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How much do I charge to build a web site?
$250.00 for the first 10 pages , with no setup fees, and no long-term contract or commitment. $25 for each additional page after the first ten pages. Free! A custom “404-error Not Found” page if your web site is hosted on my service. If your site visitors bookmark a page on your site, and you later rename or remove that page, or if they mistype the address of one of your pages, then they will see a “Not Found” page that looks the same as the other pages in your web site, instead of a generic “404 - Error, page not found” page.
Free! A “favorites” icon
if your web site is hosted on my service. A
“favorites” icon will appear in the adddress bar and/or in the
bookmarks of some versions of some brands of web browsers (not all
web browsers can display a favorites icon). For example, the favorites
icon (aka favicon) for this web site is: $15 for each web page form after the first one. This price is in addition to the page that the form is on. You will receive all of the information from the form in a specially designed E-mail that is sent to you. Note. Forms are available only if your web site is hosted on my service. Free! The first web page form in your site is free. Free! A custom error page and a custom success page . Each form has its own error and success page that resemble the other pages in your web site. After your site visitor fills in a form and clicks the submit button, they will see the “error” page if there was an incorrect entry in the form. They will see the “success” page if they correctly completed all of the items in the form. $5 for your web site on a disk - your choice of a CD-R or DVD+/-R (please specify). Sorry, a copy of your web site on a ZIP disk is not available. The files on the disk will include all the images, graphics, photos, text, navigation , HTML and other page coding, etc. The disk will not include any “hosted” services such as: a photo gallery or message board or hits counter or shopping cart or blog or site search. Nor will the disk include proprietary source-code files or scripts created by the various programs I use to create “special features” of the web site, because these files or scripts are (usually) written specifically for a given web host and won’t work elsewhere. You furnish the content of the web site. The more of the following content (text, photos logos, etc.) that you provid, the less I have to guess as to what you had in mind, and the more likely I will build a site that you will like. Remember, you are the subject expert on your products or services, not me. Please, no “native” files from programs like Broderbund’s PrintShop or PrintMaster, Microsoft’s Publisher, Serif’s PagePlus, GreenStreet’s Publisher or Publishing Studio, etc. Instead, use the program’s “export” function to export the text to disk in RTF or TXT format. There is a charge for me to scan printed pages of text; I won’t retype a page that you typed on your computer, then printed. Just send the file to me either on a disk or as an E-mail attachment. A note about the file name of your photo or graphic file. Shoppers often use “Image search” to see the things they want to buy. If you have a retail site, make sure that you have images of your products (and that they can be easily identified with file name, “alt” text, headings, and textual descriptions). Searchers can then find your images and get to your site. In other words, a photo named DSC00342.jpg is meaningless to someone “Image searching”. But a photo named: “Men’s 1-carot diamond ring” is extremely meaningful. Note that PowerPoint Presentations do not work in a lot of web browsers, so I strongly recommend against having one on your web page. I also recommend not having a FLASH splash page, or an all FLASH -based web site, because it removes (almost) all control from your site visitor. Many people do not like a FLASH site and will often click away before the site even finishes downloading. Did any of that sound like just a lot of technobabble? Don’t worry, its easy, and I’ll explain it if you ask. For web sites I build for a client, a web “page” is typically 760 - 780 pixels across, and about 1800 pixels or less in height. This means that the page will usually fit within the width of most screen sizes and web browser windows, and usually take only two or three “down” clicks, to see the whole page. In any case, the pages of your web site will be sized as appropriate for the content. By comparison, THIS page is 760 pixels across and about 13000 pixels tall.
IMPORTANT!
I avoid most of the time and expense of web site building by using several time and cost-saving alternatives. For example: These steps greatly reduce the time and work needed to make a web site, and make it possible for me to offer to you a quality site at extremely low prices. Wondering how my web sites look? Check out some sites I’ve done. I also have a color scanner to input your printed materials and photos; a digital still camera for photographs of your store or items; graphics, animation, and photo editor programs; and other services. Photographs of your product(s) or location(s). Please see my photography web site for current rates. Scans are $5 for each photo or “block” of text. This price includes scanning, and editing as needed (touchup, resizing and/or cropping, color adjustment, text correction, etc.) for use on a web page. For example: scanning just some paragraphs and photos from a 3-panel brochure. Each photo and each block of text would be another scan. Edit My Page is $60 for 12 months per page. Available only concurrently with my web site hosting service. Includes 100 KB of storage for your text and an additional 200 KB of storage for your graphics. “Edit My Page” is a service whereby YOU can make your own changes to the content (text, graphics, & photos) of a page in your web site, at any time, and as often as you wish! Edit My Page is great for pages that might change periodically or frequently, like a “President’s Message” or “Pastor’s Corner”, or “Special Sale” notices, or a “Calendar of Events”, etc. I can also do domain name registration, arrange for web site hosting, and arrange for search engine submission of your site.
