A website helps position you in the marketplace. Websites can make a great first impression or validate what people have heard about you. Websites are a cost-effective way to share a message with many people at once instead of one-by-one. Websites are available 24/7, providing information when you are otherwise unavailable. Websites have a lower cost per conversion than in-person networking which requires a time investment. Websites allow you to measure and test ideas easily to target new audiences with less effort than other forms of marketing.

Before you begin designing a website, you should have a goal and target audience in mind. If you are selling something, consider coming up with an irresistible offer that compels prospects to take action. An experienced web designer can help you with logo design, writing copy, finding photos, technical requirements and everything else.

Using social media as your primary online business presence is similar to renting a room in someone else’s house. You are vulnerable to their decisions and rules that may affect your ability to coexist. You could find yourself starting over without anything if the rules change. A website, however, is an asset that you own and control, that no one can take away from you. You can run it on your own terms, and you own the results that it generates.

You need to stand out and distinguish yourself from others in your industry or risk fading into the crowd of other realtors. A website can promote your personal style and strengths. A website helps you build personal connections instead of someone else deciding which leads you receive.

When budgets are tight, you may opt to use a website building tool with pre-made templates and designs instead of hiring a web designer, but you still have to build the website. The benefit of hiring a web designer is to reduce the amount of work you have to do by working with someone who has experience and wisdom that gives you an advantage in the marketplace. Do you know what color button gets the most clicks? You may benefit from working with someone that knows what design decisions will give you the best results. Your website can be the first impression your customers have and putting your best foot forward can boost your success.

Websites are an effective way to share information without having to answer phones or send emails. Websites have become a standard first impression even with distributors, print-on-demand, private label, and other B2B or contractors who only bid on government work as a means of verifying their contact info, licenses and insurance. Websites are a form of social proof that reassures prospects that it is safe to do business with you.

Websites vary in complexity and it is best to ask a web designer what they recommend and why. If something is confusing, ask to see an example. When determining your budget, you may need to include some of the following items: Domain name, email, website hosting, photo or video storage, 3rd-party plugins, marketing, advertising, shopping cart fees, logo design, copywriting and graphic design. We also recommend asking what fees are associated with updates, maintenance, and any annual fees.

Not necessarily. We can work with your existing website or designer to optimize your conversion rates. Often small changes can make a big difference in search results, lead generation or sales. The biggest factor is the ability to make changes easily and support the latest mobile technology. If your website is on an outdated platform, it may need to be moved. If your platform doesn’t support moving, or the cost of moving exceeds the value, then we would recommend replacing it.

Franchise websites often only show up in search results when searched for by name. This is due to duplicate content on all the other franchisee websites. Search engines reward unique content and this is a challenge for businesses with more than one location. A new and unique website can be personalized to the local community while staying within the brand and style guide of the franchise to boost results and keep the corporate types happy.

Financial services and insurance companies commonly have a corporate site to collect leads and referrals, and then they choose who receives the contact information of the prospect. These companies restrict their representatives by providing a portal or profile because they want to regulate branding, communications and risk reduction in some cases. Without your own pipeline you are dependent on what is given to you by the people above you. An experienced web designer can help you create a website to fill your pipeline while working within the professional regulations of your industry.

Websites show up in search results when they provide value to people searching online. Search engines will present your site to prospects based on keywords that the search engine deems relevant to your website. When the prospect visits your site, the search engine pays attention to how much time is spent on your site and how many pages are viewed. If the prospect leaves quickly, then the search engine concludes that the prospect did not find anything of value, and your website moves further down the list of results. This problem can be helped by increasing the amount of time a prospect spends on your site, and the number of pages they view.

Sales are often driven by a compelling offer. If you have a compelling offer and no sales, check the website traffic to make sure you have enough of the right kind of visitors. You may be reaching the wrong audience or your offer may not be compelling enough. Test your offer outside the website to see if you get a good response. Besides matching your marketing message to the right audience, measuring and testing is vital to finding your best offer.

Websites are a great way to build interest before you open your business. It’s better to have a large group interested when you open your doors than to open and have no one know that you exist. Some entrepreneurs even create websites and run ads to test a market before deciding whether to open a business there. Creating a website might be the first thing you do to prove a concept!

Social media accounts are shut down every day. Companies like Facebook feel they have to protect their users from wolves in sheep’s clothing. It’s easy to offend the team at these companies if you’re a business owner because your goal is get sales, and their goal is to provide a high quality and safe user experience. These two goals are in conflict with each other. At the same time, social media will look the other way when global corporate interests run ads. This can be really frustrating for small businesses trying to get by. It’s best to align your advertising with the goals of the platform you are using. Research what is successfully creating engagement and duplicate it!

