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  • Answer Upon - Building a Web Site Part 1 - Choosing the Right Web Design Company

    Freelance Copywriting: Benefits of a Blog
    Give your Business a VoiceA blog can help reinforce your business brand image. Your website sales-pitch is not the only way to generate money. No matter what your business, you should not look upon your website as an electronic sales-person.This is even true of merchant websites, which sell products in an online catalogue. It is important to remember that a visitor has to trust your business and believe that they will receive quality service. For that reason a hard-sell can often make you look desperate for sales, and if a business looks desperate a customer will often believe that the service is not up-to-standard. So it is often more desirable to use the bulk of your website as an introduction to y
    that simply has a server on their premises to host their customers' website may not be your best option. A dedicated web host--providing you choose the correct one--can often be a better option as this is what they specialise in. Choosing the correct web host can mean the difference between having your website up 99.9% of the time, and having visitors to your website constantly getting error messages. The web hosting plan should also offer a comprehensive web statistics package to help you track the performance of your website.

    10. Satisfaction Guaranteed

    Is satisfaction guaranteed before payment? If the website is being designed for you from scratch, make sure that you don't have to pay the full amount until you are satisfied with the end result. Will it cost you anything extra if you don't like their additional draft?

    11. Design and coding

    Ask whether they design their websites in CSS. Not only will this be beneficial for your website rankings by making it easier for your website to be read, it will decrease loading time, and make future changes to your website much quicker and e

    Internet Marketing - How to Start Your Own Online Business
    The internet is wide open, full of entrepreneurial opportunity. The internet is one of the few markets left on earth that allow someone to get involved at a very low cost, and effectively compete with anyone in the business. You see, just because you are bigger online doesn’t mean that you will do more business per contact. You have just as much of a shot at making money this year online as does anyone else. What are you going to do with your shot?Steps to starting your own online business:1) Decide on a niche or theme. You want to decide on one niche area or product to start with.2) You must get a web site. You are not really in business online if you do not have a web site. If you join a get rich qu
    Recently I took on a new customer through a referral. In discussing their needs, I found out that a very well known web design and search engine optimization company had not been straight with her. When we were able to tell her what we could do for her and at what price, she realized that she had previously been misled. The hourly cost of some companies might seem attractive, but the number of hours they claim they need to do the job is the ugly side of the coin.

    Cases like this prompted me to write this article. People need to be aware of certain essentials when looking for a web design company. Let's face it; the average person doesn't know how much work is really involved in working on a website, and some 'let's-make-a-quick-buck' businesses try to take advantage of this.

    In this two-part series I am focusing on what you need to do to build a website. Whether you are building a brand new website, or re-designing an old website, or currently using a web design company for ongoing maintenance, these tips will help to make sure you are getting the best deal.

    Part 1 of this two part series focuses on what you need to look for when choosing the right web design company.

    Part two will cover what you need to do to prepare to have someone else build your new website.

    If you follow these tips in choosing the right web design company, you might find you will save a considerable amount of money.

    1. Web design portfolio

    Look at their portfolio for other websites they have designed. Do you like the other websites they have designed? Do the designs look up-to-date by comparison to other websites you have seen?

    2. Business history

    How long have they been in business - Everyone needs to start somewhere, but if you are hiring someone that has just started their business and does it part-time, make sure this is not just a little hobby they have on the side to bring in a few additional dollars. This designer might not be around in twelve months time when you need to make changes to your website. This will be a real problem if they had the original design files--it is not standard practice for your designer to give you the original design files without you incurring an additional cost.

    3. Website design with the search engines in mind

    Do they understand search engine optimisation, and offer this as a service? You may not be interested in having search engine optimisation performed on your website today, but it is an inevitable path you need to take at some point, and not having a website designed in a search engine friendly manner from the beginning will likely cost you a lot more to have your site redesigned at a later stage.

    4. Unique designs or web design templates?

    Do they use templates, or do they build a website tailored to your unique needs? If they do use templates, are they templates built in-house, or have they purchased them from a template site. If they use templates do they have the skill and experience to provide you with everything you need from beginning to end?

