Congratulations on your decision to go with a professional web designer! This is a great step toward legitimizing your business presence online and having your digital storefront reflect all the hard work and effort you place in your business itself. There is an ever-increasing amount of competition out there and viewers often take less than 7 seconds to decide to whether to learn more about your products or services or move on to another more appealing site. Here is what to expect now that you have decided to make the investment.

The Contract

You will be presented with a detailed contract that clearly shows payment terms, starting and ending dates, website content details including approximate number of pages, functions included, responsibilities for both you and your designer, and other inclusions and exclusions. Contracts are important to protect you and the designer so be sure to read the entire content so you know what to expect. Feel free to ask for clarification on any items.

Pricing

Designer may require anything from 20% - 100% down depending on the pricing structure.

Here is the part you really need to pay attention to: some designers will charge by the hour, by the page, or give an estimate for the whole site development. Read the small print. Some may promote a low hourly fee but if you look at how long it takes them to design a website or even a single page, the time and overall cost can add up quickly and cost much more overall. if you are providing enough detail of what you are looking for, a designer should be able to give you a good ballpark figure.

Once completed, you can expect the total design cost for a basic website to be between $2000-$4000 and a more advanced site to be much more.

Hosting Fees

Website hosting and domain hosting (aka domain provider or registrar) are two different things.

Website hosting is where your website is stored and backed up (ie. HostGator, BlueHost, Tucows, etc). Depending on the type (shared. dedicated, Cloud, e-Commerce, etc) you can expect to pay anywhere up from a few dollars a month up to several hundreds of dollars a month. Most fall in the $25-$50/month range.

Domain hosting is where you acquire your domain URL (like GoDaddy, NameCheap, Google Domains, etc). Costs range depending on the URL availability and popularity. Once purchased, fees are usually around $20 per year.

Some web designer provide hosting either through themselves or by marking up a third party’s hosting services. Others all you to pay for your website and domain hosting yourself, eliminating any additional fees.

Your Input

A well-organized designer will ask you key detailed questions about the content of your website including the primary purpose of your business, what you hope to accomplish with your website, who are your customers or clients, product or service particulars,

You will be asked about the appearance of your site, get details about your branding, help with image selection and colors, and the overall look and feel.

Last, you will be asked to describe desired functionality and feature, if there are connections to other sites or apps, social media and review feeds, and other business-specific content.

All of this information is critical to designing a website that accurately represents you and your business. Your designer will understand that most business owners will need guidance through this part of the process and will be able to guide you painlessly. Just know that the more information the designer receives, the faster your website will be created and the better the overall product will be. You will also get the added benefit of having a better idea of the total cost of the website.

Site Content

During input interview process, it will be determined that either the client or the designer will be providing the text, images, graphics and other content (or a combination of both). While it is usually best to have the client provide the majority of the content to ensure that the website accurately represents every aspect of the business, there will be times when royalty-free images, custom graphics, and/or original content may need to be provided by the designer.

Most designers subscribe to a number of royalty image sources and be able to provide original graphics as needed. Your designer should also be able to provide examples of professional text content. If you are in need of such services, please check with your designer before signing a contract.

Customization

The goal of any website is to highlight the reason your business stands out from the rest. So why would you go with a designer that only uses premade templates resulting in a website that looks like all the others? Ask your designer about custom coding experience, graphic design expertise, or even animation or video processing capabilities. After all, your website is your digital storefront and it should be as unique as your business.

Timing

Deadlines vary widely by designer and may be determined by a number of factors:

• The size of the website

• Your availability

• The designer’s background and experience

• The website software used

• The designer’s current workload

It is important to address all of these and ask detailed questions of the designer to ensure you can expect completion in a timely manner. Average website development can take anywhere from 1-3 months but there are exceptions. Some designers have the experience to offer a faster turnaround time depending upon the client’s ability to provide complete details upfront. Others may take longer than 6 months so be sure you choose the right fit for your deadline. Besides traditional design with website completion in under a month, Charlotte’s Web Designs, LLC also offers a One Day Express which creates a fully functional website with SEO in just one dedicated day.

Revisions

All designers offer revisions but the process and fees may vary. Most designers factor in a set number of revision sessions (usually 2 or 3) in their total cost but charge for additional time as needed. The revision process and fees should be spelled out in the contract.

Monthly Maintenance

You may or may not need a maintenance plan depending on the website software used. Wordpress websites need regular maintenance to keep up with software and add-on updates, backups, and content changes. Squarespace website updates and backups are automatic and part of the hosting fees. In either case, it is a good idea to at least have minimal contact with your designers monthly and keep your website in their sites so they can determine if your site is staying current with the latest SEO algorithms.

Just like maintaining your car or your house, regular check-ins on your website will keep it in top shape and may eliminate the need for an eventual re-write. You can expect monthly maintenance costs from vary widely from $100 to several thousand dollars per month depending on the services required.

Training

No matter what your technical background or expertise is, every website owner should have a basic understanding of how their website works, even if it is just the ability to check analytic reports to ensure your website is operating at peak performance. Your website designer should be able to train you for whatever level of expertise you are looking for, from basic operation to making your own changes and additions.

The time needed for this training may be part of your design package or an additional fee may be added for detailed training with a customized take-home tutorial.

Other Services

If you require a holistic approach to your online marketing, check your designer’s services. It may be better to go with one firm as they will have a better understanding of your entire marketing plan. Services may include:

• Graphic design for digital or print materials

• Logo design and branding

• Social media advertising (organic or paid)

• SEO services including local citations processing

• Content marketing including blog writing

• Email marketing

• Website hosting

Summary

Choosing a web designer is an important next step for your business. You will be entrusting this person to create a professional, intriguing digital storefront that accurately reflects your business in the best light possible, so choose wisely. Check reviews and references, look at portfolios, question experience and background, etc.

Please consider Charlotte’s Web Designs, LLC for your website design and marketing needs. With over 35 years technology and marketing experience including custom coding, graphic design, animation and video editing, social media advertising and blog writing, for 100+ current clients (please check my portfolio here) with a solid 5-star Google rating, I can offer you a free, 30 minute consultation to see if we are a good fit.

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