Written by Navneet Singh
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Back around 2000 during the frothy days of the internet bubble, I had a friend who paid some freewheeling young geeks over a thousand dollars to produce a nonfunctioning internet commerce, website. The website never made it online. It was a common tale, shared by businesses that were desperate to join the internet revolution. Those days are long gone! For the millions of businesses that don't already have a website, now is the perfect time to get a cheap website.
Websites are Cheaper Than Ever
Websites are cheaper than ever. There are ads on Craigslist for companies that produce websites - starting at around $199.00. For that price the web designer, will quickly insert text and photos onto a pre-made template. A good template can give the website a clean professional look. If you need original art work, graphics, copy, or internet commerce, the cost will be higher. Most of these companies are small yet legitimate website designers. Check out their client lists, testimonials, and website samples, before hiring anyone. Considering the high cost of print ads, and the low monthly cost of maintaining your site, once it has been created, it's definitely a bargain.
Supplement Your Print Ads
Use your website to supplement your print ads. I've seen too many websites that use the exact same copy the company used in their print ads. They are not taking advantage of the unlimited space available on websites. Now that you're free of the high cost and space constraints of expensive newspaper ads, make the most compelling case ever for doing business with your company. .
Take advantage of the unlimited space to list your competitive advantages. List the most important ones first. For those customers who are ready to purchase, make sure they can contact you immediately. You don't want to loose sales with too much excess copy. How do you deal with those information hoarders who never have enough information before making a purchasing decision? Provide additional links with more information. That way you can satisfy those who want to purchase immediately and the information hoarders. If you want to learn more about fine tuning your web copy check out this humorous article.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1075908/why_techies_should_crawl_back_into.html
How To Find Cheap Web Hosting
Once someone produces your website you need to host it somewhere. I'm paying only $4.66 a month and that includes my own dot com name - (buswriter.com) and domain registration. You don't need to host your website with the people who developed your site! You can host it anywhere. The Best Top 10 Web Hosting Companies at www.thetop10bestwebhosting.com rates web hosting companies. That's where I found my host, fatcow.com. I chose fatcow because they offered 24 hr. unlimited tech support staffed by Americans. For a techno-phobic guy like me, that was important. They did try to sell me some additional services when I signed up but I politely declined.
What You Need to Know, Before You Hire a Website Designer
When you hire a website designer to create your website make sure they include an easy way for you to update it. Find out upfront what the cost will be, if they charge extra for updates. You won't be able to change the major design elements of your site yourself, without knowing the computer codes - CSS & HTML, but you should be able to add text for announcements, sales, and specials.
In case you don't like your website or it is not functioning properly, protect yourself. Don't pay the web designer in full until the work is done.
Should You Create Your Own Site?
If you create your own website, using a program like Microsoft Front Page, or Microsoft Expressions Web you don't need to know computer code. I found that there is a steep learning curve when using Microsoft Expression Web. The reason Expression Web was harder to learn than the older FrontPage is that the newer software conforms to rigid standards called CSS, and is not as user friendly. The CSS code makes it possible to view your website in all kinds of browsers, and even lets the blind have access to your site.
Most web host companies offer free software that you can use to create simple websites.
If your time is at a premium my advice is to use an experienced web developer.
If your company is interested in developing a new website at a minimum cost, you can get more information at my company - CopyAce Communications's, website. Check it out at - http://buswriter.com/
There is a page on the website dedicated to providing some quick and easy to use, advertising tips and marketing strategies, gathered from the best sources available.Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com
About The Author:
Steve Schuster is a freelance business writer, and advertising copywriter from Philadelphia PA, for CopyAce Communications - http://buswriter.com/ He has 21 articles published at Associated Content
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