    5. Flexibility of service offering

    How flexible they are in meeting your needs as a business. Are they always able to provide you with everything you need for your web solutions? A good web solutions company will find the answer for you, even when they don't immediately know the solution.

    6. Customer satisfaction

    Do they have any testimonials? What genuine comments can others make about their experience with this company? Make sure the testimonials are real--take time to contact some of them. Integrity and honesty is a very important key to ensuring you are well looked after by the web design company you choose.

    7. Turn around time

    If you are looking at using them in an ongoing way to manage your website, what kind of turn around times do they offer, and do they have the resources to adequately manage your needs?

    8. Browser compatibility

    What browsers do they design a website for? At the very least, they should be testing in IE6, IE7, and Mozilla Firefox. Your website can look quite different between different browsers, and Firefox is very quickly gaining a large proportion of market share, so you can count on many of your web visitors viewing it in a browser other than IE.

    9. Web Hosting

    Do they provide web hosting, or do they use a 3rd party? This can be an important decision. A small web design company that simply has a server on their premises to host their customers' website may not be your best option. A dedicated web host--providing you choose the correct one--can often be a better option as this is what they specialise in. Choosing the correct web host can mean the difference between having your website up 99.9% of the time, and having visitors to your website constantly getting error messages. The web hosting plan should also offer a comprehensive web statistics package to help you track the performance of your website.

    10. Satisfaction Guaranteed

    Is satisfaction guaranteed before payment? If the website is being designed for you from scratch, make sure that you don't have to pay the full amount until you are satisfied with the end result. Will it cost you anything extra if you don't like their additional draft?

    11. Design and coding

    Ask whether they design their websites in CSS. Not only will this be beneficial for your website rankings by making it easier for your website to be read, it will decrease loading time, and make future changes to your website much quicker and e

    Personal Sacrifice When Starting Your Business
    You have always wanted to be self-employed and now the perfect opportunity has presented itself. Your Business Plan is completed, your finances are in place, you have the perfect location for your business and the perfect product.Congratulations, you have now accomplished a life long dream and everything is perfect. Or it is?The one area that is most often overlooked when starting your own business is the personal sacrifice and commitment that is required by both yourself and your family. Do you really stop to consider just how much time away from home would be required? Did you stop to consider your health and whether or not your body would be able to physically handle all the additional stresses that come with your
    hat you need to look for when choosing the right web design company.

    Part two will cover what you need to do to prepare to have someone else build your new website.

    If you follow these tips in choosing the right web design company, you might find you will save a considerable amount of money.

    1. Web design portfolio

    Look at their portfolio for other websites they have designed. Do you like the other websites they have designed? Do the designs look up-to-date by comparison to other websites you have seen?

    2. Business history

    How long have they been in business - Everyone needs to start somewhere, but if you are hiring someone that has just started their business and does it part-time, make sure this is not just a little hobby they have on the side to bring in a few additional dollars. This designer might not be around in twelve months time when you need to make changes to your website. This will be a real problem if they had the original design files--it is not standard practice for your designer to give you the original design files without you incurring an additional cost.

    3. Website design with the search engines in mind

    Do they understand search engine optimisation, and offer this as a service? You may not be interested in having search engine optimisation performed on your website today, but it is an inevitable path you need to take at some point, and not having a website designed in a search engine friendly manner from the beginning will likely cost you a lot more to have your site redesigned at a later stage.

    4. Unique designs or web design templates?

    Do they use templates, or do they build a website tailored to your unique needs? If they do use templates, are they templates built in-house, or have they purchased them from a template site. If they use templates do they have the skill and experience to provide you with everything you need from beginning to end?

    5. Flexibility of service offering

    How flexible they are in meeting your needs as a business. Are they always able to provide you with everything you need for your web solutions? A good web solutions company will find the answer for you, even when they don't immediately know the solution.

    6. Customer satisfaction

    Do they have any testimonials? What genuine comments can others make about their experience with this company? Make sure the testimonials are real--take time to contact some of them. Integrity and honesty is a very important key to ensuring you are well looked after by the web design company you choose.

