What Costs Are Involved?

There are several costs involved with putting up a website, but none of these costs are prohibitively expensive. Below you will find a listing of common costs and an explanation of what is involved with each as well as your options.

WEBSITE DESIGN

Introduction

A website design can be as expensive and complex or cheap and simple as you desire. It is totally up to you. Some companies spend millions designing their sites while many small companies spend next to nothing. Thankfully the amount of money you spend on design is NOT the most important factor.

Who or how you design your site is far more important than how much you spend. No matter how much money you have, a bad site is still a bad site and your audience won’t sit around and waste their time.

Designing Your Own Site

If you have a knack for graphic design or layout and know your way around your computer, you can design your own site. Today’s software programs can make designing a simple text and graphics website as simple as typing in your word processor and inserting pictures. You can buy a commercial website tool at your local computer store and may already have a free design tool like Netscape Composer (part of Netscape Communicator which is free for download) on your computer.

Hiring a Website Designer

Most professionals are too busy running their businesses to sit down and design their own site and prefer to hire a company like ComputerHelp-USA to do the work for them. Be careful with who you sign on with though!

Many companies place limitations on what they offer for the price. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Some companies have a low initial fee but they may require a year contract. Other companies charge a “per page” fee for designing your site but they usually limit the amount of text, graphics or links your site can have.

ComputerHelp-USA will design your site from start to finish for a flat rate fee of $75.00 per hour. We place NO LIMITS on the amount of text or graphics your site can have. It is totally up to you. You can keep your costs down by providing your own copy, graphics and photos or you can take advantage of
ComputerHelp-USA’s scripting, graphic design and photography services. We will keep you informed and involved throughout the design process.

Give us a call at 941-596-6112 for a free phone consultation and price estimate.

DOMAIN REGISTRATION

www.yourcompany.com

Registering your domain name (www.yourcompany.com) costs $70.00 for two years if registered through Network Solutions. Reserving your domain name (for future use) costs $119.00 for two years. ComputerHelp-USA can register your name for you.

You must register your domain name if you want a unique name for your company. Your other option is a free website.

Free Websites

Most Internet Service Providers (AOL, Earthlink etc.) offer free websites with their service. If you have an AOL account, you have free website space. Other companies like Geocities offer free websites to anyone who wants one as well. Free websites eliminate both the cost of domain registration and web hosting (see below).

These free websites have TWO MAJOR CATCHES though:

First, your domain name is pre-assigned. With AOL, it is usually http://members.aol.com/yourAOLusername” which is certainly NOT easy for your audience to remember.
Second, many free websites require their users to display advertisements or adhere to a strict design policy. ComputerHelp-USA does not recommend free websites to its clients unless they are on a very tight budget. It makes your site much harder to find and does not offer a unique domain name.

WEB HOSTING

Once your site is designed, you have to place it somewhere on the Internet so people can view it. That place is called a web server, a specialized computer set up to operate 24 hours a day. A good web server has a high-speed connection to the Internet and must be reliable. There are many companies out there that offer web hosting services. Their monthly costs and features offered vary widely.

ComputerHelp-USA will host your completed website. We have several web hosting packages for your selection.

ONLINE STORE OPTIONS

Building an online storefront does not have to be expensive. In fact, many of our customers are surprised at just how cheap it can be. ComputerHelp-USA uses the Ultrashop shopping cart which allows you, the store owner, to quickly and easily update all product information in your store. Adding pictures, descriptions or shipping options is as easy as filling in the blanks! ComputerHelp-USA can get you set up for as little as $350.00* to start, which includes:

Ultrashop shopping cart software

Domain name registration (www.yourcompany.com)

Web hosting setup and configuration fees

Web hosting with secure server access

One hour of free training if ComputerHelp-USA designs your site

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