by Carmel Brulez

Created on: August 19, 2010

Setting up a new website can be a daunting and exciting experience.  If the website is to be used as a blog or a club then you need to think carefully about how you can set the site up without it costing too much money.  If the website is to as a shop or advertising feature to sell products or services then you can and will need to spend money on your site,  but how much, who with and where?

Anyone who is new to the idea of setting up a site may find the whole thing so confusing that they prefer to hand over the whole project to a designer.  But the designer will still need to know who you are, what you are selling, pricing and get help from you with the layout and writing of the sites.

Having a great looking site is very important but it is only part of the whole thing.  You also need to make sure that the site is popular, that people actually want to look at it and pay for the services or products you sell.  It is therefore a good idea to make sure that you have a good web designer who also understands at least the basics of seo.   If you do not you might have a site that looks fantastic but is not practical or functional or gets ranked badly with google.  You then have to decide how you will advertise the site, whether you will do this yourself, or use a ppc or seo system.         

If you are into technical things and good on the computer you might prefer to buy a web design software package such as Mr Site, but that means paying for the package and then paying so much a year to be hosted by them.  There are many similar packages out there, and Word Press is good and free.

When choosing a web designer there are the small fish and the big fish.  The big fish have huge offices with a lot of staff and charge a lot more than the small fish.  If you are having a very large or complicated site done you may need to hire a big fish.  But if you are just opening a normal business or shop it should not be necessary.    Never hire anyone who has no credentials or testimonials or a proper site.  There are a lot of so called web designers out there who do not even have a website of their own, nor a proper address or phone number.  They are either amateurs who are bumbling into the field and not very good at business, trying to cut down costs and keep their privacy, or scam artists.  A genuine person should not mind if you have their name and landline phone number.  Also beware of anyone who asks you to pay for the whole project up front.  It is normal to give something up front before they begin, but a fraction of the total price.  That way they have to do the job and make a good job of it before they earn their wages.

One thing that concerns me about hiring a web designer is that many of them try to charge by the hour but you have no idea of how long the job actually took. They could bill you for five hours when the job only took one.  It is fairer to charge per site or per page.  Therefore, for those who do not have the patience, skills or time to design their own sites there are some designers out there that do a terrific job and work for a very affordable fee.  DKSitedesign.com  is one such designer. She knows a lot about seo and will do you a terrific site at a very competitive price.  You can see examples of the many sites she has already done for satisfied customers and her pricing structure is very fair and clear.

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