    7. Turn around time

    If you are looking at using them in an ongoing way to manage your website, what kind of turn around times do they offer, and do they have the resources to adequately manage your needs?

    8. Browser compatibility

    What browsers do they design a website for? At the very least, they should be testing in IE6, IE7, and Mozilla Firefox. Your website can look quite different between different browsers, and Firefox is very quickly gaining a large proportion of market share, so you can count on many of your web visitors viewing it in a browser other than IE.

    9. Web Hosting

    Do they provide web hosting, or do they use a 3rd party? This can be an important decision. A small web design company that simply has a server on their premises to host their customers' website may not be your best option. A dedicated web host--providing you choose the correct one--can often be a better option as this is what they specialise in. Choosing the correct web host can mean the difference between having your website up 99.9% of the time, and having visitors to your website constantly getting error messages. The web hosting plan should also offer a comprehensive web statistics package to help you track the performance of your website.

    10. Satisfaction Guaranteed

    Is satisfaction guaranteed before payment? If the website is being designed for you from scratch, make sure that you don't have to pay the full amount until you are satisfied with the end result. Will it cost you anything extra if you don't like their additional draft?

    11. Design and coding

    Ask whether they design their websites in CSS. Not only will this be beneficial for your website rankings by making it easier for your website to be read, it will decrease loading time, and make future changes to your website much quicker and e

    E-Commerce And Mystery Shopping
    What’s the connection between these two? How can you evaluate an e-commerce business by methods of/ using mystery shopping? Well, the answer can approach a few ways. First, think what are the junctions where you need to evaluate your people?In e-commerce it can be:1. Getting the incoming calls and close the deal (telemarketing)2. Customer service – dealing with issues brought by client via phone3. “Up - sale” skills- maintaining the client and offering your clientele a data basewith more products and servicesIn any of these 3 options, you, as the business manager, would like to have an objective evaluation and to have another “eye” to loo
    st.

    3. Website design with the search engines in mind

    Do they understand search engine optimisation, and offer this as a service? You may not be interested in having search engine optimisation performed on your website today, but it is an inevitable path you need to take at some point, and not having a website designed in a search engine friendly manner from the beginning will likely cost you a lot more to have your site redesigned at a later stage.

    4. Unique designs or web design templates?

    Do they use templates, or do they build a website tailored to your unique needs? If they do use templates, are they templates built in-house, or have they purchased them from a template site. If they use templates do they have the skill and experience to provide you with everything you need from beginning to end?

    5. Flexibility of service offering

    How flexible they are in meeting your needs as a business. Are they always able to provide you with everything you need for your web solutions? A good web solutions company will find the answer for you, even when they don't immediately know the solution.

    6. Customer satisfaction

    Do they have any testimonials? What genuine comments can others make about their experience with this company? Make sure the testimonials are real--take time to contact some of them. Integrity and honesty is a very important key to ensuring you are well looked after by the web design company you choose.

    7. Turn around time

    If you are looking at using them in an ongoing way to manage your website, what kind of turn around times do they offer, and do they have the resources to adequately manage your needs?

    8. Browser compatibility

    What browsers do they design a website for? At the very least, they should be testing in IE6, IE7, and Mozilla Firefox. Your website can look quite different between different browsers, and Firefox is very quickly gaining a large proportion of market share, so you can count on many of your web visitors viewing it in a browser other than IE.

    9. Web Hosting

    Do they provide web hosting, or do they use a 3rd party? This can be an important decision. A small web design company that simply has a server on their premises to host their customers' website may not be your best option. A dedicated web host--providing you choose the correct one--can often be a better option as this is what they specialise in. Choosing the correct web host can mean the difference between having your website up 99.9% of the time, and having visitors to your website constantly getting error messages. The web hosting plan should also offer a comprehensive web statistics package to help you track the performance of your website.

    10. Satisfaction Guaranteed

    Is satisfaction guaranteed before payment? If the website is being designed for you from scratch, make sure that you don't have to pay the full amount until you are satisfied with the end result. Will it cost you anything extra if you don't like their additional draft?