Web designers come from all corners of the globe and have different philosophies and mindsets when working with customers. You should always discuss passwords and ownership of the website and the source files for graphics or any other creatives prior to engaging a designer, but if you are stuck, it may help you to use a carrot and not the stick approach. Often techies have a great pride and ego that gets in the way when dealing with conflict, and miscommunications are even greater with designers in other cultures. A mutual acquaintance or another web designer might be helpful in settling any disputes before you seek legal help.

Availability and communication varies by web designer, however if your designer is unreachable when they should be, you’ll need to take steps to protect your website investment. There are four scenarios:

i. If you own your domain, email and hosting, and have the passwords to those accounts, you can hire another designer. If these pieces or parts of the site are in your web designers personal account it can be more difficult to get access.

ii. If you have a wordpress site and you have an admin account, there are plugins you can use to download your site. You still need to own your domain or have it in your own registrar account.

iii. If you do not have a wordpress site or admin access, you may need to hire someone to create a copy of the website. Depending on the value and situation with the unreachable web designer, you may need professional help to compel them to give you access. There’s legal precedent for a business owning their website and domain as long as they can prove they paid for it. This may be affected by an agreement with your web designer if one was signed. With the right help, you can go straight to the registrar and hosting company to take ownership.

iv. If your website is no longer online and the web designer is unreachable, you need to act fast to contact the domain registrar and hosting company. Some companies only maintain backup records for 1 to 4 weeks. If the domain was not renewed, it could be purchased by someone else if you don’t act fast enough. It’s a good practice to know when domains and hosting expire, as well as if any backups are being made, and when. You can usually access old copies of websites at The Wayback Machine, if your site was reasonably popular.

If you have installed analytics and can see there are no visitors to your website, you should start with letting people know that you have a website. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, etc.) is a great place to start conversations with prospects. Follow some of your competitors and study how they are engaging with their audience. Study your audience to understand their needs, likes, dislikes, problems and desires. The more you understand your prospect, the better you can engage with them and build interest. Try not to be sales-y because that will push people away if you don’t have their permission. If you are helpful and genuine, people will begin to like you and trust you. Once you have their attention, you can earn their permission to offer something they need.

People buy from websites they know, like and trust. If your website or brand is new, people need time to get to know you. Visitors are also not likely to buy on their first visit. Visitors may need up to 20 touch points before they buy, but the great news is that if you can get them to buy from you at least 4 times, they could become a lifetime customer. The best practice is to get visitors to join your mailing list with a compelling offer so you can continue to reach them. Another tool could be pixeling the visitor with a Facebook or Google pixel to show them personalized ads once they leave your website. This allows you to advertise to them on Facebook, Instagram, and other places they go, reminding them of your offer. This is a great technique because people are easily distracted online when they find your website, and they may leave your site because of another distraction, not because they don’t intend to buy from you. Your ability to continue reaching them can build desire and eventually bring them back.

Sales are a type of website conversion. When a website isn’t generating sales, that means there is a conversion problem. When a website doesn’t convert it’s visitors, that typically means there is a mismatch between the audience and message or offer. Analytics are a great way to measure what content on your site people are interested in. You can see if people bounce right away or if they consume your content. If visitors are consuming your content and not buying, you probably don’t have a compelling offer, or there is a trust issue. First, check your website for obvious issues like broken links or errors. Then, if everything is working fine, measuring and split testing could help you determine where the problem is. Be sure to only make one change at a time, otherwise you may never know what the problem was when you get positive results.

We offer discounts for first responders, military and non-profits.

We offer three types of payment plans. All payment plans are subject to our agreement before work begins.

i. Low monthly payments with an agreement to pay the entire cost of the website and any additional marketing. You decide what you can pay monthly and on what day. No credit check required. We finance it directly for the customer.

ii. Rent the website monthly as long as you need it for a low price with no agreement or credit check. We own the website and domain name. If you decide to stop paying, we have the option to keep the site or sell it, but you have no long term obligation.

iii. Suggest your own payment terms.

Typically a website with 5 to 10 pages takes between 4 to 6 weeks to create when the customer provides all of the content. We actually build some sites within a few hours, but quality and testing take time. Items that increase delivery time include logo design, custom photography, copywriting, special features, shopping carts and member’s areas to name a few. It’s best to discuss with your web designer if there are any special items that can affect the delivery time. Delivery is also affected by how quickly the customer responds to requests. Each project has a checklist created with our client, so they know ahead of time what to expect.

Google places new websites in a sandbox to see how well you play with others. If your domain does not have a shady past, it shouldn’t take long to show up in results if your site delivers what people are searching for. Your website should be optimized for keywords and in a context that matches what people are looking for.

Google will pay attention to how people respond when they find your website in search results as follows:
i. Do they click on your site when they see it in search results
ii. If they click, how many pages do they view
iii. If they click, how much time do they spend
iv. If they click, do they go back to the search results and select another site

These behaviors tell Google whether you provided the answer to what they were searching for. Google is in the business of delivering the best results to people using their search, and if people are not finding what they want, Google risks losing them as their own customer. This is the most obvious but unspoken rule of optimizing your website for search results. A lot of so-called experts talk about the Google algorithm, but they miss the obvious fact that Google is in the business of matching people to the best results, and they simply measure whether people found what they were looking for. If you try to game the Google algorithm, you run the risk of becoming untrustworthy to the search engines. Trust signals and social proof can be your greatest tools for showing up in search results.