Domain name registration fee, web site hosting fee,
PAYABLE IN ADVANCE,
You will forfeit the remainder of your web site hosting term if your site is taken off-line because of: Domain Name Registration (or renewal) for a .COM, .NET, or .ORG name is currently $15 per year with no setup fee (was $35, then $25). Other names might be slightly more or less, and/or might be available for a minimum of two years. IMPORTANT NOTE. For management purposes, all domain names are registered under “Best By Design LLC”. If you later decide to transfer your web site to some other web building service, or if Best By Design ends our web services, then your domain name will be transferred to whoever you specify, at no additional charge from Best By Design. However, there might be some additional charges imposed by other service providers that are beyond the control of Best By Design. Domain Alias is a one-time fee of $5 and no setup fee, in addition to the domain name registration itself. What is a domain alias? Normally each domain name points to a single, unique web site; one domain name per web site. But suppose your domain name is MeToo.com There is a very high possibility that people trying to get to your web site might enter MeTwo.com or MeTo.com or Me2.com into their web browser. None of these other domain names would normally go to your web site of MeToo.com. But if you were to get these three additional domain names, then each one can be set up as a Domain Alias that will go to your main web site, but without having the cost of an additional web site and hosting for each name. The result is one web site, with four different, yet similar, domain names all going to the same web site. This is also useful if your product or service or company is known by more than one name - get an alias for each of the names! Web Site Hosting is currently $120 per year, and no setup fee. For all new clients, my web site hosting includes 200 GB of storage, 2000 GB of monthly data transfer , 2500 POP3 E-mail accounts, E -mail forwarding and auto-responder and server-side spam filters for each E-mail account, a user control panel, and much more. There is an additional fee if your on-line storage or monthly data transfer exceed the allowed limits, but with 200 GB of storage, and 2000 GB of monthly data transfer, exceeding the limits would be extremely unusual for most users. Search Engine Submission Service is free for about 40 search engines as a part of my web site hosting service. Note. After your web site domain name has been submitted, each individual search engine will decide whether or not they will accept your site, when they will list it, and the position (ranking) of your site in their list of search results. To give your site a greater chance of being listed with the search engines, and of getting a higher position: There is NO guarantee that your site will be accepted by all of the search engines or directories, or even by a specific one. There is NO guarantee of when your site will begin to appear in any of the search results. There is NO guarantee of the position (rank) of your site in the search results . It might take days, weeks or even months for your web site to begin appearing in a particular search engine's results. Most search engines and directories are independently owned and operated, and each has it’s own policies on accepting, listing, and ranking web sites. Corrections or minor updates to a page are no charge. For example: to change a date or phone number, spelling corrections, or to move items to a different location on the same page, etc. Otherwise, after your web site is finished, moderate revisions to an existing page are $15 per page per session, and major revisions and additional (new) pages are $25 per page. “Finished” means you have approved the final design . But if you think that you might revise a page four or more times during a year, then you should consider the Edit My Page service for each page you will want to revise. With Edit My Page, you can revise the page as often, and as much, as you wish.
A domain name is your Internet “address”. For example: www.YourName.com You have probably seen domain names that end in COM or ORG or NET or MIL or GOV or EDU. Historically .COM was used for commercial businesses, .ORG was used for organizations, and .NET was used for Internet Service Providers. However, .COM, .ORG, and .NET have become nearly “interchangeable”. Some people register their domain name in all three versions - YourName.COM and .ORG and .NET - to prevent someone else from using their name but with a different suffix. Of course, there is an additional registration fee for each domain name, and an additional fee to set up each domain name as a “domain alias” to “redirect” each name to point to your one web site. There are several other “categories” of domain names. .MIL is reserved for military units, .GOV is reserved for governmental organizations, and .EDU is reserved for educational institutions. There are also many country codes that are available for you to use. For example, the .US suffix is available for citizens of the USA. .WS is for Western Samoa, but the country has agreed to let non-citizens use it, so .WS could be “Web Site”. .TV is for the country of Tuvalu, but the country has agreed to let non-citizens use it, so .TV could be “Television”. What about domain name registration?
I can register a .COM or a .ORG or a .NET or a .BIZ or a .INFO or a .US domain name, and several others, for you. See note. There are some places on the internet where you can register your domain name for “free”. But... NOTE If I register a domain name for you, then “Best By Design LLC” will be the registered owner of the name. The reason for this is that it greatly simplifies domain name management, DNS setup, and server configuration. It also means less risk for you in that I do not need your credit card number, or your account user name and password. If at any time you want the domain name registration transferred to your name or some other web building service, then contact me for details. There is no additional fee from Best By Design to transfer “ownership” or registration of the domain name to you or whoever you specify. There might be an additional charge from your new web site service or domain name registrar.
A web site host is a special computer that is connected to the Internet 24/7, and that has your on-line web site. I can host your site for you, or set it up on the host of your choice. If you prefer to use some web hosting service other than mine, there are many available. If you have an ISP that includes server space, then site hosting might be taken care of. Check with your ISP for details.
What about an on-line store and shopping cart?
