Websites 101
What is involved in having a website?From scratch, there are several things to understand.
1) Domain name cost and purchase
First, is the purchase of the domain name. (www.mycompany.com) You will pay about $10 per year to own the name.
Some domain names sell at a premium but that is only a one-time fee.
2) Hosting
This is a monthly or yearly fee to a hosting company. A basic website should cost no more than $7-10 per month to host these days. For interactive sites that need .asp or more complex programming support, a more interactive site support system, you may pay $35 per month and up. When finding a host, make sure they have 24/7 phone tech support.
3) Design
Hot Designs can create a complete website for your company. For pricing information go here.
4) Maintenance
Hot Designs maintains sites at a very reasonable price.
How do I find out if a domain name is available, and purchase it?
It's very simple. Just type the name you want into your browser. If you get a message like: ADDRESS NOT FOUND or CAN'T FIND THE SERVER, it's available.
Or visit a site like go.daddy.com or networksolutions.com and do a domain name search. If the name is not available, they will suggest other names close to the one you want. It's a very helpful tool. These are two places you can purchase a domain.
What is Content Management?
Content Management involves designing a website that you, the client, can make your own changes to the site. Programming is designed to lock you out of certain structural areas, allowing you to change content without damaging the look of the site. You only change the content, or text, hence the name Content Management.
PROS: You can save in the long run if you make very frequent changes, have someone who is pretty computer literate to make these changes and wants to make them.
CONS: If you make infrequent changes to the site, every several months or so, it can be a daunting task to remember how to make changes and get them uploaded.
Programming the site will cost more because the task is two-fold: a) to design the site and b) program bullet-proof templates which keep you from accidentally changing the look. There is also the cost of training employees how to do it. In addition, you will need software to upload (ie: Contribute or Dreamweaver) and editing software such as Photoshop, to be able to size and crop photos properly. There is a learning curve if you don't already know how to use it.