Our standard practice is to warranty our work for a year if we are maintaining it, and 30 days if the customer is managing it themselves. Our satisfaction guarantee means that we will continue working with our clients as long as it takes to ensure they have the website they want, within the scope of our agreement. Our extensive experience helps us ask the right questions from the beginning to understand our clients desires before we start designing. We explore our customer’s goals, target audience, market messaging and how to measure and test to reinforce their success.

Policies, disclaimers and functionality requirements change depending on your intended user and where the website is operated from. Websites in California and the European Union have different regulations than websites in Nevada or Latin America. For example, privacy rights and accessibility requirements in the United States have led to many recent lawsuits. The right web designer will help you stay compliant in the areas you do business.

Advertising is regulated by the FTC and must meet certain standards to protect consumers. An experienced digital marketer can help steer you away from potential problems or the risk of being banned from online advertising accounts and social media. The right marketer is someone who is up-to-date with the latest trends, techniques and can avoid shady practices (called “dark patterns”) to build your online trust and authority.

Start with a conversation to see how well they understand what’s needed for your online success. Communication skills and availability are important. Ask for references and examples of their work. What is their policy regarding updates and responsiveness? What are their long-term goals and availability? How is the domain and hosting managed? The designer with the best well-rounded knowledge and an understanding of your business can be a great partner in your success. Make sure they are also a good fit for your budget and launch deadlines.

Your budget determines the quality of your website, but it can be difficult deciding how much website you need. We recommend identifying the goals of your website first, and decide what the minimal requirements are to reach your goal.

Consider these two options when deciding what to build:
i. One general website that serves all customers with a marketing message that appeals to everyone.
ii. A website that serves a specific audience based on a focused campaign and message to achieve a calculated outcome.

If there are subsets of your target audience, you may have several campaigns and websites with personalized messaging to convert specific prospects.

The first option works best for companies that are promoting their identity or a single product and service, whereas the second option works best for companies that serve market segments with different specific services or products.

Your website goals determine how much to spend on your website.

Busy clients tend to be slow making decisions or sending us content and can delay the design process. We work with all types of businesses and website owners. We’re patient and move at the speed of our customers. Each website begins with an interview and creation of a personalized checklist. We help our customers make decisions and we can produce any content needed for a reasonable fee if it’s not already in the scope of our work.

Although our company started in 2005, we’ve been online since 1985 (starting with Q-Link on a Commodore 64). In the early 90’s we used online bulletin boards and we built our first website in 1997 using MS Front Page and Macromedia Dreamweaver.

We began building websites for engineering companies and contractors but shortly began working with non-profits, restaurants, e-commerce and retail. In 2008 we were hired by a national coaching institute that introduced us to their clients in the financial and professional sectors. Financial advisors within departments at Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney became some of our largest clients as well as medical and real estate professionals. We prefer to work with small businesses or companies that have small teams with just a few stakeholders to minimize communication overhead.

We prefer hand coding our sites for performance reasons although we have many happy Wordpress clients. Our websites often show up at the top of search results because of our hand optimized coding. When creating dynamic websites or online applications we prefer Coldfusion for security and ease of integration with other online components and API’s. PHP is the most common standard but is more vulnerable due to its open-source nature. For legal reasons, open-source can also pose a potential problem when protecting intellectual property. We’re fluent in HTML, CSS, jQuery, Angular, SQL, AWS, Bootstrap, Foundation, Coldfusion, PHP, Wordpress, WooCommerce, and Shopify. We use Cloudflare for DDOS protection and proxy DNS. We use content delivery networks (CDN) for media optimization on websites and typically use S3 with Amazon or Wasabi. We typically migrate clients from Wix, Squarespace and Weebly (owned by Square) to a platform they can own. We discourage web builder platforms because you have to live and play under someone else’s roof.

We subscribe to a number of online newsletters and trade publications, attend webinars and summits, review industry awards and top performing sites from around the world. We love collaborating with thought leaders and are always seeking more challenging projects. One of our favorite ways to stay sharp is working with other designers and agencies.

We regularly send accountability emails, DM’s or texts and schedule meetings to keep projects on track. We constantly research top performing websites in different industries to recommend what is working now and stay away from what is not. We adhere to the old saying that pioneers get shot and settlers do not. With that perspective in mind, Napoleon Hill famously said in “Think and Grow Rich” that duplication is cheaper than innovation. Our practice is to let the early adopters try new things and work out the bugs while we watch and see how they do. Then we bring the results to our customers based on research and facts rather than opinion.