Small Businesses

In this "Age of the Internet", it almost seems like you are "nobody" if your business can't be found by an Internet search! In the past, people used the Yellow Pages to locate local businesses, but they now use the World Wide Web just as much as the telephone book.

As a self-employed individual or a smaller family business, you do NOT need a large and complex website with all of your products available for sale online. What you DO need is an attractive home page, which gives enough information about your business so as to encourage people to pick up the phone and contact you.

Good basic information is; what your business does, what services and products you offer, how long you have been in business and who owns or runs the business. Your address, what geographical areas you service and how to contact you are a must. Evidences of satisfied customers, such as testimonials, encourage others to use your services.

As you can see, a 3-5 page website easily covers the above requirements. This does not take very long for a competent website designer to build.

After your site is built and online, the next thing is to make it pop up when someone searches for a product or service or type of company that matches your business. This is the key, otherwise only your existing customers really see your website. Key words must be included in the description and your site itself, and actions must be taken to have it included in the main search engines currently in use.

The Small Business Package

The package consists of

• Design and creation of 5 Web pages*, generally consisting of a Home page, a page about your products/services, an About Us page, a Contact Page and another page with pictures, testimonials, rates or whatever is most appropriate for your type of business.
• Assistance with shopping for and setting up with a web host company.
• Assistance with registering your domain name (if not provided free by the web host company).
• Uploading and setup of the website on the host server.
• Ensuring tags and keywords included in the site for search engine placement.
• Submitting the site for placement with the main search engine listings for Canada/US. If you wish to submit to search engines which have a cost associated with submission, you will pay the submission cost and I can do the submission. (Note that it may take some time before the search engines locate and list your website, this is a normal part of the process. The more people you encourage to go visit your new website the better your site will rank in the search engine listings.)

* Design and creation of web pages includes: An initial meeting to determine what the pages will consist of and the general look of the site. You provide the text and as much of the graphics as possible (i.e. pictures of products, your business, owners, logo, etc.). Graphics may be provided in hard copy (no extra charge to scan) or in digital format (on disk or emailed). I will then design the site, and consult with the person in charge on any changes you wish to make once you see the result until the site is to your satisfaction. Changes will be made, and the final product posted and activated on the Internet. Then I will send out the requests for the search engine listings.

Sites can be set up in a Content Management System for further maintenance by customer going forward if desired.

Quotes provided after an initial consultation to figure out what features and functions your site requires, what your ongoing maintenance options are after the initial build, and to get an idea of your style preferences.