get it wrong. Their website looks like an online business card. There’s no headline or call to action. There’s no lead generation method. It’s just a display page that provides no real value and doesn’t tell the brand story well.

Engage them

Your website, like any piece of marketing, should have a strong, attention-grabbing headline. You literally have just a few seconds before someone makes up their mind about staying on your site or clicking away to something else. Have a headline that stops them dead in their tracks and forces them to take notice. Let them know they’ve found what they are looking for.  Here is a look at how to write great headlines.

Keep it simple

Google.com is one of the most popular websites of all time, if not the most popular. Why does it work so well? Simplicity. It isn’t giving you hundreds of options. It is giving you two. Search for something or leave. Most websites offer way too many choices for their visitors to think about. Before you pay someone thousands of dollars for some fancy-pants website design with all the bells and whistles, think of Google. Think of the simplicity. The first second it appears too busy and is overwhelming to them, people will leave. Simple works.

Your website should be about getting people to the next step you want them to take: moving them through your funnel and providing value to them every step of the way. If you are attempting to accomplish something more than that, you are wasting opportunity.

You’re losing if you’re not converting

Many a times your website will be the first point of contact someone has with your brand. What kind of impression will it make? Will it make them want to take the next logical step and view you as a solution to their problem? It had better. Everything else is just a waste.

4 Tips for Optimal Web Design

A good website should have the ability to attract consumers. Therefore if you are looking to build your website or you are having someone do it for you, you should make sure it possesses the above characteristic. This means that it will be able to grow your business. This is due to the fact that your website is one of the most forms of advertisement. Having in mind that web design describes the way you present your content online, it means it will be the face of your business. This is because you will be using graphics and texts. Below are some of the tips you can use for optimal web design.

It should be user-friendly

As stated above one of the main reason for creating a web site is attracting consumers. In general, it’s advertising your business. This means you have to consider potential clients. Therefore apart from being able to attract them, it should be easy to navigate. This means it should have a good user interface. This means the user will be able to access your content and stay on your website for long. This will also help increase the traffic on your website.

The website should have relevant content

When creating a website you should also put into consideration the reason you are building the website. For example, if you are building a website for your business, then the content should be about that business. This is because it will be the reason why people will be visiting it. Therefore you should create it in such a way that the consumer can tell what the website is about from your home page. You should also use simple and good quality content that is easy to understand.

Adopt web standards

These are generally rules or standards you should follow when creating a website. Some of these rules include using the right mark-up code. These are mainly JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. The codes will help at boosting the rate at which your web loads. Also, you should use tags in the head of the page. They also help in reading images.

Use visual cues

For your web design to be great, your site needs to be attractive. This means you should use relevant images to make the web physically appearing. Having in mind that people are more attracted to what they see, using images and graphics will help create more traffic. By so doing you will be able to advertise your business more.