No, you do not need a secure server, a merchant’s credit card account, or even worry about credit card fraud. To safely, securely, and at low cost to you to be able to accept credit card sales on the Internet, I suggest using one of the many on-line payment services. For example, CCNow is an online “retail” company that will handle all credit card matters for you. PayPal is a money transfer, billing, and collection service To illustrate how some on-line payment services work, here is an overview of CCNow. Other companies are similar. CCNow acts on your behalf as the “retail seller” of your tangible product (something you actually package and ship), and you act as the manufacturer, warehouse, and shipper of the product. As of June 29, 2006, CCNow charges a one-time New Account Setup Fee of $9.95. They also charge a retail margin of 4.99% of gross sales plus $0 .50 per transaction. They also charge a monthly fee of $9.95 if your gross sales for the month are $100.00 or less. There no annual fee, no equipment to purchase or rent, and no need for you to obtain a merchant credit account. You must have a personal or business credit card to be able to sign up with CCNow (but you do not need a merchant’s credit card account). CCNow “Buy Now” Button I charge $1.00 for each CCNow “Buy Now” button. Even though the CCNow web site creates the web page code for each of your items, the code for each item must be hand-modified to work with your web site, then added to the web page. Because the web page coding for each button is unique and different, it is not possible to just copy and paste for each item. There is no charge for the "View Cart/Checkout" button (s), as it is just one button that can be duplicated as often as needed. Another way to handle on-line credit cards is through the services of PayPal. PayPal is an online money transfer service, and not a retail sales store. PayPal’s fees are lower than CCNow, but you will have to manage sales and other taxes, if any, for your state. Your customers do not have to be a member of PayPal to use your PayPal check-out. They will be given the option to join PayPal (for free) during their check-out. With PayPal, there is no monthly or annual fee (if you sell nothing, they “collect” nothing), no minimum sales, no equipment to purchase or rent , no need for you to obtain a merchant credit account. PayPal does charge a very small “per transaction” fee consisting of both a fixed price and a percentage of the amount of money being transferred. You must have a personal or business checking, savings, or credit card account to be able to sign up for PayPal. PayPal “Buy Now” and other Buttons I charge $2.00 for each PayPal “Buy Now”, “Add to Cart”, “Donate”, and “Subscribe” button. Even though the PayPal web site creates the web page code for each of your items, each item must first be individually entered into the PayPal web code creator along with the item’s description, price, stock number, etc. Each button has to be individually created, because the web page coding for each button is unique and different for each item. There is no charge for the "View Cart/Checkout" button(s), as it is just one button that can be duplicated as often as needed. Note that PayPal does allow your customer to select various options like colors or sizes or styles, but does NOT allow any of those choices to alter the price of the item. For example, If you are selling a shirt in various sizes, colors, and sleeve length, the price is probably the same regardless of the color. But you might charge a different price for the larger sizes, or for long sleeves. Each of these different prices must have its own button.
Other on-line payment services will have different terms, limits, and restrictions. Be sure to go to the service’s web site and read their “Terms of Service” or “User Agreements” for their current and complete details, before you sign up; it is your money and your profit margin. Here are some other on-line companies for you to consider using (or if you have products or services to sell that CCNow or PayPal do not permit, or you need to be able to “sell” on-line access/downloads of files). I do not build “shopping cart” web sites that use your merchant credit account. Such sites are outside of my area. IMPORTANT NOTE. If you already have, or before you get, a merchant credit account, please read the contract and terms of service very closely. Many “retail” merchant credit account contracts do NOT allow you to use that account for an on-line store. You must obtain an additional, separate account, with its own additional fees and charges, for use on your web store. Recently, one merchant credit account company had these fees for accepting VISA/MasterCard through a web site: In other words, if you sold two item at $50 each during your first month, it would effectively cost you $89 + $1.19 + $1.19 + $0.38 + $0.38 + $20 = $112.14 You pay out $112.14 in fees PLUS the cost of your product and shipping, on sales of $100, for the first month. IMPORTANT NOTE. I do NOT do on-line shopping carts or credit cards , due to the significant amount of work, and the complexity, of setting them up, and the need to create and maintain the “back end” stock/product database . Therefore, if you are a small business just starting out or if you have only a small established customer base, I strongly urge you to consider one of the on -line payment services like CCNow or PayPal, instead of your own merchant on-line credit account and shopping cart.
I can set you up with your own domain name ($15), host ($120) your 10-page web site ($250) with search engine submission and E-mail accounts, for as little as $385 for the first year. These prices do not include your Internet Service Provider (ISP) access fees. And, I add a small paragraph at the bottom of your first (home) page that links to the home page of this web site, similar to this: Built by Best By Design LLC from content provided by and © your (company) name,
Compare these costs and what you get, to what you would pay for a year’s worth of full color ads (with graphics and photos) in the newspaper or a magazine, or even in the yellow pages. The newspaper, magazine, or yellow pages ads are not responsive to you or your readers, and cannot be changed until the next publication date.
I think that everyone should be able to have a web site. But, for the prices I charge, you are not going to get “The Mother Of All Web Sites” with interactivity and database-driven. You will, however, get a good site to establish a web “presence.” And, you will have an active part in maintaining your site; see the next section.
I reserve the right to decline to build a web site for any reason, including but not limited to: a web site that would promote illegal activities, WARZ, file swapping, “hate” or racist sites, “links” sties, and other types of web sites at my sole discretion.
Who owns what in the web site?
revised: March 27, 2007
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