    11. Design and coding

    Ask whether they design their websites in CSS. Not only will this be beneficial for your website rankings by making it easier for your website to be read, it will decrease loading time, and make future changes to your website much quicker and e

    Showing Appreciation to Workplace Un-Sung Heroes
    Millions of Un-Sung Heroes are born every minute! They are found everywhere—on street corners, in our homes, offices, and communities—wherever there are people in need of rescue. These special people, whose positive actions and initiatives are performed to benefit others, are not famous or in the news for what they are doing; but their efforts affect, enrich and touch countless lives.Every business has these Un-Sung Heroes. They are the receptionists, secretaries, and administrative professionals we rely on daily to keep the wheels of corporate America turning.The role of the office professional has changed significantly as reliance on technology and office automation has increased. Downsizing or or
    ely know the solution.

    6. Customer satisfaction

    Do they have any testimonials? What genuine comments can others make about their experience with this company? Make sure the testimonials are real--take time to contact some of them. Integrity and honesty is a very important key to ensuring you are well looked after by the web design company you choose.

    7. Turn around time

    If you are looking at using them in an ongoing way to manage your website, what kind of turn around times do they offer, and do they have the resources to adequately manage your needs?

    8. Browser compatibility

    What browsers do they design a website for? At the very least, they should be testing in IE6, IE7, and Mozilla Firefox. Your website can look quite different between different browsers, and Firefox is very quickly gaining a large proportion of market share, so you can count on many of your web visitors viewing it in a browser other than IE.

    9. Web Hosting

    Do they provide web hosting, or do they use a 3rd party? This can be an important decision. A small web design company that simply has a server on their premises to host their customers' website may not be your best option. A dedicated web host--providing you choose the correct one--can often be a better option as this is what they specialise in. Choosing the correct web host can mean the difference between having your website up 99.9% of the time, and having visitors to your website constantly getting error messages. The web hosting plan should also offer a comprehensive web statistics package to help you track the performance of your website.

    10. Satisfaction Guaranteed

    Is satisfaction guaranteed before payment? If the website is being designed for you from scratch, make sure that you don't have to pay the full amount until you are satisfied with the end result. Will it cost you anything extra if you don't like their additional draft?

    11. Design and coding

    Ask whether they design their websites in CSS. Not only will this be beneficial for your website rankings by making it easier for your website to be read, it will decrease loading time, and make future changes to your website much quicker and e

    Ghostwriting: A Practical Solution for Business Professionals
    Admit it: you have great ideas. Everyone does. And if you live and operate in the business world, then you’ve come up with ways to streamline your productivity and engage your target market. Perhaps you’ve concocted a revolutionary idea for motivating sales personnel. Or maybe you have significant knowledge that could help C-Level executives become more efficient.Whatever the case, the business world is full of new ideas just waiting to be expressed. Have you been to your local bookstore lately? Thousands of business men and women have written books on business topics. So why haven’t you written a bestseller yet?Most people believe that if they can't write like Stephen King, they can't publish their ideas, which is n
    that simply has a server on their premises to host their customers' website may not be your best option. A dedicated web host--providing you choose the correct one--can often be a better option as this is what they specialise in. Choosing the correct web host can mean the difference between having your website up 99.9% of the time, and having visitors to your website constantly getting error messages. The web hosting plan should also offer a comprehensive web statistics package to help you track the performance of your website.

    10. Satisfaction Guaranteed

    Is satisfaction guaranteed before payment? If the website is being designed for you from scratch, make sure that you don't have to pay the full amount until you are satisfied with the end result. Will it cost you anything extra if you don't like their additional draft?

    11. Design and coding

    Ask whether they design their websites in CSS. Not only will this be beneficial for your website rankings by making it easier for your website to be read, it will decrease loading time, and make future changes to your website much quicker and easier, decreasing your ongoing costs.

    I hope these points help you make the right decision.

    If you feel your current web design company may not be doing the right thing by you, feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

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