It's all so complicated! Where do I start?
Need some basic help? For a free consultation before you get started, call 724-542-4400. Here are the basic steps for putting up a website.
The very first step is to purchase a domain name through a registrar. IMPORTANT! This should be put in YOUR name with your own account. Ownership of the name is the MOST IMPORTANT part of starting, and owning a website! Do NOT let a web designer buy your domain and register it in their name! Some companies operate this way, but Hot Designs does not. Yes, we could make more money and have more control over your site, but that can lead to issues for you. So, looking out for your interest, when it comes to domain names, there are some nightmare stories to be told about things we've had to unravel due to other previous companies who've worked on sites before they called Hot Designs. Need help? Call 724-542-4400. Domain names are $13-15 per year average |
Call 724-542-4400 for a free consultation before you purchase your hosting plan. Don't buy more than you need, and be careful who you pick to host your site. Your host should have 24/7 PHONE support! Your website will live on their server and your emails will be on their servers also, you never want any down time with your site or issues with your emails. If something does happen, you need immediate assistance. Can you imagine things going wrong with your website or email and the only way to contact someone is via email? Using a stable, reputable company is very important. We'll work with your host or recommend one based on your site needs. Average: $79 (and up) per year average for new sites |
Our web designer will create a site for you. Hot Designs offers complete website design services. See samples. $1200 and up |
Search engine optimization is the general term. Managing SEO can be weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annually or anually, depending on your expectations of ranking on Google and other search engines. During the design phase, minimum SEO functions will be covered. (key words, site analytics, and more) Large companies spend thousands, sometimes monthly, to be where they are on search engines. There are organic things you can do to help your site reach priority on search engines, however. $200 One-time fee to perform basic SEO steps |
Maintained by Hot Designs $35-60 per month average usage (pay as you go at design rates) Maintained Partially or Totally by Client - If you plan to maintain your own site, a CMS (Content Management System) app like WordPress, Drupal or Joomla is needed. These are free with any hosting plan, and there are many templates available out there. Some are free, some are premium. They consist of pre-designed websites |
FAQ:
How do I find out if a domain name is available, and purchase it?
Domain names are purchased through a registrar. (ie: godaddy.com or networksolutions.com to name just two of thousands) Finding out if a site name is available is 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. If you visit a registrar, you can search from within their site also. If the name is not available, it will tell you, and they will suggest other names close to the one you want. It's a very helpful tool. Once you've found the name available, GRAB IT! Put it in your own name and use your own contact information. Don't start a website with a domain name that you don't own outright. Not a good foundation for the site as you would have no control over your own site name.
What is a Content Management System? (CMS)
Content Management involves developing a website so you, the client, can make your own updates through a backend admin area. WordPress is the most widely used source of creating websites that can be maintained without special software.
Here are some statistics on which Content Management tools are current.
Other content management systems include Joomla, Drupal, Shopify, among many. A completely custom CMS can be developed just for you, but that's the most expensive way to go. There's no need for this unless you are dealing with high security issues. It's basically re-creating the wheel.
If if you use WordPress templates, and there are thousands of them out there which are pre-designed, with you only needing to drop in your information and photos, it can still be daunting. Design assistance will stilll likely be needed to customize it the way you want it. It's a task just to go through the many templates, and understand which ones are better than others. Some templates are free, others cost and have a lot built into them.
All templates need to be updated each time the author updates them due to changes on the internet or devices, other found issues, hacks, and many other things. When you update your template, sometimes plugins conflict and the site breaks.
Here's the closest analagy I can think of: It's like your computer. You have your operating system (kind of like WordPress itself), and then your software (kind of like your template and plugins). When you upgrade your operating system, sometimes your software doesn't work. So you have to upgrade that too. Same thing, kind of. Not exactly, but sometimes the whole concept is so foreign to people this is the best way I know to explain it.
Other CMS are available on your host servers, such as Joomla and Drupal, Zen Cart and more. These are designed for non-experts, but still involve a bit of a learning curve to understand how things work. All of these are also template based, so knowing code and the basics of web development is a huge advantage. The minute you want something that's not already designed into the template, you're stuck. Hire a professional.
How Do My Customers Find me on the Web?
Frankly this task is growing by the minute. SEO (search engine optimization) is the work that goes into constantly monitering and improving your success. Google is reported to use more than 200 factors in determining the web page score or ranking. Read more here about Google factors.
The ability to rank on the internet requires attention, time and money. If your expectations are extremely high, your costs will be too. There are no quick, cheap, and especially, no free ways to rank on the internet. Read about that more here.
So do this test: Sticking with Google, type in your keywords or phrases. Notice somewhere above the result page, where it says: "About 413,821 results" or "About 6,210,437 results." This is how many websites you are competing with. What was your budget?
P.S.
This website is still in .html and was done in Dreamweaver, using .css. At some point, when there's a free moment, I'll take the time to install WordPress, and build this all over again, in the format you're now used to seeing everywhere. It's the mechanic's story here, no time for this. Too busy. But it's a good thing.